Hibachi, with all due respect, I think the misconception is on your end. I'm not sure you actually understand what makes a "calculator" team or really much about value in baseball. I say this as a devout sabermetrician and someone whose hobby is baseball analysis and studying the approaches of different teams. I've spent a whole lot of time researching the Rays alone.
"Calculator teams" are teams that approach the game looking at empirical data to find the best players. Those players don't fit a certain type, and that is a HUGE misunderstanding about moneyball and data-based team building in general.
The Rays for three years now have been the picture of a data-driven team.
And avoiding outs is the most important skill for a position player in baseball. It is not the only skill and poor ability can be made up for, but it's the hardest deficiency to overcome with proficiency in other areas. Batting average is a mostly useless statistic, so comparing two players with it tells you very little. And player A is almost certainly better unless player B has a ton of power.
But that is neither here nor there. Anyone who actually knows a bit about the teams knows the Rays are one of THE sabermetric teams, and that is not a recent development, and the Angels are one of THE anti-sabermetric teams, and that is not a recent development.
Just because Mark Teixeira is the kind of player such a team might want doesn't mean a thing. I cannot emphasise enoug that you CANNOT evaluate their approach by merely looking at the players play.
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