Over the last few weeks I’ve mentioned on Twitter that I’ve been working on the 2011 Pirates Prospects handbook, yet I don’t think I’ve mentioned it on the site yet (at least not in it’s own post). Last year I wanted to do a handbook, but formatting the project took so long that I didn’t have a chance to write it all (I also started later in the off-season). Over the last few weeks I have been working daily on the 2011 handbook, with the goal of having it done by December, so that it can be released in late-January (with December and January used for off-season edits).
So far the book contains:
-The top 50 prospects: We’ve been working on the top 50 list, and have an initial ranking of the top 50. I expect this to change as the off-season goes on.
-Bio info for each player in the farm system: Born, Bats-Throws, Height, Weight, and how the player was acquired.
-Career minor league stats for each player
There are 156 players in the book right now. That doesn’t include the 77 international prospects, or the major league players on the 40-man roster. All of those guys will be included as well, meaning this book will have over 250 players profiled.
This week we will be starting on the scouting reports for the top 50 prospects, followed by the scouting reports for every other player in the system. There will be scouting reports for all 156 US prospects, plus notes for all 77 international prospects, and write ups for every major league player. Aside from the top 50, the book will include positional prospect rankings, rankings by level, and a few special features.
Those special features include interviews with Jameson Taillon, Stetson Allie, Zack Von Rosenberg, Zack Dodson, and more. There will also be articles that are exclusive to the book, such as a look at some of the small market teams that have had success over the last few years in baseball, and how those teams came to their success. And of course, there will be a feature on Anthony Rendon and the 2011 draft.
As you can imagine, there’s a lot to do, but I am fully confident the book will be complete by the start of December, at which pre-sales will begin. In the mean time, the site will still be running. Over the next two weeks I’ll be taking a look at the recap of each position at the major league level from this past season. There will also be updates on the manager vacancy, as well as the off-season moves. I’m hoping for 1-2 posts per day, and probably more than that once the off-season really kicks off.
Finally, some additional site notes: I’ve updated the blog roll on the sidebar with two new links:
If you have a Pirates site that isn’t in the blogroll, let me know and I’ll add it to the list.
