The 2008 Scouting Report

By the Fans for the Fans.

There are people with a lot of energy, and then there is Tom Tango. He not only invented the Marcel the Monkey projections, but also runs the Fans Scouting Report project, which polls real people to report on what they see when they watch players on defense.

They thought Edgar Renteria was awful last year. Some thought Michael Young, surprise Gold Glove winner, was good, but some thought he was awful. Everyone liked Erick Aybar.

The sample sizes aren’t big enough to allow much authority to the ratings, but they are another data point in the endless drive to figure out who can play defense and who can’t.

Industry Top 100 Prospect Analysis

Project Prospect

Adam Forster looks at the Top 100 Prospect  lists from Baseball America, ESPN, Mound Talk and his own website and compares them, looking for analytical trends. No real conclusions can be drawn, I think you’d have to look at a few years worth of lists to get a fair appraisal of tendencies, but he shines a very bright light on the issues that go into the making of one of these lists.

He’ll share data, too, if you ask.

Web based PITCHf/x tool

The Hardball Times

Josh Kalk has taken the first big step toward taming the PITCHf/x data that MLB collects and allows researchers access to. MLB’s freeness with the data promises to be a boon for sabermetrics and Kalk’s database front end, which allows you to compare how pitchers throw to different hitters and vice versa, with results displayed graphically is an inspiring beginning.

Kalk is talking about having splits ready by Christmas, and non-graphical data sometime soon, too.

I don’t have time right now to sift through all of this, but it’s potential importance makes me give thanks.

Thanks, Josh. Keep up the good work.

If You Purchased MLB Game Downloads Before 2006, Your Discs/Files Are Now Useless; MLB Has Stolen Your $$$ And Claims “No Refunds”

The Joy of Sox

This is a woeful story of mlbam’s apparent disregard for the customers who bought mlb.tv games and the digital rights management that is keeping them from watching those games.

If this is a true story it is an abysmal breach of faith by MLBAM, the sort of thing that undermines the basic compact between seller and buyer. But the funny thing reading this blog entry and the comments after (and at the Baseball Think Factory) is that there seems to be no corroboration.

If you’ve bought baseball games from mlb.com are you having this problem? It may be that Joy of Sox is one of just a few who felt the need to plunk down cash for games, but it’s also possible he’s having a problem that isn’t affecting everyone who bought games. Before ripping the Lords of Baseball a new one I’d like to make sure they’ve done it yet again.

Fantasy sports info and games for fantasy football, fantasy baseball, fantasy basketball, fantasy hockey pools and more

RotoWire.com

The shocking thing about the Rotowire redesign is that good looking can be so disorienting.

The site now looks somewhat organized, which is a plus, though in my 10 minutes visiting the new site I can’t say I’m happy with it. None of us, I think, change easily. I’m sure this will pass.

The other shocking thing is that forefront in the new design are Rotowire’s articles and newswire news. Secondary are the individual player updates that are the main reason I visit the site.

This so flies in the face of my experience, I want news updates long before I want news analysis, I fear this is a terrible mistake. But both RotoTimes and RotoWorld have made similar adjustments, so I may be in the minority. No matter what I think, in the new Rotowire design authorial voice and analysis wins.

Curious.

Schilling’s aching shoulder

The Hardball Times

A while back I posted about a Joe Sheehan story that delved into the pitch by pitch data that MLB is making available. Here’s another story, by HT’s John Walsh, looking behind the news using those numbers. I’m still not sure what to make of it, his discussion about potential errors is very important, but nonetheless the potential for all this data to open up vast new areas of understanding about the game is obvious.

Heater Magazine – Home

Issue No. 1 2007

Looking for batting order information for Matt Murton and Cliff Floyd earlier today I remembered that Heater Magazine has such stuff. I nipped over to www.heatermagazine.com, downloaded the giant weekly compendium of stats, charts, baseball writing, more charts, graphs, lists and more charts and found exactly what I was looking for. Plus the writing of this year’s Guide rookies, Craig Brown and Jeff Sackman, and the always excellent Dave Studeman and Deric McCamey.

There’s also a Saturday supplement. This is what Baseball Weekly might have done with their stat pages, but instead John Burnson put it together. It’s cheap. Just $19 samoleans for the whole season.

The only problem is that all the information really makes me want to have one of those 30″ Apple CinemaDisplays on my desk. But even without it, this is one useful bunch of baseball/fantasy information.

Ps. I don’t make any money on this. It’s just highly recommended.

Last Patton $ on Disk 2007 Update is Live

Ask Rotoman News

For those who have been tracking the P$oD07 updates all spring, the final one was posted last night. It includes the Patton software, merge files for those looking for updated bid prices from Alex Patton, Rotoman, and Mike Fenger, my latest (and last) projections for the year, and text lists and an Excel file for those who simply want the stuff.

Thanks to all of this year ‘s and future customers. May you kick butt all season long.

Patton $ on Disk 2007 March 29 Update is Live

The Prices are updated

If you’re looking for a cheat sheet with Alex Patton’s and my updated 4×4 prices, as well Mike Fenger’s 5×5 prices, along with my projections, updated through Thursday, at a price, click this link. You also get Alex’s excellent roto evaluation software, though you probably won’t want to tackle learning the software if your auction is this weekend.