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Shandler ignores this.Secondly, some of us are getting a little older, Ron. Even the most casual fan knows that player analysis must take into account the park in which the games take place.
This is an excellent resource for rotisserie players (of which I am one). I need to start with the positive.
This, in my mind, is a critical mistake he continues to make. The organization of the book is perfect (alphabetica by pitchers and catchers).
And the comments provide just the right amount of color to go with the projections.Two fairly major issues prevent me from giving Shandler's annual 5 stars, even though I purchase it every year.First, and most importantly, Shandler does NO park adjustments. Stats earned while playing 50% of your games in Rangers Ballpark aren't the same as those earned playing 50% of your games in Detroit's Comerica.
Bigger print would help a lot.even if you have to add a few pages.
Honestly the online service is far better (and has outpaced the book). While the book can be physically held, the information on BaseballHQ is more recent and cotains all of the data in the book.The only downside is the service is much more expensive, but accuracy comes at a price.
Would seem simple to offer a basic legend with descriptions, but no luck. This book has a lot of great information and presents users with a statistical means for evaluating players vs. what you get in most fantasy mags- someone's rankings which often seem arbitrary and quickly thrown together.The downside is it takes weeks to figure out what all the codes stand for and how they're calculated. There's a glossary which often assumes you know more than you already do about their proprietary info, and even those descriptions are often incomplete.There are also a number of annoying quirks, such as players not listed with a team, and players who don't play full seasons' stats are extrapolated over a full year. That's a nice touch maybe, but can we throw in the actuals also.I've also found the basic stats to be flatly incorrect in many cases.Overall, a great resource that could use an editor's touch for some really basic improvements.
This book is considered the bible of fantasy/roto baseball palyer evaluations.It does live up to ites reputation. I have used it for years as do many of the GMs of MLB teams. An excellent product.
The articles explaining the statistics are not well written, but who cares. I think he is the best at predicting future fantasy performance. Where Bill James and the Prospectus people focus on new measures of baseball performance, Shandler sticks to the standard 5 fantasy categories. He was the only tout who predicted Valverde doing as well as he did and I profited from that information.
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