Innholdsfortegnelse for September 7, 2018 i Baseball America

“Florida has had at least one first-round prep drafted every year since 1996.”baseball hotbeds, page 9 HOTBEDS Alex Rodriguez, photographed at spring training in 1994, just months after he signed with the Mariners as the No. 1 overall pick in the 1993 draft out of Miami’s Westminster Christian High. Find out what makes Florida the nation’s top state for producing pro baseball players on Page 9.…

Q The Blue Jays rank third in the Baseball America midseason organization talent rankings. Have they ever ranked that highly before?—PETE TOMS @PETETOMS A The Blue Jays have cracked the top three in our organization talent rankings, but not in a long time. In the 21st Century, Toronto has generally had a middle-of-the-pack farm system, with an average ranking of No. 14. The Blue Jays ranked as high as No. 4 in 2011 and No. 5 in 2012 with a prospect class that included future big leaguers Noah Syndergaard, Aaron Sanchez, Joe Musgrove, Travis d’Arnaud, Daniel Norris, Kevin Pillar, Adeiny Hechavarria and Jake Marisnick. But they haven’t cracked the top three overall since the early 1990s. At that time, the Blue Jays were on top of the baseball world, having…

Arizona has been one of the fastest growing states in the nation over the last 30 years, nearly doubling in population since 1990. With that boom has come a surge of baseball players coming out of the state’s population centers. Arizona has become a prime state for producing big leaguers, with more than two-thirds of the state’s all-time major leaguers debuting in 1995 or later. Paul Konerko, Bob Howry and Doug Mirabelli headlined the first wave in the late 1990s, followed by Andre Ethier, Ian Kinsler and J.J. Hardy in the mid-2000s and Cody Bellinger, Khris Davis and Kole Calhoun this decade. Year-round sunshine and high population density are major factors in Arizona’s prominence, but what sets Arizona further apart is how the Phoenix metro area—where most of the baseball…

Wareham swept through the Cape Cod League playoffs to win its first championship since 2012, defeating Chatham in the finals. The Gatemen went 6-0 in the playoffs, led by third baseman Austin Shenton (Florida International). He homered three times in six playoff games and was named MVP of the championship series. The Cape’s strength was sluggers at corner positions. Andrew Vaughn, Spencer Torkelson and Matt Wallner were just a few of the league’s standouts who fit that profile. Pitching was down this summer, a reflection in part of the overall 2019 class. Still, the league figures to again produce several first-round picks for the 2019 draft. To be eligible for this ranking, position players must have played 15 games or taken 50 plate appearances, and pitchers must have appeared in…

Acertain amount of competitive drive from baseball carries over to Kris Benson’s position these days as founder and CEO of Superior Business Management in Atlanta. Yet, in his view, the many managers he played for in a nine-year big league career carry the most influential weight in his world of business. “My main role in this company is to make sure that everything is working properly in the office, and (that) a client’s expectations are being met,” Benson said. “I surround myself with a lot smarter people when it comes to tax and accounting, from CPAs to… agents to masters in accounting. “We’ve got a pretty high-level team. The way we are different from some other firms out there is the way we incorporate a team environment.” That means involving…

Live in Georgia for long, and the distinctions between North Georgia and South Georgia quickly become clear. Much of North Georgia sits on the Piedmont, a series of mildly rolling hills, while South Georgia is much flatter. Middle and South Georgia also lies below the “gnat line” where swarms of tiny buzzing pests hover around anyone and everyone on warm summer nights. But for scouts and recruiting coordinators surveying the state for talent, there’s another line. Draw a circle around Atlanta and its multitudinous suburbs and exurbs. Inside that line, you’ll find the area where any scout will spend almost all their time during the spring and summer. Georgia is one of the most productive states in the country for producing pro baseball players. But while the state produces top-notch…

USA Baseball’s College National Team had another successful summer winning its series against Japan and Cuba as it went 12-3 over the summer. The following rankings and reports were developed after consulting with coaches and scouts who followed Team USA this summer. 1. ADLEY RUTSCHMAN, C Oregon State (Jr.) After leading the College World Series-champion Beavers in hitting across a full season, Rutschman made his way to Team USA, where he also paced the CNT in each triple slash category, hitting .355/.432/.516 in nine games. The consensus top prospect in the college game and, increasingly, for the 2019 draft class, Rutschman has all of the traits scouts look for in a college catcher. He handles his pitching staff well and is a natural leader off the field. He also has…

@JCRASNICK In his new role as the Marlins’ part-owner and CEO, Derek Jeter occasionally ventures down to a seat beside the third-base dugout to watch games. But he prefers taking in the action from an upstairs box where he can dissect the proceedings from a wider-angle lens. It gradually dawned on him that he was doing too much nervous eating for his own good, and he recently vowed to swear off the chicken tenders and other ballpark fare in the owners’ box. Jeter views the game through the prism of a purist and takes note of the mistakes that mean the difference between winning and losing games. When Marlins players give away at-bats, miss cutoff men or show less-than-optimal effort running out routine grounders, the CEO is taking mental notes.…

The Mariners remain in the basement of our organization talent rankings, the spot they occupied this spring. Seattle has a pair of former prospects (Tyler O’Neill and Luiz Gohara) currently ranked among the Top 100, but both were traded to reinforce the big league pitching staff. Those trades, and others like them, serve to weaken the Mariners’ farm system. The 11-30 ranking below includes each organization’s number of Top 100 Prospects.…

@STEVERUSHIN In late August, when the Cape Cod League has sent its players back to college and this flexed arm in the Atlantic Ocean once again becomes the Red Sox Riviera, two questions preoccupy New England residents: (1) will the 2018 Red Sox have the best record in baseball history, and (2) will it be in vain if they fail to win the World Series? For many, the answer to both questions might still be “yes,” but even if Boston eclipses the 2001 Mariners (by winning 117 games) and equal those same Mariners (by falling in the playoffs) this summer has been a remarkable one for the Red Sox, who I’ve come to think of as J.D. Power & Associates. J.D. Martinez might yet win the Triple Crown and his…

@BaseballAmerica @BaseballAmerica BaseballAmericaMag ReadBA WHERE IN THE WORLD… …ARE BA’S WRITERS? National writer Carlos Collazo traveled the country to see all the high school summer showcases and top prep prospects for the 2019 draft. • Area Code Games in Long Beach • East Coast Pro in Hoover, Ala. • Perfect Game All-American Classic in San Diego • Under Armour All-America Game in Chicago @CarlosACollazo @carloscollazo__ BEST. COVER. EVER. That decorated third baseman Adrian Beltre appeared on the cover of the Best Tools issue of Baseball America didn’t escape the Rangers’ attention. When BA posted the “Ace Of Third Base” cover to Twitter, the Rangers’ response was simple: Best. Cover. Ever. @BaseballAmerica COMPLETE YOUR BA LIBRARY Now is the time to complete your library of BA reference titles. All 2018 books…

The image of a fireballing Texas pitcher who works on the farm before school in the morning and then dominates on the mound in the afternoon after school is a long enduring one. But nowadays, it’s something of a misnomer. Hard-throwing Texas pitchers are still drafted year after year, but most likely they are going to be found in the major cities of Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin—and the suburbs that surround those cities. Houston has been especially productive, producing more pro players over the past decade than half the states in the country. Texas has some of the same advantages seen in other warm-weather hotbeds like California and Florida. The combination of excellent summer travel teams plus highly competitive high school baseball in the spring (especially in the major…

HAWAII The state of Hawaii ranks 40th in the U.S. in terms of population—roughly 1.75 million—but is third with 3.37 pro baseball players per 100,000 residents. What’s more, about 35 percent of pro players from Hawaii sign out of high school, which is the highest rate of players forgoing college among all states. Kolten Wong, Kurt Suzuki and Kirby Yates are notable active Hawaiians who played collegiately before turning pro, but even Wong and Yates were drafted out of high school but didn’t sign. All of the other high-profile Hawaiians signed out of high school, including Shane Victorino, Brandon League, 2014 first-rounder Kodi Medeiros and Rangers rookie Isiah Kiner-Falefa. CONNECTICUT Among cold-weather states, Connecticut has produced the highest rate of pro players per capita--3.37 per 100,000 residents--yet few of the…

@TRACYRINGOLSBY One afternoon in the days leading up to the 2011 draft, a couple media members approached Rockies scouting director Bill Schmidt in the dugout at Coors Field, curious about the best talent from the state of Colorado in the draft. Schmidt just shook his head at the mention of several players in the Denver area when it was suggested they were potential first-round selections. Finally he explained, “If you go up I-25 from Mexico to Canada, the only No. 1 draft is the kid in Cheyenne.” The media members were stunned. Finally, they were told the name of the player: Brandon Nimmo. “What high school does he play for?” they asked. None. They don’t play high school baseball in Wyoming. “Well, what travel team is he on?” they asked.…

JOHNNY ARD, a righthander and first-round pick of the Twins in 1988 who pitched in the organization from 1988-93, died May 3 in Valdosta, Ga. He was 50. ANTHONY “CHARLES” ASPROMONTE, a minor leaguer who played in the Interstate and Colonial leagues for the Philadelphia Athletics organization in 1950, died May 4 in Houston. He was 90. ROBERT “BOB” BATTEN, a minor league shortstop who played for the Indians and Phillies organizations in 1947 and ’48, died May 10 in Baton Rouge. He was 94. ROGER BROWN, a lefthander who pitched in the Western Carolinas and Carolina league for the Pirates organization from 1965-68, died May 14 in Dallas, N.C. He was 72. GARY CAVASAS, a minor leaguer who pitched in the Western Carolinas League for the Cardinals organization in…