Prospect Handbook

I recently purchased my first copy of Baseball America's, Prospect Handbook. The book is the ultimate guide to minor league players and goes rates the top 30 prospects in every organization. It shows what each teams lineup could look like in 2010 if current prospects develop as expected. It's real fun to take a look at. I think this can give hope to any fan following any team, no matter how bad their team is. It basically helps you look at the teams you follow in a whole new way. I won't go on any more about the book, just know that it's pretty terrific.

When looking at a team like say the NY Mets, they get an "A" for impact but only a "C" in depth. This means that they have a few potential stars in their system but little else. You could also flip to the Washington Nationals and see that all of their minor league affiliates went 305-388 combined, good for 28th in all of baseball. This is especially troubling when you remember that the big league club was only 71-91 and lost their best player in the offseason. The book also rates each teams system as a whole. The top spot this year goes to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays while last place goes to the poor Washington Nationals. The book includes these ratings for the past five seasons so the reader can see the trends of certain teams and their minor league systems. The St. Louis Cardinals are ranked 23rd for 2007. Twenty-third is nothing to write home about especially when you look back at their past five ratings (21,30,28,28,30). Now think about it, when is the last time you can remember the Cardinals having a really good young player on their team? Conversely you can look at a team like the Twins who ranked 8th this year and over the past five seasons have gone, 6,4,5,4,6. Now, think back on the last time the Twins had a really good young player...Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, Francisco Liriano, etc.

Anyway, that's my pitch for the good people over there at Baseball America. They also have website but you have to pay a yearly membership. You can buy the book on Amazon for $20.