John Geer sent me the link to this fascinating story on how the Orioles are using a psychological test to help them choose players to draft and trade.

Frank Marcos, head of the Major League Scouting Bureau, said, "As popular as [psychological testing] is, I'm not sure many teams go as in depth as Baltimore. They're at the forefront."

Why have the Orioles jumped in so deep? They believe Ritterpusch's conclusions are a breakthrough.

"The test isn't new, but the interpretation is new," Flanagan said.

Personnel executives have long believed that desire was a key to success; teams that used psychological tests did so primarily to identify that quality.

But Ritterpusch startlingly contends drive is less important than several other qualities.

"The old cliche about 'the guy who wants it the most will get it' - it's a myth," he said.

Winslow, the test's godfather, is surprised and impressed.

"Dave has taken this beyond what anyone else has done in baseball," Winslow said. "It's a step beyond conventional research. He has found specific and valid correlations between the data and why pitchers are succeeding and failing. And not just pitchers in general, but starters and relievers. He has broken it down that far.

"I have seen what he has done. It isn't a hypothesis."

This underscores my point about there being many different ways to win baseball games. This is sabermetrics of a different form. It's another way to find good young talent, and young talent is cheap talent. How long the Orioles will have this edge is unclear, but it seems to be working for the Twins and the Braves.

The AL East is certainly becoming the test bed for how to win. You have the Blue Jays, Red Sox and Orioles all trying new things. In front of them is the prize, the New York Yankees. If one of these upstarts can unseat the king, acceptance of these methods won't be far behind.