Customer Reviews

Baseball America 2001 Prospect Handbook

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm not sure if the preceding reviews are intended to apply to this book, as this book is not about the entirety of baseball (BA Baseball Almanac?), nor as dry as the average STATS text, plus 2001 was the inaugural edition.
That said - this book offers short scouting reports on the top 30 prospects per major league organization, along with reprinted lists (from the BA newspaper) of a team's, say, top defensive catcher (by tools), for example.
Heavier on verbage than stats, it's a nice complement to other books that are out there, particularly in its emphasis of "tools" over stats (without ignoring prior performance, mind you), the preferred method of discourse for most of the other good prospect overviews out there (Sickels' STATS Minor League Scouting Handbook and the Baseball Prospectus are my two other faves).

This book is boring. It's draw, 30 prospects for each team, is very effective but the analysis is weak and usually breaks down to: "This guy throws hard" or "This guy is a great athlete." If you are really interested in minor league scouting reports I suggest John Sickels book published by Stats Inc. it has deeper, much more interesting analysis and a friendly writing style. Major dissapointment, no way I'm getting next year's book.

I've used this book more than any other prospect guide since it came out in March. It does more than just present the stats in a dry, uninteresting format, but rather tells a story about each of 900 players. The icing on the cake is the book's size, as it's a nice compact package that's easy to carry with you to the ballpark. I went to many minor league games this past season, and the 2001 Prospect Handbook was my constant companion. I eagerly look forward to the 2002 edition. Please note that two of the other reviews on this site were obviously referring to other books, as this guide was never published before March 2001.