Bang the Drum Slowly

If you get a chance to take a look at this book, I highly recommend it- especially if you're not very familiar with sabermetrics. The Baseball Prospectus people put together a nice book full of essays, addressing questions such as Why are pitchers so unpredictable?, Five pitchers or four?, Is Mike Matheny a catching genius?, and Are new stadiums a good deal?

(Very abbreviated answers: for the most part, pitchers aren't unpredictable- the traditional stats used to measure their value, particularly wins and ERA, are flawed; going back to a 4-man rotation might make the most sense- evidence doesn't suggest that short rest is bad- it's high pitch counts in a single game that lead to injury and ineffectiveness; there's no evidence to suggest that some catchers "call a good game"- success depends on the pitcher, not the catcher (although catchers need to be able to catch the ball); a new stadium does not generate money for a community- people just spend their entertainment dollars in a different place.)

So head to your local public library, and give it a look. It's a great book to have if your reading time is limited- each essay can be read in a matter of minutes.