Baseball Prospectus: The BP Team of Experts on Baseball Talent
From SoSH
Authors: "The BP Team of Experts" (edited by Steven Goldman and Christina Kahrl)
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company, Inc. Date Published: Yearly (latest: 2006)
Summary: The Baseball Prospectus manual comes out midway through each offseason (around January 1), and it is absolutely a must-read for any avid baseball fan or fantasy baseball fanatic. The book is structured with a chapter for each major league organization. Each chapter begins with a summary of the team's performance (both on the field and in the minors), including a look into that team's prospects for the future (improving/declining players, offseason acquisitions, and potential minor league callups). The writers then provide a slew of statistics for each player(including both major league players and any prospects in the minors). Statistics from the past 4 years (either major or minor league stats) are given, including less common ones like Pecota ERA, batting average on balls in play, and VORP. Ballpark-adjusted statistics are also given. As well, the book includes projected numbers for the next year for each of these players. Finally, the writers provide a paragraph summarizing their findings/observations on each player, some of which are quite entertaining to read. Occasionally these paragraphs seem to contradict each other, and their claims don't always come true, but they transmit one or two key ideas about each player. (As a side note, though, the fielding ratings that BP gives are pretty inaccurate, as far as I can tell, but I guess they're still working on that.)
This is a great offseason read, just when you're starting to long for some baseball action again. You can celebrate the projected demise of Johnny Damon or marvel at Jonathan Papelbon's rise in performance. You can look in the book for specific player projections, survey one or two teams, or just read it from cover to cover (if, like me, you live for baseball). Prospects also appear in this book before they make the "top 100" lists, so you can keep an eye on each organization's top young players before they enter the mainstream "radar" (and help your fantasy team's future, if your league drafts prospects).
The statistics in this book (and many more) can also be found on the | Baseball Prospectus web site (paid subscription required), so if you're just buying this book for its statistics, you might be able to find most of them free somewhere else (although this gives a nice compilation). But if you are also interested in the writeups and organizational overviews, you will really enjoy this book.
