Baseball Prospectus 2018

by Baseball Prospectus

The 2018 edition of The New York Times Bestselling Guide. PLAY BALL! The 23rd edition of this industry-leading baseball annual contains all of the important statistics, player predictions and insider-level commentary that readers have come to expect, along with significant improvements to several statistics that were created by, and are exclusive to, Baseball Prospectus, and an expanded focus on international players and teams. Baseball Prospectus 2018 provides fantasy players and insiders alike with prescient PECOTA projections, which The New York Times called “the überforecast of every player’s performance.” With more than 50 Baseball Prospectus alumni currently working for major-league baseball teams, nearly every organization has sought the advice of current or former BP analysts, and readers of Baseball Prospectus 2018 will understand why! Visit www.baseballprospectus.com for year-round baseball coverage

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Nonfiction

608 pages, Paperback

Published February 9, 2018

About the author

Baseball Prospectus is an organization that publishes a website, BaseballProspectus.com, devoted to the sabermetric analysis of baseball. BP has a staff of regular columnists and provides advanced statistics as well as player and team performance projections on the site.

Since 1996 the BP staff has also published a Baseball Prospectus annual as well as several other books devoted to baseball analysis and history.

Reviews

[Craig Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good year for the Prospectus, now fully recovered from its descent into statistical minutiae a couple of years ago. The essays are all written by team followers who maintain a nice balance of homer perspective and quasi-objective clarity.

The bummer was the Dodgers essay, which makes a convincing case for the likelihood that the Evil Blue will continue to be good, and possibly great, for the next three decades or so.

The Rockies essay is fun, fitting for the year and our hopes for the future. The Pirates essay would be even bleaker if it had known Cole and Cutch would be gone. The Brewers nicely balanced.

Best essays: White Sox, Indians, Rockies, Angels, Dodgers, Cardinals, all of which engage with the rise and fall of franchise strategies in juxtaposition with the current state of affairs.

Player profiles great as always.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Busted ass to read this by Opening Day, even though there's a wealth of stuff that isn't up-to-date, and the scouting reports and essays on each team (as well as their top prospects) remain invaluable. As a bonus, there's even a mini-prospectus on players from the NPB and KBO leagues.

One minor note - the KBO pitcher write-ups are entirely disordered, with the blurbs below the stats in the page layout being for completely different players, and not even necessarily in a solvable mix-and-match sense. This is true of both the print and Kindle versions, if anyone's curious. Not a major concern, just something to be aware of.

[David C Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this by dipping into it since the depth of coverage and the statistics are overwhelming. Nothing like it really in terms of the new way we look at baseball through stats. I give it five stars for coverage and for being a pioneer but an overall rating of four because I think the team essays are uneven in quality. But as I said, there’s nothing like it. And it’s a first sign of spring in February (snowing outside).

[Nick Pearson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The latest edition alternates between great essays and flights of fancy that leave the reader wondering where the analysis of his favorite team is. Player comments are the same mix of funny and sincere, though I’d like a small blurb about what to expect with regards to fantasy baseball impact, with each player. Basically the same annual it’s been for as long as I’ve been reading it.

[Mayor McCheese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used to read these every year. Took a break for a few years. Still excellent resource, but the writing is not as crisp. The player profiles are still interesting and funny but the team profiles are less interesting, less comprehensive in my view.

[Bob Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the information you could want.

[North Landesman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glad to have this thing back in my life every year. Enjoy Gleeman, the writing, and the depth no other publication has.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always a great combination of math, Simpsons references, and baseball, I could ask for nothing more.

[Allen Vaughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better essays this year. I look at it all season.

[Paul Pereira · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Nough said

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good background on current players and top prospects as I follow the Houston Astros and their opponents.

[Rodger Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a fine book and I own every edition, including the original self-published white paperback. Some of the player comments don't have much to do with the players. An occasional pun or anecdote is funny, but sometimes the authors lose the thread. As another commenter noted, the section on Korean players is completely disorganized -- there are missing players, with stats provided for the wrong players, etc. The Japanese league section includes discussions of 2017 statistics that are listed as 2015 stats in the statistical sections. Throughout that section, either the discussions are inaccurate or the stat years are wrong for every player.