Customer Reviews

Baseball America 2007 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the Definitive Source on Prospects (Baseball America Prospect Handbook)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the second year I've purchased the Baseball America Prospect Handbook and I see no reason why I will not be purchasing future copies for years to come. If you are a baseball fan and and enjoy reading about tomorrow's stars today...this is the book for you. The Handbook ranks the top 30 prospects from each teams minor league system and provides elaborate detail for every player's background and statistics. Various writers also provide a synopsis of each minor league system as well as organizational overviews that offer team leaders, best tools, projected 2010 lineup, last year's top 20 prospects, top prospects of the decade, top draft picks of the decade and all-time largest bonuses.

I believe my favorite part of this book is how well it is written. Each player capsule is written in great detail but not cluttered with statistical abbreviations no one can understand. In my opinion, Baseball America is the premier baseball publication available and their yearly books are tremendous extensions of their superb magazine (another recommendation) and their website.

This book is also being billed as, "The Secret Weapon for Fantasy League Success." As a long-time fantasy baseball participant, I guess I agree with that to a point. I believe it depends upon the type of league in which you participate. If your league offers the opportunity to draft minor league players that can be carried on your roster from one season to the next...then this book will be a great weapon in your fantasy arsenal. If your league is a complete redraft, and not a keeper, then the rookies that will come into play in 2007 will be covered in any fantasy baseball magazine. Though I do not participate in any keeper leagues, I still enjoy this book from a fantasy perspective as it provides me with information for future drafts.

In short, I highly recommend this book. I do recommend, however, that you purchase it through Amazon or another discount opportunity. The cover price is $28.95 and if you look to purchase it directly from Baseball America you will tack on an additional $8.00 for shipping and handling...ouch! Pitchers and catchers report very soon...have this book at your side for spring training and the season ahead.

If you're a fan of a particular team, or of baseball in general, and want to know who's "up next," so to speak, then this book is for you.

The book takes a look at the top 30 prospects for each team, and offers detailed scouting reports on each. I bought the book for the first time last year, and plan to keep old copies around to see, long term, how good the scouting reports turn out to be in terms of where players project. So far so good, as the '05 edition was spot on with most of it's projections.

If you happen to live in an area with a minor league team, this book is great for getting to know who's who on both your team, and the compeition.

I recommend looking in the book to see how many of a MLB team's Top 30 Prospects are on one team at a given time.

If not, it's great to look at your favorite teams Top 30 and see who's the next prospect at a given position, etc.

If your must have list of baseball books does not already include this book, I recomment that you add it. You will not be disappointed.

I purchase the Baseball America Prospect Handbook every spring to feed my baseball hunger. I can learn about my favorite team's minor leaguers - how they've been performing, what their ceiling may be, and what their unique skills and weaknesses are. When trades are made, I often look in the Handbook to help evaluate them. When I attend minor league games, I know what players to focus on. Years down the road, I may look back at old issues to see what the early projections were for current major leagers or for non-roster invitees to spring training. Wonderful bedtime reading for baseball addicts.

I don't know that anyone can do this type of thing better short of dedicating 5-6 pages per prospect. The profiles are concise but detailed and full of easily understood stats and reports. One of the most interesting things about this book is if you have the one from the year before, you can track how far a particular prospect has risen or fallen based on his performance over the last year.

Since I live in Hawaii, I also take this book to the Hawaii Winter League Games to I can get an idea of who I am watching (makes the whole experience 75 times more enjoyable). I feel it also helps with my fantasy baseball team, though if you took a look at my rankings, you wouldn't even notice it. But I was on to Hunter Pence before everyone else because of this book.

Mets in 2007!

The most in-depth Minor League baseball publication out there. A must have for people trying to build Fantasy Baseball dynasties.

This book brings a ton of excellent information to the reader about the minor league talent within each organization. With fantastic analysis of players' weaknesses and strengths, the information puts scouting quality information into the hands of the average fan.

My biggest beef is that the book seems to have been rushed through the editing process. While the information is definitely top quality, the writing that presents the information certainly is not. The grammar utilized throughout the book is spotty in numerous places and can somewhat detract from the information presented. My recommendation to Baseball America would be to obtain a higher quality editing process for the 2008 edition of this wonderful tome of information.

This is the seventh year I have bought this item from Baseball America. The quality of their evaluations is always refreshing. It was nice that I was able not pay full retail by using Amazon and plan to use it in the future.

If you like to follow minor league baseball, this book is a must. Where the players came from, & where you can expect to find them playing in '07, is only a small part of all the info on over 900 major league hopefuls. Have fun reading about & if you have the time, going to see some of them in person.

I just got the book today. I was so excited when it came. If you liked the 2006 Prospect Handbook you'll love this one. It's basically the same layout as the 2006 book. There's 902 prospect reports. I love this book. It's a great tool for fantasy leagues. It's helped me discover some of the up and coming talent and breakout players. Such as Yovani Gallardo from the 2006 prospect handbook etc. Baseball America doesn't dissapoint which is no surprise. Baseball America proves why they are #1. Buy it NOW!!!

Outstanding, indepth coverage of tomorrows stars and the players teams are building around.