Moneyball Posted on January 18, 2026 at 11:21:56 AM by Benny Bueno
Good morning, kids,
Thank you for your responses to my response yesterday.
Maybe I should’ve just gone to sleep after reading everything last night, lol.
I agree with many of the comments about what I said, though there are a few I don’t see the same way. As I sit here watching my grandson play on his 16U team, I noticed something that ties right into this topic. The pitcher for the other team started off strong… then hit three batters in a row.
Was it a lack of intelligence? Would a minor league or major league player have adjusted quicker? Would a major league pitcher have better stats?
Possibly. The coaching was solid. Their coach came out after yelling a few things to his pitcher—“Come on kid, we worked on this all week!” and “It’s not impossible, pretend there’s no batter up there!” It made me laugh, especially thinking back on my comments yesterday.
The coach talked to his pitcher, and the kid began throwing strikes again. Unfortunately for them, our team was ready, and we knocked the ball all over the field.
Here’s my point: you can pull up all the stats you want from the ’90s when you used to go to Milford, but keep this in mind. Pre‑2021 in Dania, there were roughly two dozen veterans on the roster. Six to eight players had been around five or six years, and there were only three or four rookies.
With the exception of a small handful of our current players, the roster today is made up of guys in their first, second, or third season as pros. A very high percentage of what I would honestly call rookies. Maybe someone is having a sophomore‑jinx type of year. Maybe a few improved a little from last year—but not enough.
And here’s something some people love to ridicule me over—something that has historically been part of my job. I don’t look at the statistics the way I used to before 2019. I coach. I approach each player individually. We focus on development, because I am trying to build something that lasts.
Believe me, if Diego, Arriaga, or Enbil were having these kinds of issues, I’d be far more concerned. But the reality is none of these young players have the experience that those veterans had.
My goal is to continue bringing young players to Dania and to continue coaching them with the hope that one day they’ll become superstars. Like Urreisti, Benetrix and Urrutia.
The unfortunate part is that in recent years, whenever I bring in a potential superstar, the next season he’s playing somewhere else.
Am I a training ground for other companies? ossibly. Am I upset about that? Not at all.
If Dania ceases to exist at the end of this season and half of this roster goes somewhere else next year and has a great season, I will be proud of them—just as I am proud of the players I brought years ago who are now fully developed.
That’s enough from me today. Enjoy the show, and know this: there are many of us who love this sport, and some might take comfort knowing that at least one of us has patience.
Tiger's Jai-Alai Chalk Talk
ossibly.
Am I upset about that?
Not at all.