MVP Machine

Travis Sawchik, Ben Lindbergh

"[T]he Moneyball era is over. Fifteen years after Michael Lewis brought the Oakland Athletics' groundbreaking team-building strategies to light, every front office takes a data-driven approach to evaluating players, and the league's smarter teams no longer have a huge advantage in valuing past performance. Lindbergh and Sawchik's behind-the-scenes reporting reveals: How the 2017 Astros and 2018 Red Sox used cutting-edge technology to win the World Series ; How undersized afterthoughts Jose Altuve and Mookie Betts became big sluggers and MVPs ; How polarizing pitcher Trevor Bauer made himself a Cy Young contender ; How new analytical tools have overturned traditional pitching and hitting techniques ; How a wave of young talent is making MLB both better than ever and arguably worse to watch. Instead of out-drafting, out-signing, and out-trading their rivals, baseball's best minds have...