Diehard baseball fans know that the season doesn’t really end with the World Series. It just downshifts a bit, as J.C. Bradbury explains in his new book Hot Stove Economics: “The final out of the World Series marks the beginning of baseball’s second season, when teams court free agents and orchestrate trades with the hope of building a championship contender. The real and anticipated transactions generate excitement among fans who discuss the merit of moves in the arena informally known as the ‘hot stove league.’”
Chapters in the new book:
1. Why Johnny Estrada Is Worth Kevin Millwood: Valuing Players as Assets
2. Down with the Triple Crown: Evaluating On-Field Performance
3. A Career Guide from Little League to Retirement: Age and Success in Baseball
4. Putting a Dollar Sign on the Muscle: Valuing Players
5. Duds, Deals, and Caveats: What Do the Estimates Reveal?
6. Winning on a Dime: The Best and Worst Managed Franchises of the Decade
7. Is C.C. Sabathia Worth $161 Million? Valuing Long Run Contracts
8. You Don’t Need a Name to Be Traded: Valuing Minor-League Prospects
Bradbury is an associate professor at Kennesaw State University. You may have heard him comparing baseball managers to U.S. presidents in our “How Much Does the President Really Matter” podcast. He also contributed to our “What’s Derek Jeter Worth?” quorum.
And now, just in time for the Baseball Winter Meetings, Bradbury is here to field your burning off-season baseball questions. Ask away in the comments section below and, as always, we’ll post his answers shortly.
and 
. You can also watch it on 
How should a college professor’s talent/value be calculated and quantified? Which metrics would you use? Do you bring these things up at your annual review?
I’m having more and more trouble nowadays discussing baseball w/ my cousin, as he’s the type who would hear the words “valuation model” and immediate attempt to dismiss any of the following points. I’m sure you encounter this too. How do you react to this?
Not only do Billy Beane’s methods not work in the playoffs, but now apparently they haven’t worked since 2006 or so. Why do you think this is the case? Is the market too efficient nowadays? Would love to hear your $0.03.
Taking into account inflation, what do you consider the 5 most valuable players of all time?
Can you walk us through what you think would happen to the competitive balance of MLB if an NFL-style salary structure (cap) was introduced? My belief is that the best teams today are the smartest, and that this would continue w/ or w/o a cap. Whattya say?
The Mets’ poor performance each of the past few years can’t be blamed on a low payroll, as they are almost always at the top of the list in terms of team payroll. They have to be at the top of your list of most poorly run franchises in Chapter 6, right? I haven’t read the book yet but had to ask.
If I ran the Pirates, then I would overspend on the international free agent market to make sure I signed some young players since as a low-payroll team, I can’t compete with the Yanks, Mets, etc to sign MLB free-agent talent. Do you think this would be a sound strategy for the Pirates? If not, then how would you try to compete with the bigger market teams.
Given the new metrics that have gained in popularity in the past few years like FIP, WAR, and the like, which top players from previous generations would be deemed even more valuable today than in their heyday, and which would be cast aside by teams nowadays?