The movie Moneyball is based on the true story of Billy Beane, who is the general manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team. The film portrays Beane's attempt to build a competitive team on a budget by using statistical analysis.
Beane is frustrated with his limited budget, and after a disappointing season, he meets Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a young economics graduate from Yale University. Brand proposes using a new method of player evaluation, called sabermetrics. Sabermetrics is a statistical approach to evaluating players, based on their performance rather than traditional scouting methods.
Initially skeptical, Beane hears Brand out and decides to adopt his methods. They begin to look at undervalued players who excel in specific areas, such as on-base percentage, while disregarding traditional metrics like batting average and RBI.
Against the odds, the A's start to win games using this method. Beane makes several trades, letting go of high-priced stars and picking up undervalued players who excel in areas that the team needs. Despite resistance from his fellow executives and the team's manager, Beane continues to use sabermetrics to build a roster that is competitive but comes at a fraction of the cost of other teams' rosters.
The movie culminates in the A's making it to the playoffs but ultimately losing to the New York Yankees. However, Beane's experiment proves to be a success, and other teams start to adopt his methods of player evaluation.
Overall, Moneyball is a story of innovation, risk-taking, and teamwork. It shows how an unconventional approach to an age-old game can lead to success and inspire change in an industry.