Gabriel Guerrero Is The Second Indication Of A New Approach

As the story goes, Moneyball introduced people to the concept of an undervalued skillset. At first, it was slow-footed sluggers with a high OBP. Next, it was...well I don't know what came next, but eventually fleet-footed glovemen seemed to come in vogue. And now that most everybody seems to be paying attention to the importance of defense, the question to which everyone wants an answer is, now what? What'll be the next great undervalued resource?

Based on recent indications, the Mariners seem to believe the next great undervalued resource is players who are genetically similar to good players. Yesterday, the team announced the signing of Moises Hernandez. And today, we get news from Baseball America that the M's have inked Gabriel Guerrero, Vladimir's 17-year-old nephew.

What do we know about Gabriel Guerrero? Barely anything. But we know genetics! Let's say talent is recessive. We can consider Vlad to be good/good, or g/g. That means he inherited talent from each of his parents. That means his siblings may have inherited talent from at least one of their parents. If Gabriel Guerrero's father inherited the talent gene, and reproduced with a mate who also has the talent gene, then there's a chance that Gabriel will be g/g as well, and therefore a superstar baseball player. It's science! And what does BA have to say?

Guerrero, a big-bodied righthanded-hitter, has shown good raw power and has made improvements at the plate and in the field since he became eligible to sign last year on July 2. He projects as a corner outfielder with an solid arm.

"Big-bodies" and "good raw power" implies that Gabriel may have won the Vladimir Guerrero genetic lottery, and avoided the Wilton Guerrero genetic disaster.

Excellent.