This past November, I was lucky enough to attend the First Pitch Arizona, a fantasy baseball symposium at the Arizona Fall League put on by Ron Shandler of Baseball HQ. I had a great time, as I took in a weekend of informative workshops and a handful of AFL games, getting a chance to see first-hand some of the top prospects in the game before they play their first game in the majors.
But in addition to all of that, one of the things I enjoyed the most was getting the chance to meet face-to-face and talk baseball with a lot of guys in the fantasy baseball industry, including Baseball HQ's Deric McKamey. I know a lot of you fantasy baseball fans have relied upon Shandler's Baseball Forecaster, but if you play in a deep keeper league, you may also want to check out McKamey's new Minor League Baseball Analyst. Now, don't get me wrong, I haven't actually read it yet, but from my experience with the Forecaster and from my conversations with McKamey in Arizona, this looks like it should be a solid investment (and certainly a nice complement to John Sickels' Baseball Prospect Book). I wouldn't normally recommend a product blindly, but I just received an email saying they're finally shipping, and it's something I'm definitely eager to check out.
I'm curious, do you buy books like these to prepare for your fantasy baseball season, or do you just rely on maybe a magazine and a couple of free web sites? Tell me your pre-draft prep in the comments.