As much as I don’t like the off-season, at least I know that there are a handful of books that will help me pass the time by giving me some idea how players will perform in the upcoming season.

Such is the case with Graphical Player 2009, written by John Burnson and featuring some of the writers from Heater Magazine.

What makes this book unique is Burnson’s approach to profiling and projecting players, and in turn provides the reader – generally a participant in fantasy baseball leagues – a different strategy to take with them.

Burnson’s departure from the standard off-season projection tools stems from his belief that the best way to present his data is the simplest – by doing it visually. He creates a 12-element “dashboard” for over 900 players – both major and minor leaguers – that utilizes MINER, his projection system that plots a player’s performance through 2011.

Why might that be important, you ask? Well, if you play in keeper fantasy leagues, you want to have a good idea how a player might perform beyond this season.

Compared to other similar books, the Graphical Player 2009 doesn’t have as much written analysis, which is a bit of a disappointment from my perspective. Since I don’t play fantasy baseball, I really look to these types of books to inform me about their methodology. While there is some analysis, there’s not enough to make me run out any buy the book.

Then again – I’m not the target audience, so if you are someone who plays fantasy baseball, I think this is something that you would benefit from – if nothing less, to get a different perspective on projections.

It does take a bit to get used to the dashboard style that Burnson uses – or at least it did for me. I found myself keeping a finger on the page that explained how to use it and flipping back to make sure I understood what I was reading. It seems best to equate it to stock market or financial projections – it looks pretty, but you sure better be able to make sense of it all.

Graphical Player 2009 is a good read for those looking to succeed in their fantasy leagues, while something that could be a nice addition to the library of analytical fans.