Reddit reviews The MVP Machine: How Baseball's New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players

In another life I went the route of scouting analyst/sabermetrician in baseball. I've explored this option a bit so have some input to offer.

I've seen the NBA post IO positions in their front office. Not exactly a sports team per say, but not far off. Additionally, all teams have HR groups as any other organization so more HR oriented routes are available. There is some disparity of analytical savvy among teams, but that gap is rapidly closing.

I agree with /u/nckmiz, scouting departments seems the most interesting and likely route to me. But they don't pay particularly well (which I was surprised to see). They also expect you to travel with the team and be available all hours of the day during parts of the season (draft time and trade deadline probably). Additionally, they really want people who know the sport, can do the math, and speak in layman's terms. Often this operationalizes as somebody who has published extensively in blogs, reddit, Fangraphs, or other. They expect a portfolio that demonstrates you understand the critical aspects of a sport, can piece together new trends and pitch it in a way that the business folks can understand.

If any of this interests you, you might like the book The MVP Machine. Ben is awesome and has a podcast I would suggest as well if you like baseball as much as I do. Recently, his former cohost took a job with the Tampa Bay Rays analytics department. Maybe not true IO, but this was the route that interested me.

Also this might be of interest to people : http://www.sloansportsconference.com/

And if you're really jazzed and want to take the plunge: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/category/job-postings/ (but if anybody here gets one of these jobs you have to talk to me all the time about it or I will ban you)

If that's all you're using the numbers for, you're using it wrong. Teams like the Astros use it to help maximize player performance and recognize certain skills. In addition, they are also using that data to help better develop players. The MVP Machine is a good read about this if you're curious.

https://www.amazon.com/MVP-Machine-Baseballs-Nonconformists-Players-ebook/dp/B07J4WG7FF

I know this is days later but I thought I'd throw in my two cents.

The Best Team Money Can Buy was great.

I also enjoyed The Arm.

The Big Chair by former Dodger GM Ned Colletti was a really interesting look from the perspective of the front office. It's more of a memoir so it starts about Ned's early life as a kid in Chicago. It gave me newfound respect for Colletti.

Currently reading The MVP Machine, which is a great look at player development.

Smart Baseball is a few years old but is a good book about newer stats and why things like RBI, pitcher wins, and stolen bases are pretty bad ways of evaluating players.

If you want more Dodger history from their Brooklyn days, Bums was a fascinating read.