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nunezmc's review
3.0
The fatal flaw with this book is that it is very rapidly going out of date, and will be unreadable in 10 years. Of course, the game has changed a lot with the new CBA that is not reflected in here, so not everything is accurate. The authors offer some very fascinating insight into the game, but most of it comes later in the book. Not an easy read for anything less than a diehard fan.
mutantpanda68's review
informative
slow-paced
4.0
It's definitely written for an audience that is already familiar with FanGraphs and Eric and Kiley's work. There is a clear effort made to open the appeal some, but there just is only so far that a deep dive like this can stretch without losing the core audience. A few pieces are a bit dated 4 years on, but most of the info is still fascinating and informative and the anecdotes are the highlights.
tofugitive's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
It feels weird giving this a rating because there's not really a narrative - it's a *very* in-depth explanation of the inner workings of baseball operations and scouting. It's a great complement to Jared Diamond's "Swing Kings" and Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik's "The MVP Machine".
The only drawback to it all is that a LOT has changed structurally since this book was published; there was a global pandemic, a minor league contraction, a new collective bargaining agreement that changes and addresses a lot of Longenhagen and McDaniel's speculation about how a new CBA will impact things.
That being said, most of the rest of the book is still VERY relevant to today's game. It's something that anyone interested in working in baseball operations should read, especially if you're a college student pursuing that career. Although I was working more towards the business operations of Sports Management with my degree, my dream was to work on the operations side. Knowing what I know based on my internships and this book, I'm glad I didn't pursue any of this. I would have failed out due to the commitment I'd actually want to have to this job.
Anyway, there is no point in reading this if you're a casual baseball fan or a non-baseball fan at all. You have to be *really* into baseball to enjoy it. Fortunately, that does describe me.
The only drawback to it all is that a LOT has changed structurally since this book was published; there was a global pandemic, a minor league contraction, a new collective bargaining agreement that changes and addresses a lot of Longenhagen and McDaniel's speculation about how a new CBA will impact things.
That being said, most of the rest of the book is still VERY relevant to today's game. It's something that anyone interested in working in baseball operations should read, especially if you're a college student pursuing that career. Although I was working more towards the business operations of Sports Management with my degree, my dream was to work on the operations side. Knowing what I know based on my internships and this book, I'm glad I didn't pursue any of this. I would have failed out due to the commitment I'd actually want to have to this job.
Anyway, there is no point in reading this if you're a casual baseball fan or a non-baseball fan at all. You have to be *really* into baseball to enjoy it. Fortunately, that does describe me.
ralphswater's review
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
adnielsen's review
5.0
This is one of the best books I’ve ever read on baseball and maybe the most enjoyable overall to read. It’s full of inside baseball stories ranging from scouting in Latin America to building a draft board for the annual amateur domestic draft. I particularly liked the numerous behind the scenes stories of front offices succeeding and failing and what made them succeed or fail. If you’re interested in baseball analytics, scouting, or how to construct an MLB team, this is a fantastic read. Highly recommended.
souvlakihut's review
4.0
informative and interesting, though it went a bit heavy on tips for people who want to be scouts or be noticed by scouts
eely225's review
4.0
It took me a bit to get into the book because I wasn't sure what it was. I came to identify two functions it serves: to be a snapshot and a textbook.
As a snapshot, this book attempts to give a thorough picture of what the professional baseball scouting industry was like in late 2019. The references are up to the minute, and it will be interesting to see how they age. But the important thing for the authors, I think, has less to do with the specific players profiled and is more focused on how those players exemplify processes and trends in the industry. They don't attempt to predict the future, despite the title; they just want you to know what's going on.
As far as a textbook, the book attempts to piece together the disparate topics that all relate to scouting generally. This is a contrast to other scouting-focused texts like [b:Prophet of the Sandlots: Journeys with a Major League Scout|32985|Prophet of the Sandlots Journeys with a Major League Scout|Mark Winegardner|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327942904l/32985._SY75_.jpg|622014], which tend to focus more on personal narratives than broad pictures of the industry in which they operate. In this respect, the text can hold up in its broad strokes even as the particular details shift with new bargaining agreements and general managers. But also, this textbook has profanity and pop culture references and anti-corporate messaging so you know you're learning from the Cool Teacher *puts on shades*.
As other reviewers have noted, it can be a little bloated as there is repetition of key ideas (how many times do rising fastballs need to be explained?) and some chapters lack a clear throughline. It's best to think of it as several semi-related essays rather than a unified text. If a chapter is doing nothing for you, skip it, that's fine. The chapters mostly stand alone, though some like the "how to" of scouting chapters are more clearly related.
The book has a narrow appeal, but if you read the title and description and something in you said "Oh, I've always wondered about that!" then you likely won't be disappointed by what you find.
As a snapshot, this book attempts to give a thorough picture of what the professional baseball scouting industry was like in late 2019. The references are up to the minute, and it will be interesting to see how they age. But the important thing for the authors, I think, has less to do with the specific players profiled and is more focused on how those players exemplify processes and trends in the industry. They don't attempt to predict the future, despite the title; they just want you to know what's going on.
As far as a textbook, the book attempts to piece together the disparate topics that all relate to scouting generally. This is a contrast to other scouting-focused texts like [b:Prophet of the Sandlots: Journeys with a Major League Scout|32985|Prophet of the Sandlots Journeys with a Major League Scout|Mark Winegardner|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327942904l/32985._SY75_.jpg|622014], which tend to focus more on personal narratives than broad pictures of the industry in which they operate. In this respect, the text can hold up in its broad strokes even as the particular details shift with new bargaining agreements and general managers. But also, this textbook has profanity and pop culture references and anti-corporate messaging so you know you're learning from the Cool Teacher *puts on shades*.
As other reviewers have noted, it can be a little bloated as there is repetition of key ideas (how many times do rising fastballs need to be explained?) and some chapters lack a clear throughline. It's best to think of it as several semi-related essays rather than a unified text. If a chapter is doing nothing for you, skip it, that's fine. The chapters mostly stand alone, though some like the "how to" of scouting chapters are more clearly related.
The book has a narrow appeal, but if you read the title and description and something in you said "Oh, I've always wondered about that!" then you likely won't be disappointed by what you find.