Jeff Kent’s analytics rant inadvertently lambasts Buster Posey’s SF Giants core

The SF Giants celebrated Hall of Fame second baseman Jeff Kent last weekend and held a ceremony to officially retire his No. 21 jersey number. It was a well-earned coronation, but Kent’s comments about analytics and the way the game of baseball is played these days drew a lot of attention.

In a press conference with the media after the ceremony, Kent was asked about the way the game is played now and he gave a three and a half minute response in which he said the following:

“I hope that there’s patience with Buster Posey because it’s gonna be an uphill battle to change the dynamic of the evolution of the game that has gone the wrong way… Too many smart people have created WARs and statistics of, you know, the shift…That’s taken away from the game itself… Run production is now a .240 batting average and driving in 76 runs and you get paid $20 million. I don’t freaking get that.”

If there is one thing that retired MLB players like to do, it is complain about the way that baseball is played these days. One has to imagine past generations did the same thing about Kent’s generation and maybe that is the inevitable evolution of every baseball fan. Perhaps we all look at the game we love one day and get bitter or complain about it.

Kent may have something of a point that analytics have taken over the game too much and sapped some of the artistry, fundamentals, and feel for the sport, although he did allow that analytics should be in the game but only up to a certain extent. The irony of his whole rant is that the core of the team Posey has built in San Francisco is based on guys who hit around .240 and drive in around 75 runs per year.

Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, and Rafael Devers are all overpaid in Jeff Kent's eyes

Just think about Matt Chapman and Willy Adames. In Chapman’s three seasons with San Francisco he’s collectively hit .239/.331/.430 with 55 homers and 181 runs batted in. Adames’ two seasons with San Francisco have seen him collectively hit .227/.306/.422 with 51 homers and 131 runs batted in. Chapman is getting paid roughly $25 million per year while Adames is getting paid roughly $31 million per year.

Then there’s Rafael Devers who deserves to be separate from those two because he is a better hitter who slugs more than them, but last season he hit .236/.347/.460 with 20 homers and 51 RBI for the Giants and this year he’s hit .252/.334/.497 with 32 homers and 83 runs batted in. He’s making $28.5 million per year.

Those three guys comprise most of San Francisco’s payroll and yet it’s doubtful any of them will have a batting average much higher than .250 during their tenure with the Giants. That just represents a fundamental shift in the game where different stats are valued more than batting average or RBIs. Kent is famous for saying, “The money lies in the RBIs,” but in today’s MLB it’s more fitting to say, "You will make more with a high WAR," or, “Front offices are impressed by your OPS,” or maybe, “Your bank account will be robust if you have a high wRC+.”

While Posey is not as analytically inclined as Farhan Zaidi was, his front office still values the same stats that the rest of MLB does. That’s why they put so much money into those three guys while they were able to sign Luis Arraez for just $12 million even though he very well could win another batting title.

The game has changed, maybe not entirely for the better, and Kent clearly doesn’t love that. He’s not alone as many fans probably don’t love the brand of baseball that is currently played where fundamentals are lacking and a two-strike approach often feels like a relic of the past.

The Giants came into this year with a solid lineup on paper and they seemed to be bridging these two competing schools of thought by having guys like Devers who have the stats that make you the big bucks in today’s game while also having guys like Arraez and Jung Hoo Lee who are contact hitters who can have a batting average above .300.

It obviously didn’t work out the way the Giants envisioned but if Kent thinks that Posey is going to upend the way the modern game is played, the Giants have committed so much money to guys who Kent thinks are grossly overpaid that he is likely going to be disappointed.

Kent is entitled to take issue with what front offices prioritize in the current era compared to his era, but for better or worse this is the way the game is played these days and it is not likely to change anytime soon. 

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