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We welcome change when it brings about good fortune, or new hope, or bad Scorpions songs, but the fear associated with the unknown aspects of change can paralyze your progress and limit your desire to accept a new reality. At Baseball Prospectus, we are walking into a new tomorrow without our most prominent and respected figure, a baseball mind of such merit that the major leagues finally purchased his contract and called him up to the active roster. In uncertain times, the drug of choice is certitude, and I’ve been bird-dogging the streets for dealers and distributors. How do you replace a seasoned veteran of national prominence over a weekend?

I haven’t been in the prospect game as long as Kevin, and I can’t stand next to his resume at this stage of my career and pretend we are equals. I was casually writing for a team-specific blog when Kevin and I became friends, and this is after I spent years reading his work and impersonating his pomp on various platforms. We were friends before we were co-workers, and we were co-workers only because we were friends and he thought I’d make a good podcast partner. Can you imagine the brain trust at Baseball Prospectus after that request was made? I didn’t have a footprint on Twitter. The “industry” didn’t know my name. I had developed solid contacts, but mostly on the [Texas] Rangers side of the coin, and even though I felt some degree of confidence in my scouting knowledge, my world was so small that any standing was significant. Kevin fished me out of a small pond and relocated me into the national waters of Baseball Prospectus. He’s my Robert Shaw.

With only two full seasons under my belt at the highest level, I’m hardly a grizzled, drunk, combative fisherman crushing beers in one pull and wearing wool sweaters—although I have been known to crush beers and I do own a few wool sweaters—but I have learned more in the last two years working at Baseball Prospectus than I did in the 10 years before that. Thanks to my affiliation, I’ve been able to walk through many doors that were previously closed to me, ranging from access to fields and practices to correspondence with front office personnel. My network of sources has grown from a handful to a healthy hoard, and through these contacts I’ve been able to refine some of my scouting chops; if you hang around scouts and watch games at their hip, it’s amazing how much you can learn about the game that you were completely and utterly ignorant of. I learn something new every day, be it a description or a particular approach that I had previously dismissed or been blind to. The more I learn, the more it freaks me out how little I actually know about the game, and I absolutely love that. I can’t wait to take another step forward and learn that my knowledge of the present will be judged harshly against my knowledge in the future.

This brings me to the state of things at Baseball Prospectus, at least as it pertains to the future of the minor league side. We can’t replace Kevin Goldstein the man, but we are going to offer you premium content that will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the output of recent years and hopefully exceed that product down the line. I'll be taking on an expanded role as I lead the the prospect and player development side of the site. Future Shock was Kevin's baby and, therefore, will be retired like a jersey in the rafters, but some of the qualities of that baby will continue to live on in different forms. For the 2013 season, it is our goal to continue the tradition of daily minor-league recaps, not to mention a Monday Ten Pack in KG’s honor. We will continue to produce “poll the industry"-type pieces, keeping you attached to how some people within the game view talent and player development. The team prospect rankings will continue, as will the top 101, although the process will be tweaked to fit the hands of the new artists tasked with the construction. Speaking of new hands…

Baseball Prospectus will be adding talent to the roster in the coming weeks. This talent will work closely with me on all team prospect rankings and the top 101, serve as frequent contributors to the site on all things prospects and player development, and pair nicely with the talented staff we already have in place. I’m very excited about these moves, and I look forward to the day when I can cheer the announcement. That day will be coming soon, and we're keeping this quiet for now only to protect the parties involved and to make sure we don’t counter a big-body blow with an off-balance haymaker. The moves we have on the agenda will make Baseball Prospectus a better site, and it’s worth the extra patience to see it through. Trust me, this is going to be fun.

One final note on the upcoming minor-league coverage for 2013: Baseball Prospectus will be setting up networks of regional prospect coverage, and we have already started the process of recruiting talent for such an endeavor. To keep the readers close to the action of the moment, these satellite reporters will be providing tangible scouting data from minor-league games in their regions, and we will pair that information with other reports being generated in order to build more accurate and in-depth player profiles. If you want to know what pitches a prospect throws, how fast he throws them, and from what arm slot, we are going to provide you with that information, and we are going to keep it updated. Our goal is to provide you with the most comprehensive coverage available by the most convenient means, and once we cut the ribbon on this construction site, you are going to understand why I feel so confident about this.  Turns out, change isn’t as scary as I once thought.

Thank you for reading

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acehart1
9/04
Jason, I am truly excited for you. This is a well-deserved opportunity, and I know you will continue to deliver stellar analysis and work. Congrats again. Make Kove (and us) proud. #want
Asinwreck
9/04
Very glad you're getting a bigger boat, Jason. (But if Kevin's your Robert Shaw, does that make the Astros a maneating shark?)
tmangell
9/04
Go get 'em, Professor! The prospect portion of BP is in great hands.
dianagramr
9/04
Congrats Jason .... well-deserved!
Behemoth
9/04
Many congratulations. I trust you are currently being fitted for a nice new fedora.

I don't want to get into this today, because this is a thread for congratulations, #want, hats and strange mancrushes, but it would be nice if there was an opportunity for folks to discuss what they want from prospect coverage from BP before things were set in stone.
bornyank1
9/04
You can discuss it here if you'd like. And my inbox is always open, as is Jason's. Let us know.
Behemoth
9/04
I think the main thing that I wanted to say was that I thought that the different approaches that Kevin and Jason took led to a very effective and interesting product. For me, I find the systematic approach that Kevin took - covering off top 20s for all the teams, regular minor league updates, weekly ten packs and so on to be essential to a site like BP. I wouldn't want that to be lost at all - I particularly value the depth in the top 20s, for example.

I also think that Jason has a specific set of skills that work very well for the sort of things he has been doing for the site - looking at more obscure guys, focusing in greater depth on a smaller number of players, scouting reports, and writing a range of weird things. I'm kind of hoping you aren't just going to get Jason to do Kevin's old job, and bring someone else in to try and do what Jason did before. While I'm sure that if that's the approach you do take, that Jason would do a very good job, I don't think you would get the most out of his talents that way. I'm quite willing to accept that I might well be wrong about this, but I hope that whatever solution you come up with will take things like that into account.

The other thing I'd like to ask for specifically, is to get someone with deep prospect knowledge who also plays fantasy, and who could produce some content for people who play proper, deep dynasty leagues. Most of the fantasy content is currently focused on redraft or shallowish dynasty, and the fantasy guys tend to pass off prospect questions to Kevin/Jason if they require knowledge beyond the top 50-100 guys. I can understand why they do that, with the expertise you have in house, but it would be useful to get someone who can cover this area properly. I think many of the prospect readers are reading for fantasy purposes, and I think that's a gap in your current provision.
joechris96
9/04
One thing Jason made clear to us was that he didn't and couldn't become the next Kevin Goldstein. Fortunately, we wouldn't want it any other way. We agree that Jason has unique skills, and we hope to support him with a cast of great writers and scouts to provide the most in-depth coverage possible.

As far as coverage of prospects from a fantasy player's perspective, I think that's an interesting idea and one we'll definitely consider. Thank you
Behemoth
9/04
Thanks for the response. That's very reassuring for me that Jason will be able to craft a role that suits his own range of skills, and that he's not seen as being the new Kevin Goldstein.
rpjonesga
9/04
Are there any plans to continue the Up and In podcast in some form? While the daily podcast is great, the prospect focus of Up and In was unique. I also enjoyed the in depth discussions with baseball and non baseball people. Definitley looking forward to whatever the future holds for BP even without Kevin! Best of luck with the Astros!
joechris96
9/04
Up and In will not continue, but as Jason said in the podcast finale, there certainly may be a new podcast with him and a co-host on the horizon.
MBruner
9/04
Jason, I would like to suggest a podcast with you and a user only known as 'Josey Wells'.
knockoutking
9/04
tempted to flag as inappropriate heh

i propose he does it clint eastwood style, with an empty chair for Josey
JimmyJack
9/04
Will the 102 podcasts still exist on-site?

The old radio shows with Will Carroll are not available.
eliyahu
9/04
This is super important. I suspect that I wasn't alone in using Kevin's Top 20s, etc. for fantasy purposes. The "fantasy impact" assessment may be gratuitous, but the deep knowledge that Kevin provided helped me land Trout, Desmond Jennings, Carlos Santana (and, uh, Travis Snider) before they were on the radars of others in my deep fantasy league.

I'd strongly recommend keeping that fantasy players in mind when thinking about prospect coverage going forward.
bornyank1
9/04
Can you give me some sense of how you'd like to see the prospect coverage tailored toward fantasy players? I would think that providing accurate assessments of players' potential, along with MLB ETAs, would be the most important information for a fantasy player to have, and we'd be trying to do that regardless. But if we can make it more fantasy-relevant in some way, I'm open to the idea.
GregLowder
9/04
I don't understand how their writing needs to be more fantasy-baseball focused. The write-ups and reports on players are in depth so you should be able to figure out how that translates into fantasy baseball.
fawcettb
9/04
Please DON'T do that, because it will absolutely skew the analysis.I found Kevin's work useful for scoresheet, where defense and OBP matter. And even without it, I want to know how the rookies act as baseball players.
Behemoth
9/04
I don't think anyone is suggesting that current content is replaced. It would be a case of adding in certain information, either to existing articles or as new separate articles.
alexknapik
9/05
I don't think anyone is suggesting changing the focus of prospect analysis, just adding to it. Having a fantasy-focused writer or two put out a complementary "for fantasy" top 101 wouldn't harm the existing content.
Behemoth
9/04
I think one thing that would be useful is to have someone on staff who can answer questions like "Should I trade prospect A for prospects B and C?" when A, B and C are not necessarily top 50 or so guys, or people about to make an immediate impact in the majors. I don't currently feel that there's anyone I could ask that sort of question to in a chat and get a good answer. I may be wrong on that, but it is my perception right now.

In terms of specific information, it's probably more a case of quantifying things as much as possible. So, for example, a prospect like Matt Dominguez or Jose Iglesias is less valuable in fantasy than real life, because most of their value comes from their defence. It's much more useful if the analysis is written in a way that makes that apparent, rather than just stating that the defence is really good. There are other prospects who have good defence but it's a lesser component of their overall value - Profar is an obvious example.

Similarly, a comment like "fringy defence" is not that helpful. What I want to know is how likely someone is to stick at a position, and if they don't stick, where will they go to. Even factors such as organisational philosophy impact on this - for example, the Tigers appear willing to allow anyone to play any infield position as long as their glove is made of metal, while other teams believe much more in pitching and defence - and things like that are less often discussed in standard prospect analysis.

I do also think there are some things that an experienced fantasy writer with a really good knowledge of prospects could do. Some possibilities might include:

Separate fantasy rankings
Players badly over or undervalued by rankings
Deeper prospects you might want to pick up/trade for
Analysis of who can stick at short or catcher, or whether pitchers will end up as relievers or not.
Some decent discussion on trades
Deep dynasty strategy discussion (where say 300+ prospects are held across the league)
GregLowder
9/04
Well, fringy defense matters in fantasy, doesn't it? If you read that a player with fringy defense in left field and has to move to first base shortly down the road, that will impact your fantasy team because suddenly a prospect you're penciling into your outfield may not qualify there if he's a 1b. And, will the bat profile there?

I think we, as readers, are smart enough to translate what KG/Jason (or if you read Keith and BA) say into how that impacts a fantasy roster.
Behemoth
9/04
I'm sure readers generally are smart enough to translate most of what's said, in the same way that if I gave you one of Kevin's top 20s, took off the stars and rankings, and then asked you to recreate it based on the analysis, you could come up with a reasonable facsimile of Kevin's list. That doesn't mean it's ideal or that someone with a real interest in both prospects and fantasy couldn't add anything of value.

Fringy defence only matters if it results in a position shift. A comment like "below average defence" can mean very little in fantasy terms, if the team will accept weaker defence at whatever position, or it can mean a great deal if a player may have to move, with whatever the impact is on bat/value. That's why I was asking for authors to try and be as specific as possible about things like that.
alexknapik
9/05
"I think we, as readers, are smart enough to translate what KG/Jason (or if you read Keith and BA) say into how that impacts a fantasy roster."

Yeah, but I could also go out to minor league ballparks to scout players and develop relationships with scouts and other minor league personnel in order to learn more. Then I wouldn't need BP at all! But instead of using my life for that, I subscribe.
alexknapik
9/05
Big +1 this this here, Behemoth. There's load of pitchers whose upside is that of perhaps a #4 or #5 command-and-control starter, which is immensely valuable in the real MLB and so should be (and have been) comparatively high on KG's rankings. But, for fantasy, we'd rather chance the flamethrower who has a minute chance of hitting his #2 SP ceiling, but if he does, he's actually fantasy relevant.
handyarrow
9/05
I will say as someone somewhat new (30 or so episodes) that I think more fantasy content would really take away from any sort of show.
alexknapik
9/05
I think one reasonably easy thing would be to have one fantasy-knowledgeable person "convert" the top 101 (and the team top 11s) to fantasy relevance. In addition to, not replacement of. So someone could take what will be Jason's / BP's Top 101 and re-order and re-comment based solely on likelihood of future fantasy success. Of course Mr. Goldstein started to dip his toe in this water with his ESPN Insider cross-article "Top fantasy prospects for 2012," which is an absolute model for what I and what I think others would like on the site.

I'm not sure to what extent y'all already do this, but if you put out a marketing survey about why people followed Kevin's prospect work, you'd find a (perhaps) surprisingly high percentage was interested in it primarily from a fantasy perspective. I can say, anecdotally, that my circle of a dozen or so friends that are subscribers / purchasers of the annual did so using the prospect material for fantasy.

Kevin's work was of a uniquely entertaining / interesting quality, such that I valued it highly even though it really wasn't *exactly* what I was looking for (deep prospect information that was directly fantasy relevant). It's like if you wanted a Pale Ale to drink but all you had was a Vienna lager, but that Negra Modelo is so good you were happy to get drunk on it. It's so chill.

For example, Kevin might have an OF, SS, or C (especially) ranked much higher than his fantasy ceiling because of their defense. Makes total sense for doing "real-world" prospect rankings, but doesn't hold up to an interested fantasy player. Scanning KG's 101 from this year really quickly, Jesus Montero may have been higher. Perhaps Francisco Lindor slightly lower. If your league, like most, doesn't require an CF (just uses OF slots), Gary Brown would be ranked lower than Wil Myers. Devin Mesoraco would fall, Christian Yelich would fall. Matt Adams, Anthony Rizzo would rise. That sort of thing. Since I've started buying the BP annual in 2007, I've been reading the prospect, always mentally altering (or marking up with a Sharpie) the comments based on fantasy relevance.

Now that BP has the opportunity to re-set the table, as it were, having someone that does Prospect-to-Fantasy sort of "conversion" would add something really valuable that Kevin "couldn't" do here.
Behemoth
9/05
This man suggests Negro Modelo can hold a chill. Excommunication is the only solution.

Seriously though, the top 100 would be a useful start, although it should also take into account things like team (eg Dylan Bundy is less valuable in fantasy because he will pitch in Baltimore), situation (Mesoraco is less valuable because Cincinnati usually split catcher playing time more equally than other teams) and so on. Commentary would also be useful - player X is much more valuable if you play in an OBP league, or your league uses holds as well as saves, or this player has a good chance of being eligible at more than one position or whatever. Also, an appreciation of how big a league has to be before a player has value - for example, I play in a 28 team league, where a guy like Nate Eovaldi has a lot of value (potential mid-rotation guy, NL team, pitchers park), but I wouldn't take him in my 12 teamer with the last pick in the draft.
rawagman
9/05
But BP already includes that stuff with their Fantasy tools - the player forecast manager.
Behemoth
9/05
But only for existing major leaguers (or potentially for likely callups), as far as I know.
Oleoay
9/05
The fantasy information that was in the Future Shocks: Star rating, ETA and Fantasy World Impact, were enough for me.
jparks77
9/04
I don't play fantasy baseball and I don't write about fantasy baseball, so rarely is fantasy baseball on my mind when I think about minor league coverage. But I do realize that a lot of people use the prospect information for fantasy purposes, so I want to help in that cause in anyway possible. I'm not going to change my approach and become a fantasy writer, but if you think certain pieces of information could have value to the fantasy player, I'd gladly listen and make every effort to accomodate.

The coverage is going to be thick, so if you are looking for information on under-the-radar players that have a chance to develop into legit prospects, you will have plenty of articles to read during the 2013 season. We also have a fantastic fantasy staff that will continue to produce quality content.
eliyahu
9/04
Ben and Jason -- thanks for the responsiveness.

What I found very useful in Kevin's coverage for fantasy purposes was his capsule approach to "good," "bad," best case scenario," etc. ETAs are less important since there's a lot of other variables there, and what's really important is getting a sense of how good they'll be -- not when they arrive. But the entirety of what Kevin provided enabled me to make reasonable guesses as to who will become strong fantasy players.

Jason -- I love your stuff, and I wouldn't expect you to change what makes you the writer you are. I don't think Kevin geared his writing for fantasy either. But KG definitely understood that a sub-segment of his readership was interested for fantasy purposes.

Bottom line: Getting a good sense for how good you think a player can become and how likely that is to happen is useful. Heck -- even Jason's latest "Off With Their Head" series has been useful for fantasy purposes.
doog7642
9/05
I've offered this suggestion before, but I believe PECOTA - and the round table discussion of "PECOTA takes on the prospects" - provided an interesting point of view on prospects in its own right. If the minor league equivalencies can continue to be tweaked, I think that's a fascinating counterpoint to the very necessary scouting element that Kevin and Jason brought (bring) to the table.
gweedoh565
9/04
Thanks Ben and Joe for being receptive to reader input.

I'd just like to take the opportunity opine that my favorite contributions of Kevin's were the Monday Ten Packs and the Minor League box score updates (the latter of which I have been sad to see become less frequent this season, presumably due to Kevin's increasingly heavy workload). And the Top 11's and Top 101, of course, are essentials.

Looking forward to seeing what you guys have in store!
gweedoh565
9/04
*to opine
bornyank1
9/04
None of that will be going away. There's a new installment of the Minor League Update on the site today, courtesy of Bradley Ankrom, who'll be handling it from now on.
rbcarter
9/04
I would like to see an expansion of Jason's coverage of little league games and related anecdotes of him creeping out the parents.
richardkr34
9/04
Very nice. Looking forward to this almost as much as I'm looking forward to the rumored PT Anderson adaptation of Inherent Vice.
ssimon
9/04
DaveKavanagh
9/04
Congratulations, Jason, you well deserve it! I too fear change, so while it would be completely understandable for you to focus on serious prospect analysis now, I really hope that you also continue to write plenty of Parksian pieces about whatever you want.
Guancous
9/04
Great news for a genuinely weird man. Hope Kevin left you his Rolodex.
Scott44
9/04
Jason - While I was disappointed (selfishly) by Kevin's departure, I think everyone here recognizes your unique writing and perspective on prospects. I'm sure you will thrive in this role and I continue to look forward to your work.

Scott
crperry13
9/04
I've never been more disappointed when a writer left than I was when Kevin left. Oddly though, I've never been more excited/interested to see what BP does about it. So I'm game to experience whatever you guys come up with, and am looking forward to it.
kringent
9/04
I agree with this completely - the combination of disappointment and excitement/interest describes my reaction perfectly.

What I've been wondering over the weekend, though, is the nature of departures on BP - why do we always find out someone is leaving through a 'this is my last piece' bon voyage column? Why no transition? I suppose BP is not alone in this, but it would ease the pain of loss to have some time to come to grips with the coming change.
joechris96
9/04
To be honest with you, some of the changes are surprising to us too. In this case, the Astros wanted Kevin and quickly, so there really was no time for us to ask for "2 weeks notice" if you will. I agree it's a little different, but I've found that to be the case throughout the baseball industry. Coming from a traditional business background, it's certainly unique to me too. But we roll with it the best we can.
nickgieschen
9/04
I thought Kevin mentioned he was taking September off to recharge and would join the Astros in time for the offseason.
joechris96
9/04
He's taking 2 weeks "off," but he's already doing some work for the Astros.
Schere
9/04
Terrific. So, you'll have your top 100 out next week? :)
Lastblues
9/04
Stoked to see the changes that come. I love the vibe that the BP community and the podcast has created, it's like nothing else I've found in the sports and/or cultural world. I'm in.
nickkappel
9/04
Jason — congratulations on your expanded role. Has the "new talent" already been acquired, or are you guys still recruiting?
joechris96
9/04
We've already agreed to terms with one additional person, and we're working on negotiations with other. We should be able to make an announcement later this week.
faithdies
9/04
Are you guys trying to establish something similar to ESPN's Sweetspot blog but geared towards minors? Or are you guys actually acquiring and housing talent in house for regional Minors coverage?
joechris96
9/04
We're not going to be featuring blogs like ESPN. We're going to create a network of people that have scouting and player development skills, and those people will contribute to the BP site or assist Jason and the other regulars covering the minor leagues.
Rockshu
9/04
That last paragraph gave me a raging erection.
JimmyJack
9/04
You should be the frontman for "Boner Rope!"
jrahl0
9/04
Good luck!
sandriola
9/04
This network of regional prospect coverage sounds great. The detail that this setup can provide really excites me for next year. Tangible scouting reports are one thing you (Jason) appear to have real passion doing. Expanding this to cover the nation is a great idea.

Congrats!
ljmorris20
9/04
Congrats Jason, sad to see Kevin and the podcast go, but can't wait to see all the changes coming at BP. You couldn't be more deserving of this opportunity. #want
moonlightj
9/04
This is Gatlin's BBQ quality stuff
andtinez
9/04
That's lofty praise.
jparks77
9/04
That's delicious praise.
jhensley
9/04
Congrats Jason.
SpaceJohnson
9/04
Hot Damn! This is great news.
michaelmcduffe
9/04
Every time a writer leaves I worry that BP's quality will suffer. And every time BP's new recruits come through with the goods. You guys do the best prospect coverage...of baseball writers!
So while I'll miss KG's work like crazy I am consoled by these reflections and by the somewhat frightening thought that Jason Parks will be really turned loose! Texas is far too small a place, and beat, to confine a writer of his ability.
BeplerP
9/04
What he said.
mdickson
9/04
You deserve it, Jason. Congrats.
SCrebel10
9/04
Congrats Jason! #want
JPinPhilly
9/04
Congrats Professor. Does this make you the sensei?
kcboomer
9/04
You have to be happy for people who work hard and move up the ranks in their profession. Congratulations to both Kevin and Jason.

OTOH, it is apparent that BP is devolving into a farm system for the Big Boys to pouch upon whenever they have a need to fill. This constant churning of talent is really getting tiring. As we continually lose top talent so do the odds go up that long-time readers will not like the replacements.
joechris96
9/04
Yet on even another hand, we still seem able to replace that talent with people that the industry reads and respects. Nobody likes turnover, but it's inevitable in many cases, especially sports. We try to hold on to talent as long as we can to preserve continuity, but we're also extremely proud of those who have gone on to work for Major League Baseball clubs.
Oleoay
9/04
To be fair, there was a lot of "the sky is falling" when Joe, Christina, Will, Jay and quite a few others left and it took BP quite awhile to find its voice.

Things are better now, which is probably part of the reason people are less panicky about KG leaving...

That being said, I am disappointed the Future Shocks are being retired. The Transaction Analysis, Hit Lists and quite a few other things that departing writers left were inherited by others.
dethwurm
9/04
First of all, I'd like to echo the sentiment that while it's disappointing that Kevin's gone, it's also very exciting to see what the future holds.

Also,
SPECIFIC PROSPECT COVERAGE WISH:
You may be/probably are already planning this, but when you compile the scouting reports for prospects and information like fastball velocity and repertoire, could you please make that data available in an easy-to-download-and-analyze format? Even with the subjectivity, imprecision, and sample bias errors, having such data available publicly would enable all sorts of awesome analysis.

How well does low-minors velocity correlate with Major League/Pitch F/X velocity or strikeout rate? Do prospects who throw curveballs do better than those with sliders? How does fastball-changeup velocity separation change as a prospect advances up the ladder? Questions like that would be fun to investigate in a systematic way, and while I'm sure many BP writers will tackle some of those, it would be best for the baseball community as a whole to make that data accessible to hobbiests as well (perhaps not free, necessarily, but available in some capacity).
lipitorkid
9/04
I liked this suggestion (Someone subtracted my +1) and I also wanted to add that I really liked the Prospect Tracker this year. It's such a pain to find that information on MiLB.com because they split up stats by level. So please continue the Prospect Tracker.
kgoldstein
9/04
I couldn't be happier about this news, and some of the news that is still coming.
dianagramr
9/04
See folks ... he really isn't dead!
Oleoay
9/04
Better anagram him before it's too late!
crperry13
9/06
One last Haiku for the road?
Behemoth
9/06
Kevin Goldstein gone
Professor Parks must step up
With new plans and #want?
Behemoth
9/06
Or even:
Parks is moving up
Knows all about the prospects
Can he do haikus?
jparks77
9/06
I can do haikus. I'm cool enough not to. ;)
Oleoay
9/07
I award you a -1 and may God (and dianagram) have mercy on your soul.
lipitorkid
9/04
Congrats Jason. They always say "write what you know." I'd be interested to see your development as a scout in training as a regular post. Something like what BP did with Doug Thorburn and pitching, but looking at the other offensive tools- running/throwing/hitting with video and other analysis. Doug's thrown a lot of cold water on the old witches tales of pitching mechanics and I'd like to see what's going on with the new school of baseball scouts.

I also loved your articles where you looked back at prospects who didn't pan out "Bring me the head of" and the "I've been thinking about." Just follow your passion Jason and we will ride shotgun until the car runs out of gas, cause I'm too old to push a car anywhere.
sandriola
9/04
It looks like the -1 Fairy made its appearance in this thread.
Oleoay
9/04
Minusbats. Thankfully, the effect is barely noticeable if you make your Saving Throw vs Willpower (3)
jfive613
9/04
Congrats Mr. Parks. I truly enjoy your writing style and your very unique and awesome sense of humor. You've really done an excellent job covering some of the more minor prospects in detail that no one else in the industry has. I'm going to really miss Kevin and the podcast, but look foward to what the future will bring to BP.
icebaseball16
9/04
Looking forward to the new look. Congratulations Jason!
mgolovcsenko
9/04
Congrats, Jason, and can only infer you'll be moving from generally prospect-barren Brooklyn and its surrounds to less hipper but target richer prospect environs. #Want

Off the top of my head, some relocation suggestions: Dayton ... Quad Cities ... Bakersfield ... Jackson, MS.

jparks77
9/04
Wow. I'm touched by the extreme #want being displayed in this thread. It means a lot to me to receive this opportunity, and I'm looking forward to the days ahead. As we have mentioned, additional personnel will be added to the MiLB roster, and those announcements will be coming soon. With these new writers, the current crop of talent already in-house at BP, and the satellite writers who will be contributing first-hand scouting info during the season, the prospect coverage in 2013 has a chance to stand alone in the industry. I'm not kidding. I feel that strongly about it. It's going to be awesome.
jwlowe13
9/04
It was probably a tough decision for Kevin. On one hand, you want to move up to a major league organization to see if you really know your stuff enough to actually see if it will work in the major leagues. On the other hand, it was the Astros.
dbrosene
9/04
Jason - B.D. Wong is very proud of you.
summerdays
9/04
A greater role for Jason (well deserved) is the silver lining to losing the voice of Kevin. The new directions sound great--especially the notion of satellite writers, and I only hope that the increased responsibilities leave Jason some time to work on the weirder parts of his craft that are not only great for many of us, but probably feed his inner Kove.

Asinwreck
9/05
A nice barometer for leaving a job is knowing that you are leaving a place stronger than how you found it. So while Christina Kahrl and Nate Silver moved on, they left having brought in people like Kevin Goldstein and Steven Goldman. Kevin now leaves having brought in a great bunch of writers. I'll miss him, but I'm glad to have Sam Miller's funny and innovative breakdowns of video. It's been a treat to see Jason Parks develop his unique voice, and I look forward to seeing what he'll do in 2013.

Kevin is rightfully proud of what he's leaving behind. I have no doubt that when Joe, Ben, Sam, Jason, and the crew currently working on BP move on, they will leave it in fine hands. It is a time-honored tradition.
ncsuwa4
9/04
So very happy to see Jason's role expanded. The humor and expertise in a Jason Parks article is one of my favorite reads in any subject and one that I look forward to whenever I see the link posted on Twitter.
rawagman
9/04
I, too, look forward to being a recipient of Jason's expanded role here. What BP has often meant for me, in addition to *baseball* content, has been quality writing about baseball. To that end, I have adored the work of guys including (but not inclusive to) Bradford Doolittle, Adam Sobsey, Ben Lindbergh, Sam Miller and, apropos of everything, Jason Parks. Long may this continue.
andwoo
9/04
Congrats and can't wait to see what the new lineup will produce!
DavidVocalDude
9/04
Jason, you are a great writer and this is great news. Eventually, some team HAD to snatch up Kevin and I can honestly say you're the one writer I felt could take over for him and keep the quality up. Congrats. I will most definitely be reading.
zwoodill
9/04
Congrats to Parks! One of my favorite writers, baseball or otherwise.
thegeneral13
9/05
I'd like to see Jason leverage his increased clout to ink a tell-all book deal with fake Yu Darvish.
devine
9/05
Congrats to both Jason and Kevin.

My opinion on the BP turnover of the last however-many years (I think I've been a subscriber for 10 or so)?

It's an unmitigated benefit.

I really loved the work that Nate and Christina and Joe and all the rest published here. But were they to have stayed longer than their muse let them stay, their writing would have staled, surely. They benefited (as far as I can see - I do follow as many of them as possible) from new challenges and new venues, and BP benefited from bringing in new voices. Jason's is a particularly weird one, but yeah, his too.

I eagerly await the arrival of the fresh meat.
jpbaker64
9/05
Bring it, Jason!
JoeTetreault
9/05
Many Congrats, Jason. I'm looking forward to the new team you assemble to cover what is easily my favorite part of the baseball universe.
eskimoQball
9/07
What was the last article/announcement made on this site that had 100+ comments?!?
jparks77
9/07
KG's announcement
eskimoQball
9/10
Correct. More accurately, I should have asked what TOPIC or SET OF CLOSELY RELATED EVENTS has attracted 100+ comments...btw, I thoroughly enjoyed the podcast. Finding two people that can 'chat' about baseball (or football for that matter) for a couple hours without long pauses, boring periods of time, etc., is very difficult. Thank you for the great work you do.