Analytics, defined as the systematic computational analysis of data or statistics, has, we are told endlessly, revolutionized Major League Baseball.

The topic was broached with Dean Lombardi, president and general manager of the Kings.

It was a day in April during the NHL playoffs when Lombardi spent almost an hour in a conference room in Kings HQ in El Segundo talking with reporters on a wide array of subjects crossing sports boundaries, ranging from “top three defensemen do not grow on trees” to “any franchise that’s gong to be a real franchise, your best player has got to take charge,” citing the old Celtics with Larry Bird as one such example.

Late in the conversation, he was asked about analytics in general in sports, and baseball in particular coming to a point where general managers are giving managers game plans.

“What do you think my chances are if I go downstairs and give Darryl Sutter a computer sheet and say, ‘Why don’t you use this?’ ”

Lombardi does not dismiss analytics out of hand. But he does have reservations.

“It’s one thing to look at it, but, quite frankly, you’ve got to be careful with some of these things,” he said. “The one thing that is missing in all of this is no one has shown the correlation with winning.

“I get it, and I’ll use it as a touchstone. I think it’s a great checkoff. But this stuff you heard about you’ll do this and this will happen, they can’t prove it. And there is a reason they can’t prove it. It probably doesn’t have the impact on winning and losing that they think.”

Lombardi’s thoughts resonate during MLB’s postseason. The “Dodger Way,” which used to evoke memories of Branch Rickey and sound fundamentals, has come in some quarters to mean a total embrace of analytics to a point where understanding the finer points of baseball is dismissed.

Those of us who suspect overkill applaud Lombardi.

The last two winners of the World Series were the Royals and Giants. Neither team is run by young executives buried in computer printouts. They use the new stuff. They are not controlled by it.

Why then have so many MLB organizations turned away from baseball lifers in favor of whiz kids?

Lombardi had an interesting observation about the young guns, about how they operate and what prompts owners to hire them.

“They’re a lot of Wall Street guys,” he said. “They like the idea of being in control. That’s what those Wall Street analysts do.

“They convince you that the spread sheet tell you this is going to happen. Owners have Wall Street guys come in and say, ‘See this is going to guarantee you’re going to win.’ They fall in love with it because it looks like it is statistically verifiable.”

Such owners speak the same language as the Wall Street types. They are more comfortable with them than with tobacco-chewing old ballplayers.

No owner in sports was more tuned in to numbers than the late Dr. Jerry Buss, who had so much success with the Lakers. He did not hobble or distract his basketball people with analytics.

Lombardi talked about the culture of winning.

“When you go in a locker room, you know it,” he said. “It’s not a statistic. You can’t put a number on it. You can’t verify it. You only know it when you see it and feel it. You’re talking about the human element.”

The Dodgers eliminating the Nationals was called a victory for analytics.

Not even close.

The Dodgers finished off the guys in Washington with the bold moves of using closer Kenley Jansen as the setup man and Clayton Kershaw as closer in the elimination game of the National League Division Series.

Then comes the best-team-money-can-buy factor. The Dodgers sit atop MLB’s bankroll mountain with a player payroll of $227,329,905, which dwarf’s No. 30 Arizona’s $56,270,333 and is slightly less than double that of the $116,264,024 the Cubs, their National League Championship Series opponent, spends.

Add to this the aggressive churn of the roster during the season, creative use of the disabled list and Manager Dave Roberts keeping those players who were shuttled on and off the playing roster focused and at least relatively happy and you have the basic formula for the success of the Dodgers in 2016.

Clearing out the mini-notebook:

Scouting report — NBA scout on Lakers: “They’re still a couple of years away, but they will be a much improved team this season.” And: “Brandon Ingram is going to be a really good player.” …

Calendar — LMU basketball coach Mike Dunlap will hold a coaching clinic open to coaches at all levels Saturday at 9 a.m. at LMU. …

Life beyond hoops — OKC’s Russell Westbrook, the pride of Leuzinger High, has entered the business world with Russell Westbrook Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram dealership in Van Nuys. …

Bottom line — Folks in Reno probably see a measure of Colin Kaepernick in Sam Darnold, USC’s 19-year-old, 6-foot-4, 225-pound quarterback. When Kaepernick, also 6-4, was a 19-year-old University of Reno, Nevada quarterback he weighed in at 220 pounds.