MLB fans troll Rob Manfred after MLB commissioner dismisses impact of analytics in baseball

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said he was in agreement with the MLB owner who felt that teams engaged in reliance on analytics were virtually in "an arms race to nowhere." Fans contended the statement as they took to social media to voice their opinions.

Analytics have been part of the game since the early part of the 21st century. There is constant debate on how much should analytics affect the sport as each year the MLB tries to counter it with rule changes.

The Oakland Athletics' use of Moneyball set the tone for smaller teams with relative lower spending to gain success. But as the years went by, more big-league squads evened the game with their own analytics-backed squad building.

The strategies of scouting had become too outdated and it needed to reinvented. However Rob Manfred feels they have done more damage to the game than its worth.

“Once everybody’s doing it, that little margin that maybe you’re getting…I am sure that whatever that margin was at one point in time, whatever it is today, it sure as heck is not worth the damage that was done to the game over a period of time,” Rob Manfred said, via Evan Drellich of The Athletic.

The comment was followed by harsh and sarcastic criticism from fans who were in favour of analytics bringing a positive effect on the game