Yesterday's Rocky Mountain News ran its regular Friday column by Tracey Ringolsby. In it he takes unveiled shots at ESPN's Keith Law.
Let's see, Keith Law is forced out as an adviser to Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi, and ESPN makes him an instant celebrity in his evaluation of everything from amateur draft choices to MVP voting.
Law runs his statistical analyses and gets personal with those with whom he disagrees.
Wonder if he is using the same analysis system that helped him in Toronto when the Blue Jays signed Eric Hinske to that four-year contract and proclaimed him the foundation for the Jays' future?
Was it the same approach to evaluation that led to the Jays using back-to-back first-round picks on Russ Adams and Aaron Hill, neither of whom emerged as the needed shortstop?
Am I wrong in believing that crossed the line from incisive analysis to pure unprofessionalism?
Mr. Ringolsby is clearly anti-sabremetrics, and I have some empathy. I often want to make snide comments about Excel spreadsheets and the "=" button and the formula dialog box, but know there is something added by the statistical analysis of past complied numbers. I also know using that analysis to predict future results is not as definitive, and comforting, as the number provided by the formulae in the spreadsheets.
However, Mr. Ringolsby appears to have skipped the step I take from understanding the derivation of the sabremetrics and moved right on to hating something he doesn't understand.
I love Keith Law's analysis and not just because it often matches my own - minus any of the mysterious "statistical analyses" attributted to him by Tracey Ringolsby.