Moneyball: How The Runt of The Litter Survives
Moneyball: How The Runt of The Litter Survives
Moneyball: How The Runt of The Litter Survives
Its an age old problem. Those with the most money are typically more successful in most
situations such as politics or business. The world of professional sports world isnt immune to
the influence of money either. The teams with the most money usually perform the best, simply
because they have the funds to buy the most talented players. For example, the most winningest
team in baseball history has been the New York Yankees. Theyre total salary for the 2015 season
was $217,758,571, and they usually have the highest total salary in all of baseball. If we look at
soccer, the same rules apply, even though their wealth is based more on the transfer budget, or
acquiring players. In the Barclays Premier League, the team at the top of the table right now is
Manchester City. They also happen to have the highest transfer budget in the premier league at
the moment. So, with this kind of dominance in both sports, how are the poorer teams able to
compete?
In the movie Moneyball, Billy Beane, the General Manager for the Oakland Athletics,
tasked himself with explaining the problem to his scouts, asking over and over again, Whats
the problem?. The scouts thought that the problem was that they couldnt replace the three key
players that they had lost: Jason Isringhausen, Johnny Damon, and Jason Giambi. The fact of the
matter was, that they had drafted and developed these players for much cheaper than they sold
them for, so, although they made a profit, they couldnt afford anyone that was as talented for as
cheap as they were. Beane makes the argument as follows, There are rich teams and there are