Buyer Beware! MLB Free Agents Underperform Their Contracts

Almost every team’s fans can point to a signature free agent signing that fell flat. Sometimes the reasons for the players’ underperformance are clear -- injuries for example. But often, it’s harder to pinpoint the cause. In those cases we tend to point to lack of effort as the culprit. This is what researchers call “shirking.” According to Richard Paulsen, who presented his paper “New Evidence in the Study of Shirking in Major League Baseball,” at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, “shirking occurs when an employee exerts effort... that is suboptimal in the eyes of the employer.” Richard speaks with us about his research on shirking and his belief that the Phillies are going to regret at least one free-agent signing from this off-season.