The Miami Marlins have an analytical problem

The Miami Marlins are having trouble developing hitters and as a result have a below average lineup. This isn’t news, but the cause of that goes far beyond not spending enough money in free agency or not developing players enough in the Minors. It’s the fact that analytics is an area of need that the team is just not addressing properly. In fact it’s downright embarrassing.

The Miami Marlins have a serious problem with analytics.

Take a look at this:

As you can see the Miami Marlins have only 9 people in the analytical department. 9 people. Compare that to the 37 that the Tampa Bay Rays have on their payroll. Thirty seven. Thank you Bruce Sherman and Kim Ng. Thank you very much. You know how teams sign a free agent pitcher and change his pitching arsenal, and it turns out that by throwing his slider less he goes from a guy who can’t stick in the Majors to an elite closer? That’s thanks to analysts.

Teams that don’t spend much in free agency need them especially. This is a perfect way to save money and build a perennially contending team. That’s the goal isn’t it? Or is Bruce Sherman more interested in just owning a sports team? What does Kim Ng think about this? Does she want more analysts or would she rather just not win?

If a small market team such as the Tampa Bay Rays can afford it, there is no excuse why the Miami Marlins can’t. Which brings me to a question, why don’t we have more analysts? Is it because Bruce Sherman and Kim Ng don’t want to spend the money, or because they don’t realize how important this is?

The Miami Marlins badly need more analysts, more scouts, more people who can find hidden gems and specifically help develop hitters that we badly need. We can’t rely on pitching to do everything, we can’t rely on free agency when we barely spend that much in the first place, we need the same system that the Tampa Bay Rays have. If they can be annual playoff contenders with less money than us, then there’s no excuse why we can’t do it as well.