The stats will be what they are. As with all things, it will come down to how that information is evaluated. I was an eager beaver with sabermetrics many years

The stats will be what they are. As with all things, it will come down to how that information is evaluated. I was an eager beaver with sabermetrics many years ago, but I've become disenchanted with the powers-that-be in that realm. Nate Silver is one of the good guys, but a really strong undercurrent of this-is-fact-and-my-voice-is-louder has taken hold. A bunch of Billy Beane wannabes, it seems to me. This particular set of data from the MLB has the expansiveness to allow for better evaluation of players in things like defense, where current statistical calculations such as UZR can be highly fungible and volatile with the current set of inputs. It's not surprising that certain teams would want to limit access to the data set, as it has become such an important aspect of player evaluation and team construction.