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Wharton Moneyball

Wharton Moneyball: Changes to the Atlantic League & Predictive Analytics

Ep. 160

Show from 7/24/19


In this episode of Wharton Moneyball, as the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline approaches teams will begin to become buyers or sellers. Tune in to hear what the data says about the worth of a few months of a rental player vs a handful of lesser known prospects. Then Hosts Cade Massey, Eric Bradlow, Adi Wyner and Shane Jensen dive into this weekend’s British Open and discuss what you should be watching as NFL training camps open. Plus find out what rule changes the Atlantic League is undergoing and hear about the tech they're using including robot umpires!


Guests:

Ron Yurko - PhD student in the Department of Statistics & Data Science at Carnegie Mellon University. His research there mainly focuses on developing statistical methodology oriented towards applications in genetics and genomics. He also publishes research on statistics in sports, and has developed multiple R packages to enable easy access of publicly available data.

Follow him on Twitter: @Stat_Ron

Check out his research here: http://www.stat.cmu.edu/~ryurko/


Rick White - President of the Atlantic League, which this year is undergoing some massive rule changes and really altering the way the game is played. Prior to his time as President, Rick worked as an executive for MLB as well as with companies including Nike. The league started 1998 and prides itself on being the most innovative league in professional baseball, offering the highest level of minor league baseball playing skills, and being a player gateway to Major League Baseball.

More information on their website: http://www.atlanticleague.com/

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