Baseball Prospectus 2017

Baseball Prospectus

Description

- Marketing collaboration with Baseball Prospectus for blog posts, social media campaigns, and email marketing
- Promotion on TurnerPublishing.com and BaseballProspectus.com
- Featured on Turner Publishing Free Book Friday giveaway
- Blogger outreach
- Email marketing campaign linked to freemium offer
- Annual Bestseller: Each year's Baseball Prospectus title sells over 20,000 copies and tops bestseller charts (including Amazon's Top 100)
- Brand recognition: The Baseball Prospectus brand is one trusted by baseball fans, which top over 100k individuals through social media following alone

Sujets

• Sport
• Baseball
• Sports collectifs
• Béisbol
• Ligue majeure de baseball
• Recreation
• Major League Baseball
• Grandes Ligas de Béisbol
• Sports

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 10 février 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781681626420
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 23 Mo

Extrait

BASEBALL PROSPECTUS

2017
The Essential Guide to the 2017 Season
Edited by Aaron Gleeman and Bret Sayre
Emma Baccellieri, Demetrius Bell, Craig Brown, Russell Carleton, Ben Carsley, Matthew Collins, Patrick Dubuque, Kenny Ducey, James Fegan, Ken Funck, Catherine Garcia, Eric Garcia McKinley, Brendan Gawlowski, Mike Gianella, Craig Goldstein, Bryan Grosnick, Matt Gwin, Joshua Howsam, Bryan Joiner, Wilson Karaman, Matthew Kory, David Lee, Rob Mains, Jack Moore, Ryan P. Morrison, Mauricio Rubio, Dustin Palmateer, Jeffrey Paternostro, Jeff Quinton, Meg Rowley, Jarrett Seidler, Trevor Strunk, Matt Sussman, Matt Trueblood, Ashley Varela, Rian Watt, Jeff Wiser, Nicholas Zettel
Dave Pease and Stephen Reichert, Consultant Editors Harry Pavlidis and Rob McQuown, Statistics Editors
Turner Publishing Company Nashville, Tennessee New York, New York www.turnerpublishing.com
Copyright 2017 by Baseball Prospectus, LLC. All rights reserved
This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Team logos and trademarks used with permission of MLB Advanced Media.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: paperback ISBN-10: 1681626403 ISBN-13: 978-1681626406 hardback ISBN-10: 1681626411 ISBN-13: 978-1681626413
Project Credits Cover Design: Karen Siatras Interior design and production: Bryan Davidson Layout: Misty Horten Colleen Cunningham
Cover Photos Front Cover: Mookie Betts. Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports Back Cover: Corey Kluber. Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports Back Cover: Kris Bryant. Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword
by Glen Perkins
Statistical Introduction
2016 Teams
Arizona Diamondbacks
Atlanta Braves
Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
Chicago Cubs
Chicago White Sox
Cincinnati Reds
Cleveland Indians
Colorado Rockies
Detroit Tigers
Houston Astros
Kansas City Royals
Los Angeles Angels
Los Angeles Dodgers
Miami Marlins
Milwaukee Brewers
Minnesota Twins
New York Mets
New York Yankees
Oakland Athletics
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
Seattle Mariners
St. Louis Cardinals
Tampa Bay Rays
Texas Rangers
Toronto Blue Jays
Washington Nationals
The Modern Manager
by Matthew Trueblood
2017 Mangers
The Impossible Dream, Fifty Years On
by Rob Mains
The Modern Front Office and the Future of Public Analysis
by Jeff Quinton
Top 101 Prospects
by Jeffrey Paternostro and Jarrett Seidler
Team Codes
PECOTA Leaderboards
Contributors and Acknowledgements
Index of Names
Foreword
by Glen Perkins
It s not sustainable.
No, that isn t a quote from the Farmer s Almanac about cutting-edge agriculture techniques-it was my introduction to Baseball Prospectus and the wonderful world of sabermetrics.
I stumbled upon BP sometime in early 2009 when I read an article containing the acronym FIP. Advanced statistics, at least from a player s point of view, were not even in the embryonic stage, but that term and its meaning stuck its tentacles in my brain and didn t let go. More on that later.
What makes this book-and the BP website-great is its accessibility to all realms of baseball folk. For kids who yearn for a better understanding of baseball, fantasy gurus, active players such as myself and all the way up to MLB front office executives-Baseball Prospectus has been a resource for statistics, knowledge and analysis since 1996.
BP has earned its reputation through smart writing by some of the brightest minds this game has to offer. Not only is BP represented in nearly every major sports publication, it s becoming increasingly difficult to find MLB teams that don t employ at least one former BP staffer.
The trend toward the acceptance and use of advanced statistics has improved the game and also improved the experience fans can have while watching. The sport actually hasn t changed that much since the 1800s, but the lens through which it s seen has evolved more in the past 30 years than it did in the previous 100. BP has played a large role in that.
OK, now let s go back to 2009. I was coming off a season in which I posted a 12-4 record as a starter for the Twins. I thought a dozen wins was not too shabby. Had I known then that the wins stat is meaningless for individual pitchers, I would have looked further into my performance and seen a 4.41 ERA with just 74 strikeouts in 151 innings. I also may have noticed a high fly-ball rate and a FIP above 5.00, and realized that I was somewhat lucky to escape with such a nice-looking record.
I began the 2009 season with three straight starts of at least eight innings, allowing a total of four runs. However, those three starts and 24 total innings included just 12 strikeouts and zero home runs allowed, despite allowing tons of fly balls. You can probably see where the word unsustainable starts to come in.
From there it was a downward spiral of poor pitching, bad health and ultimately a demotion to Triple-A, but that BP article stuck with me. I continued to research and learn what I could do to improve my performance by relying less on the defense to make plays. By 2010, I had a decent grasp of what needed to be done-it was just a matter of putting the plan in action. I modified my pitching style and, along with a move to the bullpen and the obligatory bump in velocity, my strikeout rate went way up, my walk rate went down and I induced more ground balls.
As the years went on and my FIP improved, the proliferation of advanced metrics within the clubhouse was still as slow as molasses in January. I continued to preach the importance of sabermetrics, finding myself in arguments about the greatness of Barry Bonds that turned into debates about whether a hitter who walked in every plate appearance would be the MVP.
It wasn t until a trip to Costa Rica with some other players that I felt like I actually had people listening to what I was saying. In one of the more baseball-ratty things of all time, I was with a few other players on a catamaran in the waters off Central America, and not snorkeling or swimming with dolphins but holding court about the meaning of FIP and WAR. In Costa Rica! On a boat!
I realized then that the lack of stats and analysis wasn t about a closed mindset but rather a lack of understanding. The mix of people on that boat-10-year veterans and guys with only a year or two under their belts-could not believe that there were people figuring all this stuff out and that it actually applied to what we did. It was a eureka moment for me and a day in my baseball geek life that I won t forget.
Of course, throughout all of my belief in stats and analysis there is still one thing that has always chapped my ass (that s a technical term). I love numbers like FIP and DRA and WARP, but it always seemed like relievers were undervalued in some way. Part of that is simple: counting or bulk stats are always going to value a starter s workload more than a reliever s workload. There s more to being a reliever than the lower inning total.
Stressful, high-leverage innings, back-to-back days, less predictable usage-I felt that relievers were undervalued. When I had an opportunity to sign a four-year contract in the spring of 2014, I didn t hesitate. I saw a trend of relievers getting shorter contracts due to their volatility and couldn t pass up the security, all while thinking that teams just weren t seeing the full value.
Not everyone can be a late-inning reliever. I know from experience. By and large, they are made-rather than born-from mediocre starters (myself included) and that may have also played a part in their being undervalued. But now there are metrics to account for leverage and high-pressure situations, and relievers are getting three-, four- and even five-year contracts as teams realize the impact shortening a game has on the other team.
I m thrilled to see the claws of sabermetrics dig into our game further and further. It s only a positive when there s new knowledge available and that knowledge is accepted by a larger audience, on and off the field.
Enjoy this baseball season for all it s worth. I know I will.
-Glen Perkins is a three-time All-Star pitcher for the Minnesota Twins
Baseball Prospectus 2017 Statistical Introduction
Why don t you get your nose out of those numbers and watch a game?
It s a false dilemma, of course. We would wager that Baseball Prospectus readers watch more games than the typical fan. They also probably pay better attention when they watch. The numbers do not replace observation; they supplement it. Having the numbers allows you to learn things not readily seen by mere watching and to keep up on many more players than any one person otherwise could.
This book doesn t ask you to choose between the two. Instead, we combine numerical analysis with the observations of a lot of very bright people. They won t always agree. Just as the eyes don t