Question

As Kevin Rudy explains in “Moneyball Shows the Power of Statistics,” “[t]he movie Moneyball tells the story of how Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane used statistics to assemble and manage his baseball team.” ¹Whether or not you have seen the movie, you can probably guess this approach was met with resistance. When Billy Beane first used this approach, managers took other factors into consideration. For example, little known or unknown players were not typically recruited over well-known, established players.

To complete the Discussion activity, please do the following:

Answer each question fully. Use a minimum of 250 words for a complete discussion post. While it is not required in this discussion, feel free to bring in outside resources to support your answers.

• Explain whether or not you think assembling and managing a baseball team, or any team for that matter, based solely on statistics is an effective course of action.
• Are there other factors that should be considered, and if so, which ones?
• Do you think statistics-based recruiting is an effective course of action? Why or why not?

Answer 1