"This will come as no surprise to the people in baseball who have been paper-cut by his observations and assertions in the past, but author Bill James is a tough grader.

He has even given himself a few Fs in this year's handbook.

Seventy-three of them to be exact.

The current edition of the annual Bill James Handbook has been on shelves for a month or so now, so this annual survey of some of its goodies is long overdue. At the back of the handbook is the usual statistical pot of gold -- the projections. At the beginning of the chapter, James, in his typical candor, announces early on he had several dozen outright failures in last year's projections. He said the projected numbers whiffed on 73 players, 69 of whom had worse seasons than predicted. James offers this information as a preemptive asterisk. The predictions are not binding. Things happen. Injuries occur. Slumps consume. Playing time fluctuates. Players age. Players rage.

Cardinals could benefit from giving James a few more Fs."