Beyond Moneyball: Using Data Analytics to Improve Performance in Elite Team Sports

Farhan Zaidi is a Massachusetts Institution of Technology (MIT) and University of California-Berkeley graduate who started in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a data analyst with the Oakland Athletics before being promoted to Director of Baseball Operations and then Assistant General Manager. His success with the A’s led to Zaidi being appointed General Manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers in November 2014. He is no exception, as more and more teams are hiring data analysts (or data scientists) to work alongside their video performance analysts and these data analysts are now beginning to occupy senior positions in sports organizations. Sports analytics is creating a real buzz in elite team sports these days. Industry conferences on the subject are becoming a regular event. Further, books, journals, websites, and university courses on sports analytics are now common.