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Here at Baseball Prospectus, we strive for perfection in everything we do, but even the best collection of baseball writers and analysts on the web today can't be perfect. Sometimes we need input from you, our readers and subscribers, and other times we need to turn to the insight of those with experience in and around the game.  

Enter the Baseball Prospectus Advisory Board.

I am happy to announce today that Dan Evans, Cory Schwartz, Gary Gillette, and Blake Rhodes have all agreed to serve as members of the first-ever Baseball Prospectus Advisory Board. These key industry leaders possess unique knowledge and skill sets to serve the BP team by making strategic recommendations, acting as a sounding board, sharing experiences, and making networking introductions.

The Board will available to advise our staff and management in both business and content matters, and help us provide the best products possible for our audience.

 So without further ado, please join me in welcoming the Baseball Prospectus Advisory Board.

Dan Evans
As President/CEO of Evans Baseball Consulting, Dan Evans has an incredibly unique perspective. He has been in the game for 30 years and has been a decision-maker on both sides of the table; he has worked as a club senior executive and as a player agent. A pioneer in using technology for baseball analysis, Evans orchestrated a complete and successful rebuilding of the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise during his time as their general manager, and has the second-best won-loss record (.548) of any Dodgers GM. Matt Kemp is among the players acquired during Evans’ tenure as GM.

While a DePaul University junior, Evans secured an internship with the Chicago White Sox and worked there for nearly 20 years. In addition, he also worked for the Seattle Mariners and Chicago Cubs during his career, and was a baseball analyst for the Comcast Sports Network in Chicago. 

Evans is fully immersed in all levels of baseball. He is proficient in most forms of social media, most notably Twitter (@DanEvans108). Evans is married with two daughters, an avid runner, and Chicago native. He lives in Pasadena, CA.

Cory Schwartz
Cory Schwartz is the Vice President of Stats for MLB.com. He oversees year-round live data capture for all Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball and winter-league games. He was part of the team that pioneered the PITCHf/x system, which provides real-time data on pitch speed, trajectory, location, and type. The data his team generates is used to fuel live applications on MLB.com—including the award-winning At-Bat and Gameday products—and for online and offline business partners around the world such as ESPN, STATS LLC, and Bloomberg Sports. They also provide live data and stats to the public relations, baseball operations, and scoreboard operators for all 30 MLB clubs and hundreds of minor-league clubs. Schwartz is also a co-host of “Fantasy 411,” which airs daily on MLB Network and MLB.com, and has been competing in fantasy baseball since 1989. He is a two-time league winner in the high-stakes National Fantasy Baseball Championship, and has competed in the Tout Wars industry expert league since 2004. 

Blake Rhodes
Blake Rhodes is an experienced professional in media and public relations, strategic communications, crisis management, social media, brand marketing, and special events. During a 20-year career, Mr. Rhodes has become a well-respected specialist in managing media relationships on an international, national, and local level with high-profile newsmakers and executives.

As the director of the media relations department for the San Francisco Giants, Mr. Rhodes had the opportunity to develop communications and brand strategies with the company’s top executives. Some of the highlights during his 16-year tenure included strategizing and implementing the communications plans (general and crisis) during Barry Bonds’ career with the team, the changes in both the Giants’ ownership and field manager, and the ballpark’s name changes. Mr. Rhodes oversaw all media operations for the 78th Major League All-Star Game at AT&T Park, the 2002 World Series, and both the single-season and all-time home-run record chases. For their efforts with the 2007 All-Star Game, he and his staff were widely hailed for running the best media operations for any of Major League Baseball’s Jewel events.

Rhodes currently works for Xenophon Strategies, where he provides strategic counsel to numerous clients, including Airbus Americas, Williams-Sonoma, and the Reform Pension Board, which serves the Reform Jewish Movement. Since joining the firm three years ago, he has also directed an internal communications program for the United States Coast Guard.

Gary Gillette
Gary Gillette is editor of SABR’s annual Emerald Guide, co-editor of the ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia, and executive editor of the ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia. He has written, edited, or contributed to dozens of baseball books, including six editions of Total Baseball. His most recent trade book is Big League Ballparks, a complete history of major-league parks, co-authored with SABR members Stuart Shea and Matt Silverman. Gillette has been a member of SABR’s board of directors since 2009 and is co-chair of the Ballparks Committee and former co-chair of the Business of Baseball Committee. As a director of the Tiger Stadium Conservancy, he continues the fight to save the historic field at Michigan and Trumbull. As a member of the Mayor’s Committee to save Hamtramck Stadium, he is also working to preserve one of the few remaining Negro League ballparks. Gillette lives in Detroit’s historic Indian Village.

Thank you for reading

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Oleoay
1/02
So, Baseball Prospectus has a new CEO, a new CFO, and a new advisory board...

All they need now is an IPO?
joechris96
1/02
If you could facilitate that, it would be great. Think of the things we could provide for our readers then! :)
Oleoay
1/02
Nah, all I can do is track stock prices.
Kongos
1/02
Very happy to see Gary Gillette on the board to give a real publishing viewpoint. What you're missing is a tech person who can help stretch what the website can do.
mhmosher
1/02
Impressive.....by the way, when is the long-talked-about website redesign coming?
joechris96
1/02
Greg and Amazin...we have an excellent tech person in Rob McQuown, and we have recently provided him with some help so that we can make the web site our next priority. Believe me, it's at the top of my list too.
ScottBehson
1/02
My 2cents as a subscriber- keep the articles in an easy-to-read and download simple format (blackberry app, please!), but make the stats fro easier to sort.
joechris96
1/02
I can't promise a Blackberry app, but I'll see what's possible. We are working on a few different apps for the site. More info will follow in the upcoming months.
Yarky1
1/02
So is the team prospect list series dead?
kringent
1/02
Boy, I have to +1 this comment. Every day I open BP hoping for a new top 11. There have only been 2 since Thanksgiving! It's like the series has been abandoned in mid-stream.
Oleoay
1/02
Well, they are probably working on the Annual and Baseball Between the Numbers...
ScottBehson
1/02
This seems a poor excuse for neglecting the subscriber-based website, especially in the offseason. KG is great, and if he is diverting time to those projects, it i up to the editor-in-chief to divert (or acquire) resources from elsewhere to fill in the gaps in content- for example, with more proguestus or wayback articles.
kringent
1/02
Yes indeed. I understand the multiple demands on time, but it feels like subscriber content has gotten de-prioritized.
joechris96
1/02
Can you tell me where the content has suffered? As far as I can see, we're still publishing quite a few articles a day from just about all our authors. And next week, we're going to announce the addition of three more writers...some of whom you've already heard make announcements if you're on Twitter.
accies
1/02
For those (few?) not on Twitter, who's been making announcements about joining BP?
joechris96
1/02
It's actually more than 3, and Steven Goldman will have much more next week, but Maury Brown is back with BP and joining him will be Bradford Doolittle, Adam Sobsey, Jonathan Bernhardt and a player to be named later.
mhmosher
1/02
That's weird....I didn't even realize the prospect lists had stopped. That sucks.
Oleoay
1/02
I love the prospect lists... but are they stopped or is KG just busy?
joechris96
1/02
They haven't stopped. Kevin even mentions below the Marlins will be up tomorrow.
Oleoay
1/02
Didn't see that comment, thanks for pointing it out.
Oleoay
1/02
Well, the Marshall and Quentin TAs were half-done...
joechris96
1/02
Half-done? Do you just mean Kevin contributed to half those articles? If so, that's absolutely correct.
Oleoay
1/02
The Quentin article lists just Anderson as the author and there is no writeup or analysis on Castro or Hernandez.

The Marshall article lists just Anderson as the author and has no mention of who the minor leagues are or an analysis of them though the trade has been finalized.

That's what I mean by half-done.
joechris96
1/03
Ok, you're right. I was thinking of the Bailey article. RJ did those articles you're referring to as quick reactionary pieces to trades that happened when our writers are not on a normal schedule.(Friday evening the 23rd and yesterday, Sunday the 1st). That's why it's Anderson alone.

We have been discussing whether or not it's necessary to provide "instant" analysis as opposed to more thorough, timely (but not immediate) analysis. Your comment goes right to that point so thank you for bringing it up.
Oleoay
1/03
There are many generic sports sites for instant analysis. Since the TAs rarely have a fantasy perspective (thus don't need quick reaction for fantasy league waiver/free agent claims), I'm not sure the instant analysis is needed.

Besides, I prefer thorough expert analysis even if it takes a day.
joechris96
1/03
Thanks. I tend to agree with you and feel that's the way we're leaning.
Oleoay
1/03
The funny thing is, I thought that was the way BP always leaned until recently...
Oleoay
1/03
I just chalked it up to holiday and Annual publishing busy-ness.
joechris96
1/03
Let's just say we tried something a little different, and looking back now, we realize it's best to stick to what we do best...thorough analysis. We (including me) have made some mistakes. That's why we're resolved to do things a little differently going forward. That's also why we're bringing on the Advisory Board and working closely with beta testers on PECOTA, the new website design, and other projects. That's also why I'm more active than I usually am on the comment boards. I'm not afraid to defend our staff and positions, but I'm also not afraid to admit when we make a wrong decision. If people or organizations think they are perfect, they will never get better.
BurrRutledge
1/03
I was surprised (pleasantly) to see the Quentin trade info so quickly. Might have been nice to have set the expectation up front as a 'first take' or 'quick look' including an explanation that for expedience it was not going to include a review of the prospects involved & that such would come later.

I think there's a place for a quick response that may not cover all the angles. Just let us know that's what it is up front.

Thanks for listening.
joechris96
1/03
We'll see what we can do. I think we're going to stick to the thorough (but still timely) approach. It's hard having people "on call" if you know what I mean. We'll still strive to get the reaction up as quickly as possible, but I don't want to sacrifice the details to do that. Thanks again for the comment.
Oleoay
1/03
My thought is there's this new transaction interface and to feed it information properly, it makes sense to publish thorough articles once trades are finalized so that there are no broken links. A tool is only as good as the data that feeds it.
joechris96
1/02
It's never been an excuse nor will it be an excuse to me. If people think content is suffering, please email and let me know where specifically. Then I can try to rectify the situation. I've made my email address public before, but here it is again if you need it: jhamrahi@baseballprospectus.com
denny187
1/02
I put a -1 on it because it has nothing to do with this article.

Why do all the BP News articles invite "complain about BP" comments?
ScottBehson
1/02
Because it is our best opportunity to comment about BP issues, as opposed to baseball commentary.
kgoldstein
1/02
Marlins up tomorrow. Break neck pace from there.
mhmosher
1/02
Good news
crperry13
1/03
How dare you take vacation time? :)
mcquown
1/02
Had to laugh when I read the suggestion that Top 11's would be abandoned mid-stream. In fact, just the other day, I posted convenient links to the lists from past years going back to 2007. Check out:


http://www.baseballprospectus.com/prospects/index_2011.php

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/prospects/index_2010.php

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/prospects/index_2009.php

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/prospects/index_2008.php

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/prospects/index_2007.php
benharris
1/03
Kevin also had an impressive record with the draft recaps until he skipped the NL West this year. I can see why people felt they may have been abandoned.
joechris96
1/03
Abandoned? I'll give you the NL West recap. There was a miscommunication issue there that I will do my best not to allow happen again. But have you seen how many articles Kevin has written this year? And how many articles he's participated even partially to? Plus his blog posts and daily minor league recaps? I don't know how he can write any more without sacrificing the quality of his work...and sleep!
joechris96
1/03
Speaking of sleep, I think I need some! "articles he's participated even partially to"...I meant to say, "articles he's contributed to?" - Sorry
benharris
1/03
I never said Kevin doesn't work hard. I know he's written a ton this year -- I know because I read all of it. In fact, as soon as I finish this I'm going to go read the Marlins top 11. What I was saying was there was a series, written by Kevin, that was not finished on the site. As the fan of an NL West team and somebody who spends their work days hitting refresh on the BP homepage to see if Kevin's written anything, it kind of sucked when the recap was not posted and there was no explanation. To my knowledge this is the first time anybody from BP has commented on the issue, despite multiple inquiries in the comments section of other articles. If you have it I'd still like to see it. Thanks for your response.
joechris96
1/03
Ok, fair enough. I just didn't want anyone to think Kevin abandoned them :)
dashunk
1/02
Ron Shandler's 2012 Baseball Forecaster is already published - where is your product?
vtadave
1/02
I buy Shandler's guide every year too, but it's quite a bit easier to pull that together than the BP annual where we get detailed reviews for all 30 teams, essays, etc.
joechris96
1/02
Right...it's about 300 pages more than Shandler's book
mhmosher
1/02
LOL - The Forecaster PALES in comparison to the BP annual. Christ, Shandler outsources just about the entire book now anyway. They used to be known for fearless forecasts and now they basically "project" the same season as last year for almost everyone.
kenfunck
1/02
The BP Annual comes out later than most to allow us to incorporate as much of the winter trade and free agent action as possible. Over the weekend, for example, we made updates due to the Carlos Quentin and Jason Frasor deals -- something we couldn't otherwise do.
ScottBehson
1/02
BTW- GREAT stragegic leaders, apparently like Joe, do things like this. Aside from the talent added, the type of leadership and decision-making evidenced in adding a high-level advisory board bodes well for the futire directions of BP. Kudos.
rso544
1/02
Joe, will BP Prospectus 2012 be coming out in PDF. Overseas and can't easily get print copy for a few months. Website redesign would be epic. Hint: Keep the interface nice and simple with clean open lines that are easy on the eyes. Resist the urge to over-stuff content on main page.
joechris96
1/02
There will be a digital version or versions. I'm confirming with our editor and will have an answer for you shortly.
joechris96
1/02
rso...According to our editor, BP2012 will be available in all ebook formats and ePDF.
joechris96
1/02
I should make it clear that I'm not sure how ePDFs differ from standard PDFs, if at all. That's the next question for our publisher :)
alexknapik
1/03
Nothing - "e" just means "encapsulated," so as to encapsulate the formatting of the BP book. Sometimes / often designates that the BP PDF will have DRM on it as well...
rso544
1/03
Awesome news Joe! Can't wait to get my hands on it, thanks very much for the clarification.
sportspopery
1/02
This is outstanding news. I really look forward to seeing how the advisory board will shape the direction BP heads in and how content will be even further refined from an already high standard. I love baseball more because of BP, and I hope that an even wider audience will now be able to access the mystical protectorate of baseball-related content. Excelsior!
ironcityguys
1/03
Advisory Board? Man, it used to be about the baseball.
joechris96
1/03
It still is all about the baseball. I'm sure you recognize these guys, right? They're all about baseball. In fact, each has been involved in baseball nearly his entire life. I think you're missing the point. They're going to be around to help us provide you with the best possible baseball coverage, not take away from it.
BurrRutledge
1/03
I, for one, welcome our new baseball overlords.
pakdawgie
1/03
I'll be your one man advisory board: just publish the good stuff on website (PECOTA projections, team prospect lists, etc...) regularly and on schedule. That's really all I ask for. Not sure why it's a struggle.
joechris96
1/03
I didn't know we published a schedule. I can assure you, we're doing our best to provide the best content in a timely manner. Sometimes, as I stated above, trying to rush out content can come at a cost, and no, we're not going to do that going forward. I want the best content for our readers in a timely fashion, not the content that's the fastest to market.
pakdawgie
1/03
Perhaps publishing a schedule to set expectations would help (that was my point above)? I do appreciate the effort and I understand that vision. Unfortunately for me, I've found that the delayed content (specifically PECOTA related) over the last few years has made the website a lot less useful for me given that I'm primarily here for fantasy baseball purposes. Others may feel differently and, given that you seem to me moving away from firm commitments, I guess that I need to accept that or leave.
joechris96
1/03
Ok, I see your point. We are trying to get PECOTA out as soon as possible this year. In fact a lot of testing is already going on. We plan to keep people abreast of where we are, but putting out a schedule really only sets us up for failure. Again, I totally believe in being timely, but I want to get the projections run correctly first, otherwise they will have zero value. Thank you.
randolph3030
1/03
This seems like great news for the site. I find it comforting that BP is still trying to push itself to be better, not just more.

Highlights (for me) of 2010/11 BP:
Average of 6-7 articles per day
Jay's continued excellence
Steven's continued excellence
Kevin's unreal amount of production
Sam Miller
Both RJ and Ben are quality writers as well
Colin's reworking of WARP (+1 for the effort)
Transactions and Salary updates
Efforts from hierarchy to improve
RichardBergstrom's 1.000 average commenting on each piece

Lowlights:
Missing coverage of First Round of MLB Playoffs
PECOTA
Wonky stats pages (compare to Fangraphs, they seem ancient)
The Fantasy/Real analysis ratio seems heavy for fantasy.
Loss of another of the originals
Use of "Annual" and "BBN 2" as excuse for mistakes on site
Negativity of commenters (yes, I know)
RichardBergstrom's 1.000 average commenting on each piece
Oversights like: NL West Draft Recap
Quentin trade not in Unfiltered
At times, seems like BP doesn't take its identity as one of the few pay-sites seriously enough.


That's my two-cents, not that you asked. It's not an easy decision to spend 30-whatever bucks on a baseball website when there are many other good ones out there for free. It's even harder to then justify another $20 for the annual, at least to Mrs. Randolph3030. I'm on the fence about next season for the first time since...2004? I'm certainly more willing today than yesterday having seen this decision by BP.


Oleoay
1/03
I don't comment on every piece. Check your stats.
randolph3030
1/03
I was just kidding, trying to break up an uncomfortably serious post with a joke. From some of your previous comments, I didn't think I would offend, hopefully, I haven't.
joechris96
1/03
And don't be uncomfortable posting feedback comments like that! They're helpful.
Oleoay
1/03
I know it was a joke, I was just too blonde to use deadpan humor correctly in my reply ;)
hotstatrat
1/03
Agreed that Sam Miller is an excellent addition. Jason Parks has been outrageously hilarious at times and insightful, too. Rob McQuown made some excellent improvements to the Team Tracker.

All those Rotisserie oriented articles do not bother me. I just skip them - although, I would read Scoresheet articles if you had them. (You had a couple.)

What does Randolf mean by "negativity of commenters"? I appreciate it when commenters add to the discussion even if it is taken as a criticism of the original article. Of course, we don't expect each article to cover every aspect of the issue presented. If someone feels inspired to add some points or some humor, I find it rude to boo them with dings, whether I agree with their point or not. Some readers do write rude comments, however, and those do deserve the gong.
joechris96
1/03
Thank you Randolph. I think this is a great list and just the kind of feedback I want to see. I will tell you we're trying to address almost all of your "lowlights." However, I realize that talk is cheap. I hope you will stay around so you can see us prove our worth by our actions, not just by promises.

Again...just making it clear, if you or anyone else ever have any problems or issues, please feel free to email me at jhamrahi@baseballprospectus.com.
jonkk1
1/03
Oh, and starting chats on time....
mhmosher
1/03
The chat rescheduling has gotten ridiculous. The chats start late more often then not too.
joechris96
1/03
I am all over that. I PROMISE there will be changes in that area.
KBarth
1/04
Given the prodigous nature of the chats at BP, I'd far rather have them start a bit late and run for NN hours than have them start on time and done in a smooth 75 minutes.

Please encourage epic chat sessions. I tend to forget they are happening and read them after the fact. Have you ever read a one hour chat log? It takes about ten minutes. Nice long chats really are a value-add.

I just want to make sure you know they are appreciated.

Thanks!
mhmosher
1/04
Over the past year, half of them are rescheduled. Either they just remove chats all together, or have them on time and for a longer period as you suggest, KBarth. Somehow, someone at BP needs to find exactly who can chat and when they can actually do it. It seems like people are scheduled but the chat is "low priority" and if something else comes up, it's rescheduled.

For a pay site, that's totally unacceptable.

Fan Graphs is free and they rarely miss a chat time.
joechris96
1/04
As I stated yesterday, I WILL fix the problem of rescheduling and attendance.

As far as having the chats run for NN hours as KBarth mentions, that I cannot promise. People have a finite time of availability, and I can't ask them to run a chat an entire afternoon. There are other things that need to be done.
mhmosher
1/04
excellent
nkhare
1/07
Wow. I normally don't comment, but had to here -- I'm very impressed that the Editor-in-Chief responded to all these comments very quickly and with a great tone.

Congrats on the new advisory board, and the hiring of Bradford Doolittle. I followed him when he was at the KC Star, and really enjoyed his writing.

As for my piece of feedback... I hope he'll keep with the traditions of some of the great sabermetric writers out there - Bill James, Rob Neyer, Rany Jayazerli - and spend just a little too much time writing about the Royals :)

brucegilsen
1/07
I love you guys, but I keep begging for searchable comments. It would really make the comment section, which is a wonderful idea, work better.

I'm sure I posted a comment a few weeks ago, but without search, I'll never find it and see if anyone responded.

Please? Pretty please?