The FanGraphs Second Opinion: Fantasy Companion
Update: The 2010 Second Opinion is Now Available!
I’m pleased to announce that FanGraphs will be dipping its toes into the publishing world with its very first publication: The FanGraphs Second Opinion: 2010 Fantasy Baseball Companion, or for short, the 2010 Second Opinion.
First let’s get to what’s in it:
– Over 400 in-depth player profiles written by many of the FanGraphs and RotoGraphs contributors you’re already familiar with.
– Articles covering: closer situations, players coming back from injuries, sophomore players to watch, 2010 fantasy prospects, impact trades, the big questions for 2010, and something that Carson wrote, where he answers your questions before you even ask them!
– Stats & Graphs: Each player profile is accompanied by a stat box with 10 very useful stats for both fantasy and real-life player evaluation including spark graphs showing career trends.
– Team previews: Each team is previewed for next season, giving you the rundown on what to expect from a fantasy and real-life standpoint.
The book will first be available for download in PDF format late February for the low price of $7.95. In addition to the PDF, you will have access to all the information in the book on FanGraphs.com when logged in to your FanGraphs account. This information will include the written player profiles which will be integrated into the stats pages and all the articles and team previews in the book.
In addition, some of you may have noticed that FanGraphs has been contributing to ESPN Insider (ESPN’s all sports premium content) this past month with more to come. If you purchase the book and are logged in, you’ll also have access to these articles and future articles we publish on ESPN Insider, on FanGraphs.com, through March 1st, 2011.
As we get closer to the book’s release, there will be more information and sample pages available.
David Appelman is the creator of FanGraphs.
“…you will have access to all the information in the book on FanGraphs.com when logged in to your FanGraphs account”.
Neato. Keep up the good work. I’ll be sure to buy.
A natural progression for FanGraphs . . .and a supernatural wrath of terror unleashed upon all other fantasy baseball publications. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.
poor PECOTA…
Very excited to get my hands on this. I’m sure the FG writers did an awesome job with this newest of endeavors.
Would you guys let up just a bit. The world can’t handle the waves of awesomeness you’re unleashing upon it.
*bit?
Ergh. Still missing the edit button, though.
Excellent. Too bad everyone in my league will have a copy too….
Any chance of releasing a hard copy?
Im in.
Will there be an iphone app update forthcoming? I just bought it, and am quite disappointed with the lack of features that are currently available on the website ( a discussion of which is not pertinent to this post).
But this book looks exciting!
Oliver, I’m sorry you’re disappointed. The iPhone app is designed to quickly look up a player’s stats on the go or follow a live game in progress once the season starts using win probability.
We’re planning on adding additional features, mainly a leaderboard of sorts, but it’s highly unlikely the app will ever offer the depth of information available on the website, given the limited screen space.
Between the screen shots and the app description, we try to be as clear as possible about what’s available in the app and do believe it is currently the most thorough iPhone app in terms of baseball statistics, but if you are really that unhappy with the application, please contact me through our contact form.
will there be top 100 list or anything like that?
can’t wait to get this book!
Lets get the PDF out … my drafts are coming up! But I am rather excited.
With access to ESPN stuff, will someone only have access to the Fangraphs ESPN articles or will they get full access to ESPN Insider?
To clarify, if you buy the FanGraphs book, you will only have access to the articles FanGraphs writes for ESPN Insider and it will be through the FanGraphs.com website.
Will this be available through amazon’s kindle app, iBook (forth coming apple online bookstore) or in a format easily viewed on one these ereaders or some other mobile device?
It might cost more as most books sell for 9.99, but I’d really like it if this book was easily stored with the rest of my electronic books. Instead of a pdf.
I’ll be purchasing a copy either way, but I’m not sure my iPhone is going to enjoy loading, or be able to load, a 400 page pdf.
We will look into providing this on the Kindle, but I really can’t promise anything. I know Kindle does support PDF, but I agree that loading a PDF on your iPhone is going to be clunky at best.
However, If you’re just looking to read it on an eReader sized device, I think the PDF should work perfectly well and it has the advantage of being DRM free.
one: sorry for downvoting your reply, I meant to click on the Reply link. its early for me.
two: I have the kindle app on my iPhone, so I was hoping to read it through that. I figure that whichever store front you chose would have an apple iPhone application which would make reading the book on the go easier. if not, sadness. I’ll have to figure out something else then.
As my kids say, OMG! Very excited for this. Can’t wait to follow live win probability on the iPhone app once the season starts, too (I’ll be the dork at Citi Field telling my neighbors “the Mets currently have a 37% chance of winning this game”). Keep up the great work!
Haha – I’ll have this app going at CitiField as well. Although I think you’re being a bit optimistic about that chance of win percentage. 🙂
Sold.
First of all, thanks. This is pretty much what I believe most statistically-centered fantasy players have been waiting for.
Secondly, a question–whether for FanGraphs alone or the Internet-based baseball blogosphere as a whole, would you care to hazard a guess on what percentage of authors/bloggers play in fantasy baseball leagues?
by all that’s holy and relatively good…don’t sell out to fucking ESPN.
pwetty pweeease?
oh, and i’ll be stuffing this down my fantasy guy’s throat. he hates sabermetrics, lol.
You had me at $7.95.
If this website improves any more, my head is going to explode. Totally buying the second opinion.
Do you mind show us the content pages?
I wonder if there’s any opinions on players newly acquired from Asia’s pro leagues (NPB, KBO, etc.), the Mexican League, and the Cuban league?
I’ll have about 5-10 sample pages so people can see what kind of stuff is in the book once it goes on sale.
I don’t think there’s anything on new import players in the book, but I Patrick Newman covers NPB players in particular for FanGraphs once a week, so if there’s anyone you’re interested in reading more about, just send us a contact note (at the bottom of the page) and I’ll forward it on to him.
At this point, I’d blindly buy a Fangraphs book that consisted of Carson Cistulli describing his bowel movements. The fact that it actually has what looks like really useful and handy information is just a huge plus. Sold.
Quote:
(comments about super amazing analysis) […] and something that Carson wrote […]
Be careful what you wish for 🙂
doesn’t the above quote sum up fangraphs these days? super awesome analysis… and things that carson writes…
self-edit: the fangraphs ate my “sarcasm” tags. I wanted it to look something like (crosses fingers):
<sarcasm> doesn’t the above quote sum up fangraphs these days? super awesome analysis… and things that carson writes… </sarcasm>
Look out, 198d: I’m watching you.
This looks great. Just got the iPhone app and am pleased with that too. I suspect I’ll use it more once the season starts, though, to get updates on games and check box scores.
I think everyone will be very pleased with this offering… It’s very exciting and I think our profiles get into more detail with analysis that you can’t get anywhere else but at Fangraphs. Keep in mind that this is the first year that we’re offering the product and we are extremely receptive to suggestions on how to make it an even bigger bang for your buck in the coming years. Over on the fantasy side of the site (Rotographs), you can except increased (free) fantasy coverage all year round, which will build off of, and enhance, The Second Opinion.
Does this include articles and features currently not published on Fangraphs? HAVE YOU BEEN HOLDING OUT ON US!? 🙂
Do you plan to release a print copy as well. Would love this in paperback.
Now you’re making it big…congrats on the next step David!
WOW!
This is awesome. I love to see that you guys are making this happen!!
can we purchase this book now? where?
Is the book available for download yet? Those of us who are trying to make bold moves in our keeper leagues (like keeping Brett Anderson over Adam Jones) are looking for some edification from your astute statistical analysis….
When is this going to be available? Soon, I hope–some of us have keeper league drafts coming up in the next week or two and are waiting for our favorite, best-written and best-researched analysis site to drop some knowledge that will help us make those last and most difficult decisions, such as: whither Adam Jones?
Have you ever considered publishing an e-book or guest authoring on other blogs? I have a blog based on the same information you discuss and would really like to have you share some stories/information. I know my readers would enjoy your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to send me an e mail.
I am really enjoying the theme/design of your website. Do you ever run into any browser compatibility issues? A few of my blog audience have complained about my website not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome. Do you have any ideas to help fix this problem?
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