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Mazeroski
Magazine Tops
In Weak Field Of Previews
First
Sign of Spring a Disappointment
By
David Kozo
NEW
YORK (AQB)--Rotisserie and fantasy leagues have fundamentally
altered preseason
baseball magazines much like they have changed the game itself.
Once upon a time, the first sight of a baseball preview was the
first sign of spring for the hopeful, winter-weary baseball fan
dreaming of summertime victories for his favorite team.
Now readers flip through the pages wanting to know: Will Jorge Posada
catch 125 games for the Yanks? Who's gonna get the Twins' saves
if they trade Aguilera?
Indeed, serving the needs of the Roto-nerd has become top priority
for the preview magazine, what with all the news on hot prospects
and those nifty "games played by position" charts that otherwise
serve no purpose. Baseball preview magazines now fall squarely into
two camps: traditional preview books with team-by-team rundowns,
and Fantasy baseball guides that try to give fans a guideline
on how much to spend for a given player.
[Click
here to see ArmchairQB.com's review of the fantasy magazines.]
Of
course the camps aren't entirely separate: some of the regular previews
also contain plenty of Roto info so as to make the publication a
must-have for any draft.
Keeping that in mind, ArmchairQB.com took
a look at six non-Rotisserie baseball previews - Bill
Mazeroski's Baseball, Athlon Sports Baseball,
1999 Spring Training, Ultimate
Sports Baseball, The Sporting News' "Baseball"
and Street & Smith's Baseball - and
judged them according to how well they prepare the average fan for
his team's season.
The top pick of the bunch is Bill Mazeroski's
Baseball, whose strong suit is information, information,
information, which never hurts. The presentation is also appealing:
After all, what good is information if you can't find it? After
this, the quality drops off quite a bit; the other five previews
all have at least one glaring weakness.
AQB gives an overall assessment of each mag, then describes its
strengths and weaknesses in three key areas: news on top prospects,
feature stories, and Rotisserie information. Here they are,
listed in order of preference:
 1.
Bill Mazeroski's Baseball
Contains by far the most information. Each team is given
three pages, broken down by position, but also by offense and defense,
which the other magazines don't do. Then each position is given
a point rating, which is a trademark of this magazine. Good space
is given to all the other areas, as well, including fantasy and
prospects. This is the closest thing to being a complete package.
Prospects: Maz's Gold List gives 15 top prospects then
five who are near being ready. The Farm Report goes team-by-team
and gives juicy data on upper- and lower-level minor leaguers. Not
only that, but top prospects are listed in the team profiles under
the appropriate positions.
Features: The only part of the magazine that doesn't stand
out. Besides the typical year-in-review and year-in-preview pieces,
has a story on the game's top players by position, as well as a
feature on Derek Jeter.
Should you bring it to your fantasy draft? Yes, but with
reinforcements. A special fantasy section gives recommended player
values and games played by position. A mock draft section is clumsy
and unnecessary, and there is no player index for quick searches.
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 2.
Athlon Sports Baseball
Presentation is appealing if no-frills, with some pretty good
features and well-written team profiles. Each team gets just
two pages, which include a roster and projected batting orders and
starting rotations. Breaks down each team by position. Team schedules
are in a separate section.
Prospects: Coverage is lame, with just one article highlighting
can't-miss-kids J.D. Drew of the Cardinals and Eric Chavez of the
A's.
Features: Fair. "Short Hops" at the front of the book takes
a light look back at 1998. Buster Olney of the New York Times weighs
in with a list of 10 good things about baseball, then another story
that makes tongue-in-cheek predictions about the coming season.
The best feature gives in-depth analysis of six pivotal at-bats
during last year's postseason.
Should you bring it to your fantasy draft? No. The only
Roto-tools are games-by-position charts and rankings of the best
players by position, but the latter is not broken down by AL/NL.
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 3.
1999 Spring Training
As its title suggests, the centerpiece of this magazine is the nifty
spring training guide, with a plethora of invaluable stuff if
you're touring the camps this March - color maps, directions,
schedules, even recommended restaurants near the sites. Otherwise,
this official Major League Baseball preview is run-of-the-mill
stuff, with only two pages for each team and less-than-biting commentary.
(Of the sisters-of-the-poor Kansas City Royals, new ownership
is said to represent ''an opportunity.'')
Prospects: Lists the top 100 with a brief bit of info for
each.
Features: The only interesting one is an enjoyable look
at Hank Aaron's record-breaking home run feat 25 years ago this
April.
Should you bring it to your fantasy draft? No, it's not
complete, although its special Roto Index is helpful. This uses
complicated equations to rank players by league. The idea is to
determine who's more valuable among players that would be hard to
compare, such as a slugger versus a speedster.
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 4.
Ultimate Sports Baseball
While not officially a fantasy magazine, this one clearly wants
to be seen as one. It makes preseason predictions, and devotes
four pages to each team, but gives no narrative outlook on the team's
chances. Players are listed one by one with some basic stats, then
there is a paragraph assessment by one or two scouts.
The scouting reports are interesting, especially the ones that describe
young prospects, but it's probably way over the casual fan's
head. Each player is then given a numbered rating, then each
team's position a letter grade. There are no handy tools like team
schedules or rosters, and the (newsprint) pages are awfully cluttered.
Prospects: Excellent coverage. Besides highlighting each
team's studs on the team pages, there is a separate section listing
the top 40 minor-league prospects in baseball. Each player is compared
with a current major leaguer in abilities and size, which is helpful.
Another section describes the top 15 college prospects and top 10
high school prospects.
Features: Pretty lame. The strongest ranks the top 10, and
bottom five, managers and GMs in the game. GMs aren't usually afforded
this much scrutiny, but the brief capsules aren't all that hard-hitting.
For example, the top-ranked GM, the Braves' John Schuerholz, is
given a free pass for not building a team that's post-season tough.
Should you bring it to your fantasy draft? No, although
the coverage of prospects could help if your league has a minor-league
draft.
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 5.
Sporting News' "Baseball"
An attractive presentation and lots of info, but not your everything-in-one
magazine. Each team gets four pages and position-by-position
assessments run longer than the other mags. Each team gets fancy
charts, essential data like radio-station and ticket info, and calendar-style
schedules. But, don't expect any Roto news - TSN has its
own separate fantasy magazine, you see.
Prospects: No separate section. For each team lists a few
top candidates and highlights one.
Features: Short but sweat, with capsules looking at which
players will be the top free agents in the next two years, which
five baseball stadiums are nearing the end of their existence, and
the highest paid positions in the game. One-page profiles are given
to some of the dynamic young players, such as the Yankees' Jorge
Posada.
Should you bring it to your fantasy draft? No. Buy the TSN
fantasy guide.
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 6.
Street & Smith's Baseball
This one is long on features, but a bit short on everything else.
No fewer than seven features crowd the front of the magazine,
but they're not all that interesting. Team profiles are three pages
each, but the presentation is a bit sloppy.
Prospects: Under each team's profile is a brief minor league
report. There is a separate feature looking at four of the top studs.
Features: Team of the Century is fun for the historian and
is the kind of list that could be fodder for an afternoon's argument
on a call-in show.
Should you bring it to your fantasy draft? No. Fantasies
aren't mentioned here.
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