Baseball Prospectus
Baseball Prospectus is a subscription-based baseball analytics and media platform serving fantasy players, MLB front-office personnel, and fans with proprietary projections (PECOTA, DRA-, DRC+, DRP), fantasy tools, podcasts, and an annually published book.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1996
- HeadquartersColumbus, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Baseball Prospectus does
Baseball Prospectus, operated by DIY Baseball LLC, is a subscription-based baseball analytics and media company founded in 1996 and headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. The company publishes advanced statistical analysis, prospect rankings, transaction breakdowns, fantasy baseball tools, and long-form journalism through its website (baseballprospectus.com), and produces the annually released Baseball Prospectus book (currently in its 31st edition for 2026) plus a five-show podcast network. Its core technology is a proprietary projection and metrics stack anchored by PECOTA (Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm), which forecasts player and team performance, supported by park- and league-adjusted metrics including DRA- (Deserved Run Average) for pitching, DRC+ (Deserved Runs Created Plus) for hitting, and DRP (Deserved Runs Prevented) for defense.
The product surface extends beyond projections into a deep fantasy toolset — The AX for auction draft valuations, Scoresheet Draft Aid, Team Tracker, Bat Signal, the Closer Grid, Depth Charts, Cot's Contracts, the Injured List Ledger, the Recovery Dashboard, and the Four-Year Injury Map — plus a Top-101 prospect ranking series, dynasty and roto positional rankings, and the annual book. Distribution is multi-channel: direct self-serve subscriptions on the website, English and Spanish-language content (Baseball Prospectus en Español), podcasts on Apple Podcasts and RSS, and physical and digital book sales through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and Stylus Publishing. Branded merchandise and gift subscriptions are sold through a Shopify storefront.
The business model is anchored on three recurring and transactional revenue streams: tiered subscriptions (Basic free, Premium Monthly $19.95, Premium Annual $74.95, Super-Premium Annual $99.95), annual book sales, and merchandise. Customer segments include serious and casual fantasy baseball players (primary), MLB team analysts and front-office personnel (primary), data-focused baseball enthusiasts (secondary), and sports media and journalists (secondary). The company is privately held by DIY Baseball LLC, has no disclosed external funding, and reports 51-100 employees. No public API, SDK, or machine-learning research output is disclosed.
Baseball Prospectus firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Baseball Prospectus
- Legal name
- DIY Baseball LLC
- Website
- https://baseballprospectus.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1996
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Baseball Prospectus is a subscription-based baseball analytics and media platform serving fantasy players, MLB front-office personnel, and fans with proprietary projections (PECOTA, DRA-, DRC+, DRP), fantasy tools, podcasts, and an annually published book.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Baseball Prospectus industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Sports Analytics & Media
- NAICS
- Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)
- SIC
- Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Fantasy Sports Media, Content & Analytics (MPAEAHAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Fantasy Tools & Optimization (Lineup Builders, Projections, Simulators) (MPAEAHAD), Fantasy Data Feeds & Statistics Providers (MPAEAHAE)
Keywords
Where Baseball Prospectus is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Columbus
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Baseball Prospectus business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Subscription Revenue: Baseball Prospectus generates primary revenue through tiered subscription memberships. The platform offers multiple subscription levels including Basic (free), Premium Monthly ($19.95/month), Premium Annual ($74.95/year), and Super-Premium Annual ($99.95/year). Subscribers receive full access to analytical content, projection tools, prospect rankings, and fantasy resources.
- Annual Book Sales: The company publishes the annual Baseball Prospectus book, currently in its 31st edition (2026 edition). The book is available in paperback and e-book formats through multiple retail channels including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and direct distribution. The book contains comprehensive statistics, player predictions, and insider-level commentary.
- Merchandise Sales: Baseball Prospectus operates a merchandise store (baseball-prospectus.myshopify.com) selling branded merchandise to subscribers and fans.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Basic - Free tier with limited access |
| Subscription | Monthly | Premium Monthly - $19.95/month |
| Subscription | Annual | Premium Annual - $74.95/year |
| Subscription | Annual | Super-Premium Annual - $99.95/year |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
Baseball Prospectus product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Baseball Prospectus is a subscription-based baseball analytics and media platform that publishes proprietary player projections, advanced statistics, fantasy baseball tools, prospect rankings, and original journalism. Its flagship offering is the PECOTA projection system along with related metrics (DRA-, DRC+, DRP), supported by an annual print/digital book, a podcast network, and interactive fantasy draft and roster tools.
Product overview
Baseball Prospectus is a baseball analytics and journalism company offering a comprehensive platform of products centered around its proprietary PECOTA projection system and advanced statistics. The core offering includes the Baseball Prospectus website with news, analysis, and statistical tools; the annual Baseball Prospectus book containing exclusive statistics and PECOTA projections; and multiple fantasy-focused tools (The AX, Bat Signal, Team Tracker, Scoresheet Draft Aid). The product ecosystem also includes proprietary advanced statistics (DRA, DRC+) for evaluating player performance, prospect ranking services, depth charts, contract databases, and injury tracking tools. The company operates several branded podcasts including Five and Dive, Flags Fly Forever, For All You Kids Out There, The Infinite Inning, and TINO, plus Spanish-language content through BP En Español.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- PECOTA: Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm - the proprietary projection system developed by Baseball Prospectus for player and team performance forecasting.
- DRA- (Deserved Run Average)
- DRC+ (Deserved Runs Created)
- The AX
- Five and Dive
- The Infinite Inning
- Flags Fly Forever
- For All You Kids Out There
- TINO (There Is No Offseason)
Products and services
- Baseball Prospectus Membership Subscription Tiered subscription membership granting access to Baseball Prospectus's premium articles, PECOTA projections, prospect rankings, fantasy tools, and statistical leaderboards. Targeted at individual baseball fans, fantasy players, and analysts.
- Baseball Prospectus Annual Book Annual print and digital book (now in its 31st edition) compiling Baseball Prospectus statistics, PECOTA projections, player predictions, and insider commentary. Sold through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and direct distribution.
- PECOTA Projections Proprietary projection system that forecasts MLB player and team performance, including win totals, player stats, and playoff probabilities, using historical comparables and minor league data.
- DRA- (Deserved Run Average) Proprietary park-adjusted pitching metric evaluating true pitcher performance by measuring runs prevented while accounting for factors outside the pitcher's control.
- DRC+ (Deserved Runs Created Plus) Proprietary park-adjusted offensive metric scaled to league average that measures a batter's contribution to run scoring.
- The AX PECOTA-based fantasy auction draft preparation tool allowing users to build customized player valuations and rankings using percentile projections.
- Prospect Rankings Comprehensive MLB prospect rankings including the Top 101 overall prospects and team-specific top 10 lists, available to subscribers.
- Baseball Prospectus Podcast Network Network of five podcasts covering baseball news, fantasy strategy, prospects, history, and culture, distributed through Apple Podcasts, RSS feeds, and social media.
- Baseball Prospectus Merchandise Store Shopify-based e-commerce storefront selling branded merchandise and gift subscriptions to subscribers and fans.
- BP En Español Spanish-language edition of Baseball Prospectus providing translated articles, transaction analysis, prospect coverage, and podcasts targeting Spanish-speaking baseball audiences.
Quantifiable outcome
- PECOTA projections cited by MLB teams and major media outlets for player and team evaluation
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Baseball Prospectus
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Baseball Prospectus technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability4 records
Feature6 records
Baseball Prospectus partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- DIY Baseball LLCparent companyBaseball Prospectus is owned and operated by DIY Baseball LLC. The company has operated since 1996 as an independent baseball analytics and media organization, allowing editorial independence from MLB team and league interests.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Baseball Prospectus competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- FanGraphs: FanGraphs is the closest direct competitor to Baseball Prospectus, offering advanced baseball statistics, fantasy tools, prospect analysis, and free editorial content. Both sites pioneered sabermetric public analysis and compete for the same advanced-fan and fantasy audience.
- Baseball Savant: Baseball Savant is MLB's official statistics platform, offering free advanced metrics, Statcast data, and player percentile rankings. It is a direct comparable because it competes for the same analytics-hungry baseball audience and offers complementary but free projection and visualization tools.
- Rotoworld: Rotoworld is a long-standing fantasy sports content and player news platform, covering MLB among other sports. It is comparable to BP because it monetizes fantasy-focused editorial content, rankings, and projections to a similar subscriber/reader base.
- FantasyPros: FantasyPros aggregates expert fantasy projections, rankings, and start/sit advice across MLB and other sports. It competes directly with BP's fantasy tools (The AX, Scoresheet Draft Aid) by offering comparable projection aggregation and draft-prep utilities.
- RotoWire: RotoWire provides real-time fantasy sports news, projections, and data feeds, including MLB. It is comparable to BP's fantasy content and tools layer, with a heavier emphasis on daily news and subscription data feeds.
Broad incumbents
- The Athletic: The Athletic is a subscription-based sports media company covering MLB and many other sports. It is comparable as a subscription sports-media competitor, though it is much broader in scope and serves as a benchmark for sports subscription valuation.
- ESPN Fantasy: ESPN Fantasy offers free fantasy baseball content, projections, and tools integrated with the broader ESPN media ecosystem. It is a broad incumbent competitor that pressures BP's free-tier-to-paid conversion funnel.
- CBS Sports Fantasy: CBS Sports Fantasy provides fantasy baseball news, rankings, and tools, often free with a broad media network behind it. Comparable to BP's fantasy tools and editorial offering but with the backing of a major media incumbent.
- The Ringer: The Ringer is a digital sports and pop-culture media company covering MLB among other sports. It is comparable as a multi-channel sports-media subscription business with a podcast-driven strategy, though at much larger scale and broader topic coverage.
Emerging players
- Scoresheet: Scoresheet is a niche fantasy baseball platform that BP specifically supports via its Scoresheet Draft Aid integration. It is comparable as a small, baseball-focused player in the same niche but is more transactional/league-focused than content-focused.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Baseball Prospectus social profiles
Digital presenceBaseball Prospectus financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Baseball Prospectus leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Baseball Prospectus funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Baseball Prospectus M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Baseball Prospectus
What does Baseball Prospectus do?
Baseball Prospectus is a subscription-based baseball analytics and media platform that publishes proprietary player projections, advanced statistics, fantasy baseball tools, prospect rankings, and original journalism. Its flagship offering is the PECOTA projection system along with related metrics (DRA-, DRC+, DRP), supported by an annual print/digital book, a podcast network, and interactive fantasy draft and roster tools.
Is Baseball Prospectus a public or private company?
Baseball Prospectus is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Baseball Prospectus founded?
Baseball Prospectus was founded in 1996. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Baseball Prospectus based?
Baseball Prospectus is headquartered in Columbus, United States, in the North America region.
How does Baseball Prospectus make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Subscription Revenue is the primary driver. The others are annual Book Sales and merchandise Sales.
Who are Baseball Prospectus's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are FanGraphs, Baseball Savant, Rotoworld, FantasyPros and RotoWire. Broad incumbents are The Athletic, ESPN Fantasy, CBS Sports Fantasy and The Ringer. Scoresheet is listed as an emerging player.
Does Baseball Prospectus have an API?
No public API is recorded for Baseball Prospectus.
What industry is Baseball Prospectus in?
Baseball Prospectus's product category is Sports Analytics & Media. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAEAHAC, Fantasy Sports Media, Content & Analytics, with a secondary code of MPAEAHAD, Fantasy Tools & Optimization (Lineup Builders, Projections, Simulators). Its NAICS code is 5131 and its SIC code is 2741.