Future Value: The Battle for Baseball's Soul and How Teams Will Find the Next Superstar

Eric Longenhagen · Kiley McDaniel

May 2020 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Perry Daniels

About this audiobook

An unprecedented look inside the world of baseball scouting and evaluation from Fangraphs' lead prospect analysts For the modern major league team, player evaluation is a complex, multi-pronged, high-tech pursuit. But far from becoming obsolete in this environment. But far from becoming obsolete in this environment-as Michael Lewis's Moneyball once forecast-the role of the scout in today's game has evolved and even expanded. Rather than being the antithesis of a data-driven approach, scouting now represents an essential analytical component in a team's arsenal. Future Value is a thorough dive into the world of the contemporary scout-a world with its own language, methods, metrics, and madness. From rural high schools to elite amateur showcases, from the back fields of spring training to major league draft rooms, FanGraphs' Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel break down the key systems and techniques used to assess talent. It's a process that has moved beyond the quintessential stopwatches and radar guns to include statistical models, countless measurable indicators, and a broader international reach. Practical and probing, discussing wide-ranging topics from tool grades to front office politics, this is an illuminating exploration of how to watch baseball and see the future.

About the author

Eric Longenhagen is the lead prospects analyst for FanGraphs.

Kiley McDaniel covers prospects for FanGraphs. He has worked as a scout and in the front office for major league organizations.

Perry Daniels is an award-winning, classically trained actor from Atlanta, Georgia, with over a decade of experience on stage, screen, and lurking mysteriously behind the microphone of his home studio. An audiobook junkie, Perry strives to bring sincerity, energy, depth, and a focus on performance to his narration.

Keith Law is a Senior Baseball Writer for the Athletic. He has covered baseball since 2006. Before that he was a special assistant to the general manager for the Toronto Blue Jays. He is the author of Smart Baseball and The Inside Game.