College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 2nd November 2023

Comeback Complete: Rangers Beat D-Backs in 2023 World Series To Win First Title and Cap Historic Turnaround —

PHOENIX — For the first 62 years of their history, the Rangers were a franchise alternately defined by futility, disappointment and heartbreak.

They failed to make the playoffs for the first 35 years of their existence. Their late-1990s superteams starring Ivan Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, Rafael Palmeiro, Will Clark, Dean Palmer and Rusty Greer failed to win a single postseason series. The golden era of their franchise, reaching the World Series in back-to-back seasons in 2010-11, ended with zero

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 31st October 2023

Rangers Big Bets on Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Jon Gray Pay Off In Critical World Series Game 3 Win —

Image credit: Corey Seager and Marcus Semien celebrate after turning a double play in the eighth inning of the Rangers' 3-1 win over the D-backs in Game 3 of the World Series. (Harry How/Getty Images).

PHOENIX — In the fall of 2021, the Rangers decided something needed to change.

The team was coming off a 60-102 season, their fifth straight losing campaign and worst record since 1973. The prospects the team was counting on—shortstop Anderson Tejeda, catcher Sam Huff, righthander Hans Crouse an

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 8th October 2023

'We’re Here': D-backs Send Resounding Message With Rout of Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers —

Image credit: Corbin Carroll rounds the bases after hitting a home run in the second inning against the Dodgers during Game 1 of the Division Series. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES — The D-backs arrived early this season. They were the young team who rode a star rookie and aggressive, up-tempo style and snuck into the playoffs as the final team in the National League field. After losing 110 games two years ago, merely reaching the postseason counted as an unqualified success. This

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 25th September 2023

Padres' Matt Waldron Is Bringing The Knuckleball Back To MLB —

Image credit: Matt Waldron #61 of the San Diego Padres pitches during the first inning of a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at PETCO Park on September 22, 2023 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

SAN DIEGO — In recent years, the knuckleball has gone the way of the northern white rhino and the Amur leopard.

It’s not extinct yet, but it’s depressingly close.

In that way, Matt Waldron is something of a conservationist. The Padres rookie righthander has brought t

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 7th September 2023

80 PROOF: The Standard-Bearer For Each Scouting Tool In MLB Today —

When it comes to evaluating players’ scouting tools grades, an 80 is the holy grail.

An 80-grade tool represents the best of the best on the 20-to-80 scouting scale. Some evaluators consider only one player’s tool to be an 80 at a given time, simply because only one can be the best.

When you think of 80 tools, think of Tony Gwynn’s hitting ability, Mark McGwire’s power, Rickey Henderson’s speed, Ozzie Smith’s defense, Randy Johnson’s fastball and Mariano Rivera’s cutter. They are the tools tha

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 11th July 2023

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Takes Home Run Derby Crown —

Image credit: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. #27 of the Toronto Blue Jays bats during the T-Mobile Home Run Derby at T-Mobile Park on Monday, July 10, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

SEATTLE — Sixteen years ago, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stood on the field as an 8-year-old and watched as his dad, Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero Sr., became just the third Dominican player to win a Home Run Derby.

Guerrero Jr. stood front and center on national television as

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 30th June 2023

2023 MLB Midseason Review: Surprises, Disappointments, Best And Worst Players And Second-Half Callups To Watch —

Believe it or not, the halfway point of the 2023 season has arrived. Nineteen of the 30 teams have played at least 81 games, and the other 11 are all within two games of reaching that point.

The first half of the season has been a wild one, with plenty of early-season surprises, a chase for .400, exhilarating prospect callups and a quicker, more action-packed brand of baseball as part of the offseason rules changes.

Here is a midseason review of the first half of the year, and what to watch fo

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 22nd June 2023

After Falling Short As A Player, Jaime Jones Rises Again As An Ascendant Scout —

Image credit: 2004 season - bulk upload, no other details available

At some point in every day, Jaime Jones feels the pangs of regret.

He doesn’t know when they’ll hit, but inevitably they do. They are the regrets of not having the major league career expected, of not putting in the work to fulfill his potential.

Jones was the sixth overall pick in the 1995 draft by the Marlins out of Rancho Bernardo High in San Diego. To this day, longtime scouts and coaches still consider him one of the gre

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 13th June 2023

'It's Just Absurd': Double-A Tulsa Starters Having Banner Season In Dodgers Organization —

At minor league stadiums across the country, scouts and front office officials are buzzing about the starting rotation at Double-A Tulsa.

Tulsa, the Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate, features a six-man rotation that has torn through the hitter-friendly Texas League this season. Righthanders Emmet Sheehan, Nick Frasso, Landon Knack, River Ryan, Nick Nastrini and Kyle Hurt have made every start for the Drillers and combined for a 2.78 ERA. The rotation with the league’s next-lowest mark, Padres affili

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 3rd May 2023

New 'Enhanced Grip' Baseball Raising Concerns, Strikeouts in Double-A Southern League —

Back in March, Major League Baseball sent a memo to club executives announcing the Double-A Southern League would use a prototype “enhanced grip” baseball for the first half of the season as part of experimental rules changes across the minor leagues.

MLB briefly experimented with pre-tacked baseballs at Triple-A in 2021 and Double-A in 2022, as well as in the Arizona Fall League, but none were used for long. This marked the first time a minor league would use one, pre-tacked ball for as a long

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 21st April 2023

The A's Ran The Tried-and-True Playbook For Relocation —

Earlier this week, the Athletics fielded a starting lineup in which their 3-4-5 hitters were Aledmys Diaz, Brent Rooker and Jace Peterson.

It was a Triple-A lineup masquerading as a major league one, with predictable results. The A’s managed just two hits and were shut out in a 4-0 loss to the Cubs. It was their 15th loss in 18 games to open the season and took place in front of just 5,196 fans in attendance.

Twenty-four hours later, the A’s announced they had signed a binding agreement to pur

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 22nd March 2023

Shohei Ohtani, Japan Top Team USA To Win World Baseball Classic Championship —

MIAMI — It came down to the matchup everyone wanted to see.

Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout. Bottom of the ninth. Two outs. One-run game. World Baseball Classic championship on the line. It was the stuff of childhood dreams, as well as the dreams of millions of baseball fans across the globe. The game’s two most talented players, teammates the rest of the year but opponents on this night, facing off for the first championship of their professional careers.

The Angels teammates went back and forth

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 19th March 2023

Mexico Rallies Past Puerto Rico, Advances To WBC Semifinals For First Time —

MIAMI — Over the last few years, Mexico has methodically risen as a baseball power.

Mexico reached the Olympics for the first time at the Tokyo Games in 2021. It won Pool C at the World Baseball Classic this year, pummeling Team USA on its home turf. Long a source for talented pitchers, it has produced a steady stream of position players in recent years like Alejandro Kirk, Luis Urias and Isaac Paredes.

And now, for the first time, Mexico is going to the WBC semifinals.

Paredes delivered the

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 23rd January 2023

Scouts On Jo Adell, Jarred Kelenic And Other Graduated Prospects Yet To Establish Themselves —

The transition from prospect to major leaguer is rarely smooth. For every Roger Clemens, Mike Piazza or Albert Pujols who hits the ground running, there is a Randy Johnson, Roy Halladay or Jim Thome who needs multiple years—and sometimes multiple demotions and callups—before blossoming.

Jose Ramirez hit .239/.298/.346 over three partial seasons to begin his career and didn’t stay in the majors until his fifth callup. Max Scherzer was demoted to Triple-A during his third season and didn’t post h

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 6th November 2022

Mission Accomplished: Astros Complete Historic Run With 2022 World Series Title —

HOUSTON — For the past six seasons, the Astros have been a dominant force like few others in baseball history.

The Astros reached six consecutive American League Championship Series, breaking a record held by the dynastic Athletics teams of the early 1970s. They won at least 95 games in every full season, and notched 100 wins in all but one.

Not since the Yankees of the late 1990s and early 2000s has a team represented its league in the World Series as often as the Astros have over these past

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 4th November 2022

Justin Verlander Checks Off Final Box With First World Series Win —

PHILADELPHIA—From the moment the Tigers drafted Justin Verlander second overall out of Old Dominion in 2004, the righthander showed he was special.

Verlander led the minors with a miniscule 1.29 ERA in his first professional season and made his major league debut barely a year after being drafted. One year later, he won the American League Rookie of the Year award and led the Tigers to the World Series. The year after that, he pitched his first no-hitter and made his first all-star team.

And s

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 3rd November 2022

Cristian Javier Continues Remarkable Rise As Astros Pitch Combined No-Hitter In World Series —

PHILADELPHIA—When Cristian Javier was 16 years old, he was an outfielder with a light bat, little speed and a strong arm. He wasn’t a top prospect on anybody’s radar in the Dominican Republic. With no future as a position player, he converted to pitching at the suggestion of family friend and Astros scout Leocadio Guevara, who lived in the same town as Javier and had known him since he was seven.

Javier’s fastball sat just 84-86 mph in his first workouts as a pitcher. He topped out at 89 after

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 16th October 2022

After Years Of Pain, Padres Finally Best The Dodgers —

SAN DIEGO — As the rain steadily fell on downtown San Diego on a crisp Saturday night, more than a decade of pain in the country’s eighth-largest city washed away.

The Padres spent the past 11 years—heck, most of their existence—chasing the Dodgers. Their “rivalry” was one that existed only by virtue of their geographic proximity. On the field, the matchup was more of an annual beatdown, with the Dodgers reigning supreme again and again.

Every move the Padres made under the stewardship of gene

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 6th October 2022

2022 MLB Rookie Of the Year: Julio Rodriguez —

As baseball’s best players descended on Los Angeles for All-Star Game festivities in July, one burgeoning young standout had their attention most of all.

Julio Rodriguez, the Mariners’ exhilarating, ebullient 21-year-old center fielder, had powered Seattle to a 14-game win streak through the break, vaulting the Mariners from a sub-.500 record to wild card position in the American League.

The young Dominican shook off a slow start to earn an all-star selection as a rookie, showcasing a remarkab

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 22nd September 2022

Cardinals' Old Faces Have Them On Verge Of National League Central Crown —

SAN DIEGO—In the era of “Let the Kids Play”, it’s easy to forget the old guys can still play, too.

The Nationals won the 2019 World Series with the oldest roster in the major leagues. The Giants won a major league-high 107 games in 2021 with the oldest lineup and fifth-oldest pitching staff in the game.

This year, it’s the Cardinals reminding everyone that age isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

The Cardinals are on their way to their first National League Central division title since 2019 and the

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 30th August 2022

With Historic Extension, Julio Rodriguez Cements His Place As Face Of The Mariners Franchise —

It’s been clear for years that Julio Rodriguez was a star in the making.

The only surprise is how quickly the Mariners center fielder achieved that stardom.

The Mariners signed Rodriguez to an extension over the weekend that will pay him at least $210 million and could be worth as much as $470 million depending on incentives and options. The contract has a chance to be the largest in MLB history if it reaches full value, ahead of the $426.5 million contract Angels outfielder Mike Trout signed

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 3rd August 2022

By Acquiring Juan Soto, Padres Make Their Biggest And Boldest Move Yet —

SAN DIEGO—In the months before the 2015 international signing period began, Padres general manager A.J. Preller traveled to Grand Canyon University in Phoenix to watch a workout involving three highly regarded international amateurs.

Shortstops Jeison Guzman and Wander Javier were two of the players on the field that day. The other was 16-year-old outfielder Juan Soto.

Preller liked what he saw from Soto. Chris Kemp, the Padres international scouting director at the time, considered Soto the t

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 25th July 2022

Teams Rarely Regret Cost Of Trading For A Star Position Player —

As the Aug. 2 trade deadline approaches, all eyes are on Juan Soto.

The Nationals star already has a batting title, two top-five MVP finishes and a World Series ring at 23 years old and won’t be a free agent until after the 2024 season. Few players have accomplished so much so young, and even fewer have been openly available on the trade market with their prime years still ahead of them.

Only a handful of teams actually possess the combination of young major leaguers and top prospects necessar

College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects - Baseball • 17th July 2022

Orioles Draft Jackson Holliday No. 1; 'He Was Our Favorite Choice' —

LOS ANGELES — For the second time in the last four drafts, the Orioles held the No. 1 overall pick. The first time around, in 2019, there was a clear-cut top prospect in Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman.

The dynamic was very different this year. The Orioles considered five players for the No. 1 overall pick, and it came down until very late in the process before they made their selection.

After much deliberation, they got the player they wanted.

The Orioles drafted Stillwater (Okla.) High