Analytics crunch numbers but give personalities short shrift

Judging personalities is an underrated front-office skill. (Clockwise from top left): the Twins' Miguel Sano has great physical gifts, but needs to deFor Billy Beane, Theo Epstein and their acolytes, sports analytics proved transformative. Today, sports analytics are more necessities than differentiators, and as we watch the NBA and Stanley Cup playoffs, and hear of the Twins building an analytics department to rival the CIA, you won’t need a calculator to figure out why certain teams succeed and others fail.

Judging personality is the oldest sports analytic, and the most important.

Baseball scouts have long called this “makeup.” They’re not talking about mascara; they’re talking about…