Anderson: Baseball’s next Moneyball concept: turning Internet writers into prospect scouts
From R.J. Anderson at CBS Sports on March 29, 2017:
That Victor Wang was a hardcore baseball fan as a 16-year-old sounds like standard teenage fare. Except, unlike the normal teen, he was profiled in the New York Times due to his predilection for baseball — specifically, his skills for examining and writing about the sport with an analytical bent. Wang peaked as a writer later on, producing his seminal works (studies concerning draft pick and prospect valuations) before he had finished his freshman year at Northwestern University. Both articles are widely referenced to this day, almost a decade since their publication in the Hardball Times.
The interim period has seen Wang graduate from Northwestern. However, it has not seen him author many new articles (his most recent byline at THT came in June 2009). His disappearance from the public eye can be traced to his acceptance into baseball. Wang was named the Cleveland Indians’ director of professional scouting in December, nearly four years after he was tapped as the assistant director, and some seven-plus years after he accepted his first internship with the organization.
“I basically sent emails cold to all teams asking them if they had any summer internship opportunities,” Wang told CBS Sports. “I had done some work prior to applying to teams with the Hardball Times and included a packet of my work with my résumé and cover letter. I was able to end up landing a summer internship with them and have been with them ever since.”
Read the full article here: http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/baseballs-next-moneyball-concept-turning-internet-writers-into-prospect-scouts/
Originally published: March 29, 2017. Last Updated: March 29, 2017.