Daily Briefing: Dusty Baker, Job Security, and the Hall of Fame

The FanGraphs Newsletter, October 26, 2021 [READ IN BROWSER]( By Jeffrey Bellone - October 26, 2021 DUSTY BAKER: The Astros knew exactly what they were doing when they hired [Dusty Baker]( to manage the team in the wake of commissioner Rob Manfred’s report on [the club’s illegal sign-stealing efforts]( during the 2017 and ’18 seasons. The septuagenarian skipper’s old-school reputation stood out as an effort to rebrand an analytically-inclined organization that Manfred criticized as “insular” and “problematic,” to say nothing of [outside]( [criticisms]( of the team’s methods as “dehumanizing.” Baker’s human touch and his skill at dealing with the media have helped to offset some of the anger and hostility directed at the team by fans, while the Astros have continued their deep postseason runs, presumably without the benefit of illegal electronic help. 👉 [Dusty Baker, Job Security, and the Hall of Fame, by Jay Jaffe]( Contract Crowdsourcing 2021-22 Free agency begins five days after the end of the World Series. As in other [recent seasons]( FanGraphs is once again facilitating a contract crowdsourcing project, with the idea being to harness the wisdom of the crowd to better understand and project the 2021-22 free-agent market. In recent years, we’ve added a few features to the ballots based on reader feedback. You now have the option to indicate that a player will only receive a minor-league contract, or won’t receive one at all. Numbers are prorated to full season where noted. The projected WAR figures are from the first cut of the 2022 Steamer600 projections. 👉 [Contract Crowdsourcing 2021-22: Ballot 1 of 11]( 👉 [Contract Crowdsourcing 2021-22: Ballot 2 of 11]( This newsletter is made possible due to the generous support of our members. If you are reading this email or use FanGraphs in your daily baseball routine, please consider supporting us. [BECOME A FANGRAPHS MEMBER]( [Yordan Alvarez Is Crushing the Ball]( by Luke Hooper [A Conversation With Tampa Bay Rays Prospect Curtis Mead]( by David Laurila [Airing It Out: A Look at This October’s Fastball Velocities]( by Devan Fink [Adjusting Projection Analysis to League Run Scoring Environment]( by Jeff Zimmerman [Guess!...That!...Pitch!]( by Lucas Kelly [The 2021 NFBC Unauctioned -- Building a Pitching Staff, A Review]( by Mike Podhorzer ⚾️ ROSTER REPORT For the latest roster information, please visit our [RosterResource]( pages. [Like it or not, the Astros are probably going to win the 2021 World Series]( by Steven Martano, Beyond the Box Score [Beyond the past drama and scandal, Astros-Braves is a great baseball matchup]( by Peter Gammons, The Athletic ($) [How Atlanta’s Left-Handed Bullpen Trio Helped Spark a World Series Run]( by Zach Kram, The Ringer [Five numbers that could matter in the World Series]( by Eno Sarris, The Athletic ($) [Freddie Freeman's Fall Classic moment with the Atlanta Braves has finally arrived]( by Tim Keown, ESPN [@fangraphs]( [FanGraphs]( [FanGraphs]( [RSS]( [FORWARD]( [SUBSCRIBE]( Copyright © 2021 FanGraphs Inc, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to the FanGraphs Newsletter. Our mailing address is: FanGraphs Inc 1200 N Hartford St. Apt 312Arlington, Va 22201 [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](