Where Have We Been?

It has been called to my attention, by more than a few of you, that it has now been more than three months since we have last posted content. First let me thank all of you that have contacted me personally to express how much you enjoy the site and how badly that you have missed us. It lets us know that there is a certain degree of value to what we provide.

When I began writing again sixteen months ago, I had just closed the chapter on a successful twenty-five year career in Corporate America. I had always hoped that one was capable of both pursuing one’s passion and having a nexus exist that lies between that passion and the ability to earn a living. Make no mistake…baseball—especially Minor League baseball is a passion of mine. Sixteen months ago I set out in hope of finding that nexus. Despite, strong readership growth, solid first year sales of our Prospect Handbook and a couple of consulting opportunities that have presented themselves with Major League organizations, I’m not sure that this venture has the potential of “earning a living”. Because of that, in early May I set foot on a college campus for the first time in more than fifteen years to begin work on my Ph.D. While pursuing this has been unbelievably rewarding, and will only serve to further refine and improve my baseball research, it has been incredibly time consuming. Admittedly, I have struggled to find the bandwidth to provide first rate product for both the classroom and this site. Thus far, it has been this site that has suffered.

I have now reached a point to where life has settled into a certain rhythm and I have a better handle on the bandwidth that is available. What that means is that it is unlikely that there will be more than a few periods of time each year that we will have daily content updates. More than likely content will be added about once per week. Beginning in approximately two weeks, we will begin to post our 2010 League Performance Evaluations—the first step in our prospect assessment. We will be producing a 2011 version of our Prospect Handbook, as those of you who purchased the 2010 version already know/understand how well we do in comparison to anything else that is out there. We will also be providing original research results that should serve to further advance the study of the relationship between scouting/Minor League performance and future Major League success. We also hope to once again provide our weekly ‘Hots and Nots’. But there are also a few things that you are not likely to see…Our college baseball coverage will certainly decrease from what it has been in the past. We will likely have decreased coverage on the goings-on in Major League baseball, and it isn’t likely that you will get “breaking news” or “daily recaps” here. As they say in the business world, we are focusing on our ‘core competencies’ and for us that means discovering future Major League talent in a systematic fashion.

Regards,

Mark Jerkatis
‘aka’ BaseballNumbers