Baseball Prospectus 2003

Rating:
Summary: Like Taking Jesus out of the Bible
Review: As it has been for the last few years, "Baseball Prospectus"(BP) continues to be the top baseball annual. However BP 2003 is missing its cornerstone, the statistic "Equivalent Average". A player's equivalent average adjusts a player's batting average according to everything esle he does well or poorly offesneively, such as hit home runs, draw walks etc. Equivalent Average allows you to compare players over eras such as Barry Bonds with Babe Ruth. Without Equivalent Average, BP continues to be a clever and profound page turner but without its true foundation.

Rating:
Summary: Not as funny as 2002, but an improved resource
Review: BASEBALL PROSPECTUS is one of the best sabermeticians' baseball resources out there, and thanks to witty, perceptive player commentaries, very accessible to the less numerically inclined. This should not be considered a resource for fantasy baseball players, but is useful for them as well.

In 2002, PROSPECTUS carried only "translated" player statistics--actual numbers adjusted for park and league effects. The theory is that without taking context into account, it is impossible to measure the value of players relative to one another.

The theory is solid, obviously, but the 2003 edition carries both the actual and the translated statistics, which makes it a much more useful all-in-one resource. You no longer have to go flipping through another book to find what a player actually did.

The player write-ups continue in the humorous but incisive PROSPECTUS tradition, though the humor seems to be a bit less sharp this year. It seems they've decided to be a little more serious and straightforward.

Rating:
Summary: Best BP yet
Review: Baseball Prospectus just keeps getting better and better.

For those of you who don't know BP, it started out as a small publication doing annual analysis of baseball. Over the last decade or so, its popularity has rocketed, providing a better annual every year and a popular baseball websites (baseballprospectus.com). Each year, the annual contains an essay on each team, several essays on baseball topics in general, analysis of and performance projections for every major league player and every prospect and a top 50 prospects list.

I was concerned about BP2003. Some of the staff have changed, a number of new tools are introduced and the website has become the primary focal point of their publication. I needn't have worried. BP2003 is the usual grand mix of irreverance, hard-hitting analysis and forecasting that we've come to expect. The new PECOTA system not only projects future performance but contains probabilites that a player will have a breakout year or collapse completely.

BP is the first book I grab off the shelf when I see a player for the first time or want to analyze a trade or read about some cool prospect. It's definitely worth buying.

Rating:
Summary: Best BP yet
Review: Baseball Prospectus just keeps getting better and better.

For those of you who don't know BP, it started out as a small publication doing annual analysis of baseball. Over the last decade or so, its popularity has rocketed, providing a better annual every year and a popular baseball websites (baseballprospectus.com). Each year, the annual contains an essay on each team, several essays on baseball topics in general, analysis of and performance projections for every major league player and every prospect and a top 50 prospects list.

I was concerned about BP2003. Some of the staff have changed, a number of new tools are introduced and the website has become the primary focal point of their publication. I needn't have worried. BP2003 is the usual grand mix of irreverance, hard-hitting analysis and forecasting that we've come to expect. The new PECOTA system not only projects future performance but contains probabilites that a player will have a breakout year or collapse completely.

BP is the first book I grab off the shelf when I see a player for the first time or want to analyze a trade or read about some cool prospect. It's definitely worth buying.

Rating:
Summary: Still the wittiest and most incisive commentary on baseball
Review: Baseball Prospectus was already the best annual publication on baseball for thinking baseball fans, and in 2003 it got better in several ways. First, in the past it only contained Clay Davenport's translated stats, but this year it includes both actual (or untranslated) stats and translated stats (batting avg, OBP, SLG, ERA). That's useful because you can compare the actual to translated stats to get a sense of where a player was helped or hurt by the competition and ballparks. Second, and perhaps most significantly, this version adds a new forecasting system from Nate Silver called PECOTA. This system compares a player to his most comparable historical peers in age, skills, and physical makeup and predicts the likelihood that his performance will improve, break out, or collapse. It's a unique predictive system that capitalizes on the fact that very few players are like a Barry Bonds, who overcome historical trends and forces to become statistical anomalies.

Some new contributors were brought on board this year to join an already excellent staff. Doug Pappas writes on the economic and labor situation of baseball better than anyone out there, and Will Carroll of the popular daily e-mail newsletter "Under the Knife" joins up to discuss player injuries. And lastly, the player coverage has increased this year to include even more minor league prospects.

Some of the book's best qualities remain. If you want a clear assessment of any team's current and future prospects and the quality of its management and farm system, absolutely read the introductions at the beginning of each team's chapter. They're brilliant. Secondly, the snippets on each player are as humorous as ever. The Baseball Prospectus writers enjoy flashing their wit. On Chad Bradford, the right handed Oakland A's reliever who is murder on righties: "In the future, as part of the Commissioner's strategy to speed up games, opposing right-handed batters will be permitted to simply throw a one-hopepr down to Eric Chavez rather than actually execute their plate appearance..." If anything, I wish they'd stay on topic in their player commentaries instead of straying to comment on random topics.

For me, it's not the best publication for your fantasy baseball draft because it doesn't include stats which are contextual rather than purely in the control of the player, such as runs or RBIs. Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster is better reference for that. Still, the commentary and PECOTA and projected 2003 stats are a very useful supplement and have helped me snatch some gems in my fantasy drafts. And the entire book is written so well I find myself leaving it on the coffee table all season just to revisit from time to time.

Don't take my word for it. Among those singing its praises are Rob Neyer, Billy Beane, J.J. Ricciardi, Peter Gammons, Jayson Stark, John Hunt, John Sickels, and anyone else who knows anything about baseball. ...

Rating:
Summary: cyberstatnerds overdo analysis
Review: I find this bill james inspired book pracitically useless. The stats don't even provide rbi, and the pitcher's stats don't have the won loss record. The written analysis of the players isn't bad though. I think it's time to take baseball stats away from people who worry them to death, and just rely on good old observation and experience.

Rating:
Summary: The best book for intelligent statistical analysis
Review: I first encountered Gary Huckabay years ago on the internet before most people knew what the internet was. I made a point of reading his postings because he always had something interesting to say. He still does - although Huckabay is listed only as the editor of this book, the writing reflects his style.

There are a lot of stats books but this is one of the few that has good commentary to go along with the numbers. It's not just a reference book - it's fun to read. It's especially valuable now that Stats, Inc. has been taken over and homogenized by The Sporting News.

Rating:
Summary: Baseball Prospectus 2003
Review: Not a pocket book by any means, this year's Prospectus reaches deeply into each system, covering not just players on each team's 40-man roster, but rookie ball players and players who might be missed otherwise. As an example, the Angels section covered 53 players, with a paragraph written about each, and statistics covering each player's last three seasons. Minor league statistics are translated into major league numbers, and Nate Silver's PECOTA system is used to make 2003 projections, including probability of improvement, collapse, or a breakout season. The PECOTA system is explained in an essay at the end of the book, and it's more detailed than most projections I've seen, and a lot of thought has gone into it.

However, the casual fan can still enjoy the book, in contrast to a lot of stat books found on the market. The book and its description of players doesn't take itself totally seriously, while keeping statheads happy with as much information as they can get. There are large articles on each team, going into detail how the teams got to where they are, and what to expect in the future. In addition, articles and essays on injuries, the new combined bargaining agreement, and a look at the book's top 40 prospects makes the Baseball Prospectus something you'll cling to for your fantasy draft, and keep going back to throughout the entire season.

Rating:
Summary: If You Care About Being Informed
Review: Whether you want the advantage in winning a fantasy baseball league or simply want to sound intelligent when discussing the sport of baseball, this book provides unbelievably in-depth analysis found no where else, and does so in an often humorous way.