Alex Rodriguez completely misunderstands ‘Moneyball’ while praising Milwaukee Brewers

October 9, 2026 - 04:53

In 2003, "Moneyball" took MLB by storm. The book, which chronicles how the 2002 Oakland Athletics won 103 games using a data-driven approach, became the template for how baseball would be played for decades to come. Many of that Athletics team's core "sabermetrics" tenets still drive strategy in MLB today: prioritizing on-base percentage over batting average, exploiting market inefficiencies, and finding undervalued players who could contribute to winning in ways that traditional scouting often overlooked.

Alex Rodriguez recently attempted to connect that legacy to the Milwaukee Brewers, but his analysis missed the mark. While praising the Brewers for their success, Rodriguez framed their approach in a way that suggested he misunderstood what made Moneyball revolutionary in the first place. The philosophy was never about simply spending less or relying on luck. It was about questioning conventional wisdom and using evidence to build a competitive roster.

The Brewers have indeed found ways to win without top-tier payrolls, but crediting them as a direct extension of Moneyball without grasping the underlying principles does a disservice to both the book and the team. Rodriguez's comments reflect a broader tendency to reduce a complex analytical movement to a simple catchphrase, stripping away the nuance that made it transformative.