A hazard of baseball’s data revolution is the risk of minimizing experience. Former players with a lifetime in the game are often shut out of modern coaching staffs. You might have been teammates with Willie Mays, but unless you know your way around an iPad, good luck getting hired.
“Part of the challenge we face as an industry is there are so many wonderfully experienced coaches, but many of them, because they’ve been in the game so long, have a certain way of doing things and they’re resistant to change,” said Jeff Luhnow, the general manager of the Houston Astros, adding later: “A lot of people are stubborn.