Photo: Indiana University

Photo: Indiana University

So, you remember when Ruben Amaro said the Phillies would look to bring on an analytics guy to help the team incorporate stats more advanced than batting average, home runs and RBIs into their evaluation of players during this most critical of offseasons? Yeah, well, this doesn’t count:

Scott Freedman will work with the Phillies this offseason in adding advanced metrics into their player evaluation process. Freedman works in Major League Baseball’s labor relations department, where he assists teams in salary arbitration cases, among other things.

Freedman, however, is not a Phillies employee, assistant general manager Scott Proefrock said.

“He’s joined us through the commissioner’s office,” said Proefrock referring to the arrangement as an “externship.”

“He’s here for a period of time,” Proefrock continued. “We were contacted by (the commissioner’s office) this summer. They proposed the arrangement, we had a need and took advantage of it. He’s a bright guy. It might become something more than (the current role).”

An extern given to them by Major League Baseball? Besides the obvious conflict of interest (presumably in the Phillies’ favor) – Freedman’s department approves player and employee contracts – the Phillies couldn’t even so much as take $100k of that $170-ish million they’re expecting in additional revenue and give it to a full-time guy? If this isn’t checking a box so, when Amaro overpays Nelson Cruz and someone else he’s heard of, they can say, “BUT WE HAD AN ANALYTICS GUY!”, I don’t what is. Bill Fucking James just celebrated another Red Sox World Series, thanks in part to guys that went largely undervalued and overlooked last winter. Meanwhile, the Phils just completed their worst season in years with a grab bag of slop glued together to construct a poorly constructed team. And their response to cries that they be more progressive is to borrow an HR monkey from the league office? What the hell?