Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster

I have purchased the Forcaster for the last several years. For what it is, I rate it 5 stars. The book is designed for people who take their fantasy baseball extremely seriously. If you are merely an occasional or casual fantasy baseball participant, this book probably isn't for you. It took me a couple of years to get a handle on some of the information which is presented, and now it helps me lay out a gameplan for my fantasy baseball drafts, the players who I would like to select, and the rounds I would like to select them in. The Forecaster breaks down the statistics from prior years and gives you methods and procedures as to how to evaluate major, and some upcoming minor league players in the upcoming year(s). It's not just statistics-- there are articles which give you the authors' views on how they intepret some of the info. It won't tell you who to pick for your fantasy team--what it will do is to give you the tools and information to make your own fantasy evaluations and decisions. (To me, that's where the fun is--of course winning helps too.) For those who are even more serious about their fantasy baseball, Shandler has an internet site, which has daily updates, and articles written by a very top-flite staff. The site is pricey (a little less than $100 per year) but for those who are really into fantasy baseball, it's worth every penny. P.S. I have been a subscriber to the internet service for several years, but I have no ownership interest (nor any other financial interest) in this enterprise, other than as a subscriber.

This is a great resource for fantasy baseball nerds like me. There's a learning curve if you're not well-versed in the sabermetric stats, but eventually you'll see that there's a lot to be taken from those numbers. Rather than just looking at batting average and ERA, this guide allows you to look at some other stats that may be better indicators of trends and future performance. The writing style is engaging and Shandler's (and his fellow contributors') dry humor comes through just enough to make this an enjoyable read in addition to a valauable reference.

Nobody does it better than Ron Shandler and company. In depth research, stats on every facet of a player's game and Ron doesn't pull any punches. His assessments are well backed up and he remains a Fantasy Authority.

Great information! I wish I had known about Ron Shandler's insights 10 years ago when I began playing fantasy baseball. I will be using this information for my drafts and during the season to make key decisions on line-up moves and roster management.

Every annual fantasy baseball book out there provides you with projected stats, but they're out of date as soon as they are printed, due to injuries, trades, etc. Ron Shandler's book does more in that it provides you with a methodology for evaluating players continually throughout the season, plus strategies for winning your fantasy league. And it also includes one free download of a data (Excel) version of updated stat projections right before the season starts. The previous reviewer's comments was spot on in that while Baseball Prospectus (the other annual baseball stats "bible") is a great source of projections, it's really aimed at the larger baseball community, while Baseball Forecaster is wholly focused on us fantasy managers, and thus spends more time orienting itself toward us. That said, I disagree slightly with the previous reviewer's assessment when it comes to the steroid article. I'd point out that Baseball Forecaster is intended to allow a bit more room for subjectivity than do strict sabermetricians, for whom numbers are the source of all assumptions. I think that just because there is no underlying data to examine shouldn't mean a subject cannot be discussed at all. The article on steroids, I think, is an example of the balance BF tries to strike - I don't think Ron Shandler intends his book to be a strictly quantitative study, but rather a combination of the application of math and baseball common sense, with a major skew toward faith in the numbers.