I was expecting the 2015 Prospect Guide to arrive tomorrow. I had plans to drive up to Tampa and pick up the book from my publisher around 3 PM, get back to Bradenton around 4, and spend the rest of the night packaging the books up to ship out Saturday morning. I woke up this morning to an e-mail from my publisher, saying the books would be ready today at 3 PM. As a result, the 2015 Prospect Guide is here a day early. If you haven’t placed your order yet, you can do so here. Here is the first shipment:
Details on the Prospect Guide
For those of you unfamiliar with the Prospect Guide, it profiles every prospect in the farm system, and includes our top 50 prospects for the 2015 season. The book is the only place where you can find the top 50. It is also the only place where you can find our future potential and risk grades for each prospect in the system. Beyond that, the book has details on players that you can’t find anywhere else.
Before I write each profile, I search for every bit of information I can find on the player. That includes anything written on our site, other outlets, and also includes unpublished information, such as notes from our writers that didn’t make it into articles, and conversations with scouts, coaches, and players. Not only does the book provide all of this information that can’t be found elsewhere, but it also provides a quick reference to every prospect in the system. I originally designed the book as a reference for me, for when I’m watching games or writing articles. I use the book as a reference every day throughout the season, and have already used the 2015 book in the last week.
If you want information on the Pirates’ farm system, there’s no better reference than the 2015 Prospect Guide. It’s 155 pages all about the players in the system (including DSL players). That’s the perfect way to bridge this slow news gap between now and Spring Training. And it’s a great resource to have when baseball finally comes back.
Order your copy of the 2015 Prospect Guide today.
Shipping Information
Everyone who orders a book before 2:00 PM EST on Friday will have their books shipped out on Friday. After that, everyone who orders by 8:00 AM EST on Saturday will have their books shipped out Saturday morning. USPS states on their website that any packages shipped out on 12/20 (Saturday) or earlier will arrive in time for Christmas.
If you’ve already ordered, you will receive a shipping confirmation in the e-mail that you provided at checkout, along with a tracking number.
E-Book
I still have a few things to finish up with the eBook, and was planning on releasing that tomorrow when the book officially was going to be released. I’m still on pace to have the eBook released tomorrow. One of the things I’m working on is setting up the shopping cart plugin to allow people who have already purchased the hard copy of the book to also purchase the eBook at a discounted price. There will be a combo pack where you can buy both, when the eBook is released.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
Can’t wait – and thanks for putting the combo deal together!
Looking forward to wandering around Pirate City this spring with the ebook on my iPhone 6 plus – it will be very convenient.
Second everything that Wabbit said. With the exception that you have nothing left to do after you read it once. Us senior citizens
will be picking it up and rereading all winter – usually spurred on by some comment that is made here or elsewhere on the web – our
memory is not what is used to be.
My 2014 Guide is well worn and much used – and never far away.
Ordered my copy yesterday – looking forward to reading it again this year!
Gotta join in today.
P2 has become the must stop every day for this Pirate fan. I have been a member of blogs and message boards relative to the Bucs for many years and have seen the length some of the PBC Asylum inmates will go to to get their Pirates fix. We are the hard core.
And along comes Tim Williams. Others have tried to monetize Pirate coverage. The PG really messed it up, trying to extort us right when the Bucs were going back to the playoffs for the first time in 20 years. Tim and the P2 crew are just simply out-working Pirate beat writers from other news outlets. They are beating them with sheer effort. And this site rings with good discussion spurred on by his posts, making the site more organic and lively.
And the annual guide (I’m on my second year ordering) goes directly into my … um… thinking room and is invaluable getting me through the winter months. Thinking about buying a couple more today for some friends who I know would appreciate it. If you have not purchased a copy before, I suggest you give it a try. If you like the site already, you’ll be richly rewarded. My only problem with it is that there is a real urgency to read the whole thing in one sitting… You gotta be a pleasure delayer if you’re a Pirate fan. It is difficult to stop reading the guide and then you burn through it all at once and then there you are in the dead of winter with nothing new to go on.
So. The annual book is probably a good chunk of what keeps P2 going. So. If you like the site I am guessing the sales of the guide make it easier for P2 to stay out from behind the pay wall.
Thanks to all the guys who work on the site. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
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“These blockbuster bombs. To get ’em to go off, ya gotta hit ’em juuuuuuust right.”
“Hey, Mac. Lemme take a whack at it…. … … WHAT AM I DOING??!!!!”
-Wabbit
I just got an email from UPS!!!!
Early Christmas present…..
me too…
nice.
Looking forward to the Guide.
Tim: Looking forward to receiving this year’s Guide, and the extra copies ordered for stocking stuffers. The book is tremendously informative to any Pirate Fan interested in following the careers of the young players as they move through the system. I have also shared it with fans from Cincy and the Cubs and they were very impressed and wished they had something similar for their favorite teams.