(Haruyoshi Yamaguchi/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

An unnamed MLB team has purchased a supercomputer from Cray Inc., which sells machines that range from $500,000 to $60 million, according to BusinessInsider.com.

Cray CEO Peter Ungaro told The Economist that the club wishes to use the device for speedy in-game analysis:

The team obtained one both because the machine has the capacity to analyse enormous quantities of data and because of the short time in which it can process them. Other technologies, such as cloud computing, could wade leisurely through information, helping managers make choices during the off-season (perhaps concerning which players to add to the roster, for example). Instead, a team can use a supercomputer to process data in time to affect decisions during play.

Ungaro also noted that, while the team wished to remain anonymous, it was an organization that many might not expect.

The team, which declines to be named, exemplifies an organisation that, five years ago, most people would not have dreamed would need, or even want, a supercomputer, he says.

While details in the article are vague, the purchase could have been spurred on by MLB's new player tracking technology that was unveiled earlier this month at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, which can create over 7 terabytes of data to sift through in an individual game.

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The Economist

Business Insider