In an NL East that is expected to be competitive and deep, the Philadelphia Phillies are leaving nothing to chance.
They are doing whatever it takes to protect their “competitive advantage” over teams like the New York Mets, though their latest endeavor has little to do with keeping stars like Bryce Harper and Zack Wheeler on the field.
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On March 14, the Phillies sued Zelus Analytics and its parent company Teamworks Innovations for what they claim is a breach of contract over the companies’ plan to sell its tools to other teams within the NL East, according to Front Office Sports. The Phillies, who seek a temporary restraining order, allege that the contract is a “division-exclusive” one that only allows Zelus to sell parts of the Titan Intelligence platform to one team in each of the other MLB divisions, six in total.
“The harm suffered by the Phillies cannot be adequately remedied by monetary damages alone,” the lawsuit says, via FOS. “The competitive advantage secured through the division exclusivity agreement and six-team limitation is unique and cannot be precisely quantified.”
Per FOS: Titan Intelligence, which is made by Zelus, produces analytical models that help teams evaluate major and minor league players for trades and assist with roster construction, including player contracts and strategy. The lawsuit says the Phillies and Zelus had multiple agreements in 2022 and 2023 that allowed the team to have the exclusive use of Titan within the National League East division. The team has paid more than $1.75 million since 2022 for Titan and will pay $725,000 for the 2025 season.
“Teamworks Intelligence, formerly Zelus Analytics, is proud to offer analytics capabilities so differentiated, impactful, and innovative that the Phillies have attempted to block its rivals from gaining access,” the company said in a statement. “While we cannot comment on the specifics of the litigation, we are confident that Teamworks is acting in compliance with the agreement. We look forward to resolving this matter, and in the meantime, we will continue delivering world-class solutions that equip organizations to make decisions that help them excel on and off the field.”
Baseball has increasingly become more analytically-driven in recent years, and most likely, teams utilize a variety of tools and platforms, many of which are also created in-house.
But in a multi-billion dollar and hyper-competitive industry in which success (and playoffs) equal millions in revenue, it is not a shock that the Phillies are sensitive about this situation.
Fangraphs projects the NL East to be decided by a slim margin: Atlanta Braves (93-69), Phillies (87-75) and Mets (86-76).
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