The 2019 Bound Edition of the Newberg Report — which is the 20th edition and will be the last one I write — can now be preordered.

Here’s the really cool thing:  The great people at The Athletic have been generous enough to allow me to include in this book everything I have written since joining the staff in February.  I’m very proud of the work, but it belongs to them, as it should.  It’s subscriber content and they didn’t have to give me this green light, but they have.  

The book, which starts in October 2017 and runs through October 2018, is roughly 250 pages commemorating the story of the 2018 Rangers season, with a heavy focus on the organization’s young players — both at the big league level and among the club’s top prospects — as the front office looks to build the franchise’s next run of contention.  The reason this book is larger than in the past few years is that, since joining The Athletic, I’m diving far deeper on my articles than ever before.  Now writing under the same roof as Ken Rosenthal and Jayson Stark and Peter Gammons, I felt a greater accountability than ever before, talking to more sources on the record and basically finding a new gear as far as story research goes.

So if you haven’t joined us at The Athletic yet (thank you, by the way, to the thousands of you who have), here’s a chance to get a taste of what a season’s worth of stories looks like.

(Incidentally, if you haven't subscribed to The Athletic yet, they've put together a special discount for Newberg Report readers that is good for the rest of the calendar year.  If you use this special link -- www.theathletic.com/newbergreport40 -- you will get 40% off the annual plan, which comes out to $2.99/month for complete access to every bit of ad-free coverage the site offers, locally and nationally.)

This year’s forewords were written by Rangers GM Jon Daniels, Bob Sturm of the Ticket and The Athletic, and Devin Pike, designer of the book for most of these last 20 years.  As usual, here is what you can expect from the book:

THE FEATURES

The book picks up right where the 2018 Bound Edition left off, taking you from the opening of the 2017-18 off-season through the end of the 2018 season, and containing every story I wrote in that span — which, once I joined The Athletic in February, includes an “Exit Velo” series of notes at the end of each article, a slight variation on the Trot Coffey reports that used to show up from time to time in the Newberg Report emails.

The book concludes with a mid-October requiem on the 2018 Rangers season (though the story is more about what lies ahead for the organization).

The 2019 Bound Edition is full of stories that fall into all kinds of categories, such as:

• Developments from the Ranger season, some from a team standpoint and others with a focus on specific players
• Rankings and other features on the club's top prospects, including an impactful trip to Fall Instructs and Petco Park
• A lengthy crystal ball series in which I spitball trades and signings that the club could make on the way to contending in 2021, and a hindsight exercise in which we erased every trade Texas made over the last 10 years — just to see what might have happened as a result
• Several deep dives on the Rangers’ scouting and player development process
• Possible thought processes heading into trade season 
• Historical pieces (like the week that Tom Grieve traded for Rafael Palmeiro and Julio Franco and signed Nolan Ryan . . . and how it was that, somehow, Alex Bregman didn’t become a Texas Ranger)
• Human interest stories on players ranging from all-time franchise greats like Michael Young to 2018 draftee Mason Englert, whose family story is one you’ll never forget, plus tributes to Don Welke and Roger Coryell, who passed away this year
• Several stories on the process of finding the club's new manager

There’s a lot in there — including, as always, the annual Top 72 Prospects List and the “40-Man Roster Conundrum” chapter, breaking down the organization’s decisions headed toward the Rule 5 Draft, an important procedural opportunity each December to add talent and make sure it isn’t lost.

THE PRICE

The 2019 Bound Edition is $24.95 per book, plus shipping.  

An e-Edition is also available for $9.95.

While supplies last, I also have all the previous editions of the Bound Edition for sale.  The price breakdown is as follows:

• 2019 Bound Edition — $24.95 (plus shipping)
• 2019 e-Edition — $9.95
• Prior years' books:
• Bound Editions — $15.00 each
• e-Editions (where available) — $9.95
• NOTE: The 2014 Bound Edition is available in e-Edition only