Anyone know or have any really good historical baseball books? I'm looking to get something for Dad for Christmas and would like him to fall also into the darkside of sabermetrics

biased I suppose, but the recent Willie Mays biography was very interesting. A lot of good American history stuff in there too.

Sounds like this might kill two birds with one stone

I've been looking at that, and have been thinking of getting that. Anyone have it or know if its good?

I have it and it's awesome. Wish he'd update his lists though (maybe he has, who knows).

What's everyone's current dream team look like? Like, 1-9 (dh or no dh, doesn't matter), your starting pitcher, 2 relievers and your closer..

sheeeit, ridic hard question. i'ma make mine assuming health isn't an issue.

1. Mike Trout cf
2. Andrew McCutchen rf
3. Ryan Braun lf
4. Joey Votto 1b
5. Adrian Beltre 3b (I'm an idiot and forgot to consider Longoria, I'm a Beltre fanboy though so I'll stick with him.)
6. Troy Tulowitzki (or Profar lolol) ss
7. Yadier Molina c
8. Ben Zobrist 2b (can play 2b, ss or OF)
9. pitcher cuz fuck the DH*

Lots of righties, but Trout still kills RHP, Votto kills everybody and Zobrist hits from both sides. Amazing baserunning at the top, power everywhere, great defenders everywhere, plus cot damn Zobrist's versatility. Since I get to pick 3 relievers and don't have to worry so much about innings, I'll go ahead and pick Strasburg as my SP. Chapman, Kimbrel and Sergio Romo out the pen.

*Obvs Miguel Cabrera if I had to pick one

Think it's a no-brainer to go Posey over Molina, Cano over Zobrist, and Longoria over Beltre. Picking McCutchen as an RF is unfair and I'd be more than happy with Giancarlo Stanton anyway. If I have to pick one SP I'm taking Verlander over Strasburg. If I get a full rotation it's those two, Kershaw, Felix, and fuck it, why not Matt Cain (he's no less deserving than Molina at catcher). Agree with the rest of your picks.

Batting order:
CF Trout
SS Tulowitzki
1B Votto
LF Braun
C Posey
RF Stanton
2B Cano
3B Longoria

Perhaps the more interesting question is what's your dream team with a $100M payroll? how about $75M?

Obvs Cano is great and I'd be fine with him, but I went with Zobrist cuz I like his ability to play multiple positions and play them well, while also not being much worse than Cano at the plate; I like that he sees lots of pitches and walks a ton. I also think Yankee Stadium is quite friendly to lefties and inflates Cano's numbers a bit, whereas the Trop is a below average run scoring environment. I'll move Cutch wherever the fuck I want, just like Zobrist. Vs. Stanton, imo Cutch brings better contact, better approach at the plate, better baserunning, probably be as good a defender in right, and still good power. I love Stanton too so I wouldn't have a problem with him either. I'll give you Longo, I inexplicably forgot him the first time I posted, but I like Beltre more as a player so I kept him.

Re:Molina-Posey, I considered a few things. Yadier's defense, imo, is unparalleled; I think he's one of the two or three best defenders in the game at any position, at the most important/toughest defensive position. From what I've seen and what the numbers say (I'm not a fan of catcher metrics personally), Posey is good behind the plate as well, but it's not close imo. I like 140 games of that defense at C a lot more than 110; 20% of Posey's playing time/PAs came at first base, where his numbers were better than Votto's/anyone's.

Basic offensive numbers at C:
Molina
556 PAs of .317/.375/.505/.880/142 OPS+/.316 babip
Posey
480 PAs of .329/.398/.540/.937/160 OPS+/.368 babip

It's obvious Posey is the better offensive player, but it's not like Yadier is Jose (or even Bengie). He was arguably the 2nd best hitting catcher (or Mauer, idc) in the league after Posey. I'm also of the opinion that Posey's babip from this year is unsustainable and likely to regress going forward. Me being a homer only plays a small part of it. Also since you're a dismissive dickhead, please feel free to make a better case for Cain>Price, Lee, Greinke, C.C., Hamels etc.

2013 salaries/projections/estimates for 2nd and 3rd year players and 2013 fWAR
lf Trout - 480k? 10war
2b Zobrist 5.5mil 5.9war
cf Harper - 480k? 4.9war
rf Stanton- 550k? 5.8war
1b Goldschmidt 550k? 3.7war
3b Freese 2.6mil (projected arbitration) 4.1war
ss Desmond 3.2mil (proj. arb.) 5.4war (again, or Profar)
c Wieters 4.6mil (proj. arb.) 4.1war

That's around 18mil for the lineup.

sp Kershaw 11mil 5.4war
sp Price 9.5mil (proj. arb.) 5.1war
sp Strasburg 3.9mil 4.3war
sp Gonzalez 6.25mil 5.4war
sp Sale 550k? 4.9war
rhrp Kimbrel 800k? 3.6war
lhrp McGee 550k? 2war

About 32.5mil if I added it up right, so like 50.5mil total for 15 players, for 74.6 fWAR. 120 wins sounds about right.

i'll try to post my new england/socal budget team sometime tonight. i tried not to look at anyone's because i always am a little influenced because those are some pretty good fuckin lists...so mine i'll try to be a little creative and differ in some areas (though trout and braun are fucking locks at their positions)...oh, and wondering how much longer crx will be waiting in the weeds.

crx, if you're wondering if anyone will make fun of for going all rangers infield minus first...we won't...i don't think i could blame you for that.

I don't think it's easy to call Longoria over Beltre if we're not going long haul. Beltre's defense looks fantastic in metrics but I think even gets a little underrated. I mean Joe Maddon has often said he's the best defensive player in the game and he watches Longoria every day. Longoria is definitely a better hitter and definitely looks better in the advanced metrics as a whole but again those most likely underrate Beltre's defense. Nevertheless he's not a wrong pick.

Nah with infield I'm going Beltre, Cano, and Votto. Want to go Andrus but really it's got to by Tulo.

cf: mike trout (no shit)
ss: troy tulowitzki (pretty close to a no shit)
lf: ryan braun (pretty damn close to going alex gordon but in the end, settled on the hammer)
1b: albert pujols (probably not an elite #3 anymore, though i wouldn't rule it out. his bat is still great and his overall numbers suffered from a terrible april. with his bat you're going to get 30/.310/110/.420/.600. he's one of the few who's not fast, but still a true stud on the bases. he's kind of a bohemian in the field with his positioning, but he's almost always right in where he is and what he does...ask chase utley. will always miss albert)
3b: ryan zimmerman (beltre and longoria seemed a little played out and it's not as lockdown as trout and tulo so i went zimmerman. his bat is comparable to the two mentioned earlier, his glove is sick and if his shoulder is not a concern, can't go wrong in my book)
c: yadier molina (had a to have a cardinal...and that's ok given his unparalleled defense, outstanding offensive production, and mastery at pitch recognition and plate discipline)
rf: ben zobrist
2b: aaron hill (tried not going against conventional wisdom too much, but he's great on the bases, has good contact, and is defensively pretty solid)

sp: justin verlander
rp: aroldis chapman
rp: fernando rodney
rp: craig kimbrel

Zimmerman? A. his bat is not particularly comparable. B. He isn't in the same universe as Beltre as a defender and isn't as good as Longoria. Beltre has plenty left in the tank. That's silly.