A book written about the statistical analysis of professional baseball players. It has been published every year since 1996 (not sure on this point), and is considered by experts to be one of the most cutting-edge baseball analysis books available.
It contains writeups on all Major League Baseball players and pitchers, as well as minor league prospects. These writeups (backed by the statistical analysis) are often humourous and succinct. It also analyzes the performance of the management of each team and the outlook of the franchise's future.
The Baseball Prospectus writers have introduced many new statistical tools for performance analysis in baseball. The Support-Neutral Records, Pitcher Abuse Points (PAP), Equivalent Average (EQA), Equivalent Runs (EQR), and Peripheral Earned Run Average (PERA) are all used in their book to help decypher the raw statistics and make accurate comparisons between players on different teams and in different ball parks.
The information in this series of books is often used by people participating in Rotisserie Baseball drafts and in Scoresheet Baseball. Also included are essays about the trends in baseball, statistical analysis, and the game itself.
Writers for the book include Jeff Bower, Clay Davenport, Jeff Hildebrand, Rany Jazayerli, Chris Kahrl, Keith Law, Dave Pease, Steven Rubio, Joseph S. Sheehan, Michael Wolverton, Keith Woolner, Greg Spira and Gary Huckabay.
Published by Brassey's at the start of Feburary, the writers have a home on the internet at http://www.baseballprospectus.com
I have no stake in this book or website, so do not consider this advertising. I am just a fan of the book and believe that all baseball fans would enjoy it.