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Baseball Prospectus 2011
The bestselling annual baseball preview from the smartest analysts in the businessThe essential guide to the 2011 baseball season is on deck now, and whether you're a fan or fantasy player—or both—you won't be properly informed without it. Baseball Prospectus 2011 brings together an elite group of analysts to provide the definitive look at the upcoming season in critical essays and commentary on the thirty teams, their managers, and more than sixty players and prospects from each team.
Contains critical essays on each of the thirty teams and player comments for some sixty players for each of those teams
Projects each player's stats for the coming season using the groundbreaking PECOTA projection system, which has been called "perhaps the game's most accurate projection model" (Sports Illustrated)
From Baseball Prospectus, America's leading provider of statistical analysis for baseball
Now in its sixteenth edition, this New York Times bestselling insider's guide remains hands down the most authoritative and entertaining book of its kind.
Contains critical essays on each of the thirty teams and player comments for some sixty players for each of those teams
Projects each player's stats for the coming season using the groundbreaking PECOTA projection system, which has been called "perhaps the game's most accurate projection model" (Sports Illustrated)
From Baseball Prospectus, America's leading provider of statistical analysis for baseball
Now in its sixteenth edition, this New York Times bestselling insider's guide remains hands down the most authoritative and entertaining book of its kind.
600 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
About the author
Baseball Prospectus
140 books16 followersBaseball 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.
Since 1996 the BP staff has also published a Baseball Prospectus annual as well as several other books devoted to baseball analysis and history.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 27, 2011
Boy, do I enjoy that time each year when this volume comes out. Possibly most interesting to me is the PECOTA projection--the estimate of each player in the major league's estimated performance for the coming year. What makes this so much fun, of course, is that you can compare the player's actual performance with this volume's projection. Such information can keep "hot stove league" discussion warm indeed!
A couple key case studies to illustrate. . . . Derek Jeter had a subpar year. Is this the beginning of the end? Or just an off year? This volume notes that his fielding is diminishing and his hitting appears to be on a downward slide. The projection for hitting: .281 batting average (a bit better than last year, but well below his career norm), .348 on base percentage (below average for the past handful of years). So, is the new contract worth this level of performance? Let each reader make his/her own decision on that matter. What about Philadelphia's acquisition of Cliff Lee for their pitching staff? His projected performance: 13-7 win-loss record and a 3.17 ERA.
Now, to the point. I am a Chicago White Sox fan. Gordon Beckham started off horrifically last year, but--with a solid finish--had halfway decent numbers. What of 2011? .266 batting average (an improvement, but not up to earlier performance levels). Paul Konerko was a wonder in 2010. For 2011? projected to hit .272 with a slugging percentage of .481. 28 homers and 84 RBIs. There is, though, a 34% chance of a collapse in performance (he is 35) and a 0% chance of improvement over last year. Mark Buehrle has been a pitching stalwart. He is projected to be 12-12 with a 4.91 ERA. Not stellar stuff. 12% chance of improvement over last year, a scary 40% chance of collapse in performance, and a 12% chance of attrition.
As always, a lot of fun perusing this volume. . . . If you are a figure filbert, you will probably enjoy this.
A couple key case studies to illustrate. . . . Derek Jeter had a subpar year. Is this the beginning of the end? Or just an off year? This volume notes that his fielding is diminishing and his hitting appears to be on a downward slide. The projection for hitting: .281 batting average (a bit better than last year, but well below his career norm), .348 on base percentage (below average for the past handful of years). So, is the new contract worth this level of performance? Let each reader make his/her own decision on that matter. What about Philadelphia's acquisition of Cliff Lee for their pitching staff? His projected performance: 13-7 win-loss record and a 3.17 ERA.
Now, to the point. I am a Chicago White Sox fan. Gordon Beckham started off horrifically last year, but--with a solid finish--had halfway decent numbers. What of 2011? .266 batting average (an improvement, but not up to earlier performance levels). Paul Konerko was a wonder in 2010. For 2011? projected to hit .272 with a slugging percentage of .481. 28 homers and 84 RBIs. There is, though, a 34% chance of a collapse in performance (he is 35) and a 0% chance of improvement over last year. Mark Buehrle has been a pitching stalwart. He is projected to be 12-12 with a 4.91 ERA. Not stellar stuff. 12% chance of improvement over last year, a scary 40% chance of collapse in performance, and a 12% chance of attrition.
As always, a lot of fun perusing this volume. . . . If you are a figure filbert, you will probably enjoy this.
March 9, 2011
With fewer typos-per-page (TPP) than its 2010 predecessor, the 2011 edition of the Prospectus marks a nice comeback for a franchise that seemed destined to become a hidebound parody of itself in the post-PED baseball (walks? regression? age-27 seasons? tell me something I don't know, people!). Boasting clever references to everything from Denethor to Descartes as well a surprisingly self-aware preface by editor-in-chief Steven Goldman (in which he reflects on the BP's past and future, concluding that it too shall pass), the Prospectus remains essential reading for progressive sabermetricians who seek to leaven heaping helpings of raw statistical data with at least a soupçon of good writing. I can't see this enterprise enduring past 2015, so enjoy it while it's still around. Too bad the Football Prospectus, Pro Basketball Prospectus, etc. are mere epigoni and not sui generis publications; otherwise, I could spend two months out of the year reading complete nonsense while neglecting my real work, ignoring the depressing state of the world, and living from day to day in the manner of my hunter-gatherer ancestors.
Currently Reading
February 25, 2011The only book you need to read to be in the know for the upcoming baseball season.
August 3, 2011
The ultimate book for any baseball fan!
October 11, 2011
Not as good or as funny as previous editions. The book may be losing its edge.
April 24, 2011
Still the best baseball annual out there, if not up to the standards of previous years.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews