Two Goofs by Baseball Prospectus

I had pre-ordered this outstanding book from Amazon, only to have it come a week late. I had figured that the editors were proofreading the book and updating it for the free-agent signings and trades that happened before spring training.

Well, I had figured wrong. The book fails to take into account the trade of Johan Santana to the Mets, thereby making a mess of their assessment of the NL East and NL as a whole. The writers praised the Phillies with faint damns and hinted that the defending NL East champions will defend their crown, if only because the writers seemed less enthusiastic about those running the Mets. That's all well and good, but now one of the best starters in baseball -- if not the best starter -- is on the Mets. It would have to figure that perhaps now the Mets have to be the favorites in the NL East, but you wouldn't know that from reading this book. Johan Santana is still in Minnesota according to these folks (and, yes, I know that the way the book is written, players are written up with the team they were on at the end of the prior season, but their blurbs indicate where they'll be playing this season. Santana's blurb doesn't mention the trade).

Second, do the Padres have position players whose names begin with N through Z? Because the book I have doesn't allow for such players.

I've only had the book for two days, and the errors tarnish the sterling reputation of this group of authors. C'mon, guys, most of us would have preferred assessing the NL East with Santana on the Mets than not (even diehard Phillies fans like the truth, particularly because many are masochists who punish themselves agonizing over what the hometown team doesn't have). Your book is premised on how teams can step up their games. You need to step up yours.