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Andrew Ball

@andrewball.bsky.social
52 followers 107 following 50 posts

Thoughts about sports + management andrewballnotes.substack.com | Past: Astros, Angels, Rays

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Reposted by Andrew Ball
Winners @winnersshowpod.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
NEW EPISODE: This time we cover the 1995 UConn Women's Basketball team. This is the team that started one of the greatest dynasties we've ever seen. We went deep on Geno, Rebecca Lobo, and the women's game. Hope you enjoy! open.spotify.com/episode/48A8...
open.spotify.com
1995 UConn Women's Basketball
Winners · Episode
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This is a good overview of some of the ways pro scouts add value even as data coverage continues to increase. There are a lot of pieces of information humans are better equipped to gather to make the best decisions.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I had fun on @ewpod.bsky.social talking about open command, the advantages of public analysis, and why teams are maybe too protective of secrets.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Two friends from my TB Rays days and I started a podcast! We released two episodes so far: one on the 2016 Chicago Cubs and another on the 2004 Detroit Pistons.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Is it good when sports owners have multiple franchises? This feels like one of the consequences of teams being worth so much. There are a very small number of buyers relative to ten years ago.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
There’s so much value scouting departments can add if teams would take the time to develop better questions
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Putting all deadline acquisitions on the same scale — in terms of WS% add — is smart, even with the error bars. If not, you’re comparing apples to oranges at one of the most important times of the year.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Based on media guides, the average front office has 240 staff members with a handful of teams in the low 300s. The A’s have the fifth fewest, at 203. But I doubt the number of people working for them is one of the most critical things holding them back. www.nytimes.com/athletic/750...
nytimes.com
The A’s expected to be better than this by now – here are 3 ways to fix them (Gift Article)
After dismissing GM David Forst, A's owner John Fisher has some work to do as the team regroups before its move to Vegas in 2028.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Big day for the 2018 Angels prospect list. Number two (Jo Adell), number thirteen (Jose Soriano), and number fourteen (Taylor Ward) all traded.
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Reposted by Andrew Ball
Jason Fry @jasoncfry.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Those of you eager to serve wealthy MLB owners as volunteer Pinkertons won’t like to read this, but as usual Joe Sheehan nails the real problem:
Joe Sheehan: This trade is a microcosm of the real problem MLB has faced for decades. It’s not about haves and have-nots, but wants and want-nots. The Dodgers, and teams like them, want to win more than teams like the Tigers do, so they go out and acquire the Tigers’ best pitcher. MLB has built an entire labor strategy and media campaign around demonizing the Dodgers, when in fact it’s the Tigers who are wrecking baseball. You have to be through the looking glass to think the sport’s problem is the team that’s trying to win rather than the team that’s trading Tarik Skubal while sitting 2 1/2 games out of a playoff spot.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
M’s potentially selling with 40% playoff odds would be something.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
I don’t think we talk enough about how weird it is that the A’s play in a Triple-A stadium
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
This is generally the best way to look at how teams order talent in the draft: x.com/baseballamer...
x.com
Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) on X
Top 100 draft bonuses for 2026 👀 https://t.co/r1J6ftpQns
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Reposted by Andrew Ball
Blake Murphy @blakemurphy.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
LeBron probably just loves The Wonder Years
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
I wrote about the draft again. This time, I looked at how much things get from the first mocks and rankings of the year. (I’ll write about something else next week). open.substack.com/pub/andrewba...
open.substack.com
How Much Does the Spring Tell Us About Players in the MLB Draft?
Teams begin every draft season with a mountain of information on prospects. How much should a few months change their opinions?
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Reposted by Andrew Ball
Grant Brisbee @grantbrisbee.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Ben Rice is great if you're really hungry for home runs, and you want to watch 2,000 of something.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
The amount of players isn’t all that important. The vast majority of players drafted (regardless of where they come from) won’t ever produce major league value. But some of the most impactful will probably be HS players, and MLB’s proposal could turn them away from the sport.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
As teams prepare their board’s for this weekend’s draft, I looked at whether they’ve improved over time. The answer is yes, slightly, but it’s more complicated than that. open.substack.com/pub/andrewba...
open.substack.com
Are MLB Teams Getting Better at Drafting?
The draft has become a data-driven process with more information available than ever. Has that information led to better decisions?
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Man, maybe pulling Eury Perez after the seventh was the right call but it’s not any fun. Let him go out there and see if he can get some quick outs.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Something about Balogun playing doesn’t feel great for the US. Like bad karma. I would probably be more worried if this wasn’t borderline expected from FIFA
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Reposted by Andrew Ball
Chris Vannini @chrisvannini.com · 05/07/2026
A suspiciously favorable administrative decision means we're a real soccer country now.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Always fun to see the first timers. Also, there’s an alternate world where the Angels whole OF - Mike Trout, Brandon Marsh, and Andy Pages made the team this year.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
I’ve never really noticed it before, but Shams highlighting the agents in all free agent reporting is weird.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Micah Nori signing a 1 year contract with two club options is terrible. Not only is it unfair to ask him uproot his life and family with such a minimal commitment, it also signals very little belief. Doesn’t seem like an ideal way to start the relationship.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
It feels like maybe you should wait until the team is over .500 to quote The Town in your press appearances
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
I can’t help but think of Tyler Skaggs when I look at the Angels’ Father’s Day image.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
I know why we can’t, but it would be great if we could report solely on baseball for the next nine months rather than the labor negotiations.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Really enjoyed this. Well thought out and well sourced.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
I wrote this week about insecurity and the need to appear intelligent. It’s amazing how much better most things get when you stop worrying about what others think and focus on real connections. open.substack.com/pub/andrewba...
open.substack.com
Stop Trying to Sound Smart
There's a difference between sounding intelligent and being understood.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
It would be interesting if more proposed trades became public. Teams generally only get evaluated on what they execute, but the moves not made matter just as much.
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Reposted by Andrew Ball
Yaron Weitzman @yaronweitzman.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
What happens when one of the NBA’s most storied teams—long run like a tight-fisted mom-and-pop shop—is taken over by a free-spending ownership group with a track record of building one of sports’ most sophisticated operations? Story, for @yahoosports.bsky.social: sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/...
sports.yahoo.com
What will the Lakers look like with top Dodgers execs helping lead the way? That's the big question in L.A.
The franchise's new owner has empowered a couple of venerated baseball executives to spearhead a transformation.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Vargas was a risky centerpiece when the White Sox traded Erick Fedde and Michael Kopech. It’s turning out to be a good bet.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
It’s so refreshing watching Kenny, Shaq, and Barkley on Inside the NBA. They seem to genuinely love the NBA and take every opportunity to praise the players and the gameplay. Very different from most baseball broadcasts.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Interesting insight from Arrighetti: “My rookie year, the average velocity of my curveball was probably two or three miles per hour higher, because I would try to throw it as hard as I could every time. I’ve come around to understanding that that isn’t at all necessary.”
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
I don’t really see why the injury will change his market. You could even argue fewer innings and getting a necessary procedure out of the way will help him this offseason.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
Fun SF-CLE trade! If Bailey rebounds, he’s the Cadillac version of Austin Hedges, giving them an elite defensive combo. I’d rather their side, but good for SF for getting real value now rather than waiting.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
I’m excited (either way) to see what Spencer Jones will be. There’s an alternate world where he was a well above slot pick for the Angels out of high school after he missed nearly his whole senior year with an injury. Purely on the prospect value, it might have been worthwhile.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Dan with data that suggests managerial changes alone don’t change much. I wrote about a similar topic yesterday: open.substack.com/pub/andrewba...
open.substack.com
That's Not Accountability
When teams underperform, the common move is to fire the manager. Why that often falls short and what those decisions signal to the rest of the organization.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
This is becoming an increasingly important question. Front Offices are too involved with decisions in the dugout. Almost everyone agrees that the best strategy is to hire people and let them do their jobs, yet that’s not what happens with managers. www.nytimes.com/athletic/723...
nytimes.com
After recent MLB manager firings, why would anyone want this job?
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Great example of an outside view in practice! And the success rate is better than I thought. Will be interesting to see how it goes. My biggest question is if they could have traded down to execute the same strategy, but if they’re right about Simpson, it won’t really matter.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
It’s not easy to get communication right in these situations, but this isn’t even trying.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
The Red Sox line shifting their coaching staff before the end of April is wild
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Reposted by Andrew Ball
Keerthika Uthayakumar @keerthikau.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
This tweet came 11 years, 6 months & 27 days into LeBron's career. It’s been 10 years & 11 months since the tweet & the fuckery continues
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
What an ending to the Lakers Rockets game. I’m going to miss LeBron James when he retires.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Jeremiyah Love went third overall to the Cardinals last night. I wrote about a tool teams could have used to help contemplate the selection. open.substack.com/pub/andrewba...
open.substack.com
The Outside View
How looking beyond the situation in front of us tends to lead to better decisions.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
I love Joe’s take on this. The focus is on the players and growing.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
I know LeBron didn’t play that well from an efficiency standpoint last night, but winning a postseason game with this cast at 41 years with 19, 8, and 13? It’s hard to feel anything other than awe.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
With the NFL draft coming up, I wrote about the effect age plays, and how teams have decide how heavily they want to rely on past info when circumstances may have changed. open.substack.com/pub/andrewba...
open.substack.com
Age, Uncertainty, and Draft Decisions
Historically age has been important for draft picks. How do teams use that history to inform decisions about the future?
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
I wrote about the trend of big, early extensions: open.substack.com/pub/andrewba...
open.substack.com
MLB Extensions: The Same Bet, Made Earlier
Why teams are committing earlier and what they're giving up the process.
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Andrew Ball @andrewball.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
I wrote about this week, too! open.substack.com/pub/andrewba...
open.substack.com
What the First Week Actually Tells Us
Early season results are largely ignored. Should that be the case?
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