Epilogue

Abstract

Winning in professional sports requires knowing how to excel off the field as well as on it. The scarcity of major-league caliber talent and Major League Baseball’s complex organizational structure requires understanding the financial worth of players as assets in order to succeed as a ballclub. Sure, some teams have inherent advantages over others—bigger markets, more loyal fans, wealthier and more charitable owners, etc.—but baseball has shown that no team can win without understanding how to value the chief asset of the game, players. Whether you are going to buy, sell, or develop talent, improper valuations of players as assets will hider success, while gaining a better understanding of the market will give you an edge.

Every signing means that player is worth that amount to somebody. Otherwise you’re trying to convince us that the owners are not rational people, that they’re all fucking idiots.

—Donald Fehr (Executive Director, Major League Baseball Players Association (1986–2009)¹⁰³)