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FanGraphs | Kiley McDaniel: This shouldn’t be a surprise, but international amateur pool money is incredibly valuable. In fact, when looking at the precise ROI going back the last decade, ROIs were between 300-1000% in surplus value, trending towards the lower side today as teams spend more and compete against each other more competitively. This isn’t a shock, and it should explain why certain teams that didn’t participate, like the Orioles, had serious issues with their talent pipeline.
Baseball Prospectus | Rob Arthur: The ball... it’s juiced. In just the first week we’ve seen Christian Yelich hit homers in four consecutive games and Chris Sale give up three in a game, but the bigger indicator of a juiced ball is that the drag on the ball is among the lowest of any week over the last year... and it’s April! As the weather gets warmer we could see even less air resistance, and balls that look like they fly right off the bat.
The Athletic | Eno Sarris ($): Most stats mean nothing in April, but one that does is maximum exit velocity. For every mph over 108 a player hits the ball, it is reasonable to adjust their OPS projection by 6 points per. This means that players like Pete Alonso, Christian Walker, Luke Voit, and Lewis Brinson are in fairly good company.