Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2019 i Baseball America

WHAT’S NEW AT BASEBALLAMERICA.COM AND OUR SOCIAL ACCOUNTS @BaseballAmerica @BaseballAmerica BaseballAmericaMag ReadBA SPRING TIME IS THE RIGHT TIME FOR BASEBALL AMERICA REFERENCE BOOKS 2019 DIRECTORY The ultimate reference guide for industry veterans and a great gift for baseball fans, this 300-plus page book provides comprehensive info on teams, people, addresses, phone numbers and schedules. The Directory covers every level of baseball, from the major leagues and minor leagues down to independent leagues and colleges. $31.95 2019 SUPER REGISTER The Super Register features complete career statistics for every active player in the major leagues and domestic affiliated minor leagues in 2018. We have everyone from the youngest player in the Gulf Coast League to the most grizzled veterans in the majors—more than 7,800 players. $84.95 store.BaseballAmerica.com COACH’S CORNER College baseball analyst…

High school baseball is in full swing across the country, and while the players’ main focus is on bringing home a league championship or state title, summer baseball is certainly on the mind as well. The calendar for June through August is filling up—probably with games. A badge of honor seems to be the ability to rattle off the immense number of games played in a summer. Teams often bounce from tournament to tournament without ever practicing, so players make the same mistakes game after game. True player development gets lost. When are players getting better? Certainly, valuable lessons are learned from games, and competition and production matter, but a break from the game environment is necessary for legitimate development. Taking the pressure off, eliminating the speed of the game,…

@TRACYRINGOLSBY A year ago, in the opening days of the season, the Rockies announced a long-term deal with outfielder Charlie Blackmon. It was a statement by ownership announcing its commitment to keep the key players in place with a hope a championship awaits. Then, early in spring training this year, the day after the Rockies announced a three-year contract extension for manager Bud Black that ties him to the club through 2022, the Rockies went a step farther. The Rockies confirmed the signing of third baseman Nolan Arenado to potential eightyear contract worth $234 million—though he does have the option to opt out after the 2021 season. It is another step in ensuring the homegrown foundation of the Rockies has a chance to make a postseason impact. “I believe, as…

Buddy Bailey begins the 2019 season as the lone minor league manager with more than 2,000 career wins. The 62-year-old began his managing career in Pulaski of the Appalachian League in 1983, where his team went 46-26 to finish second in the league. Winning has come regularly to Bailey. He’s skippered a team with a winning record in 21 of his 30 seasons. Bailey is 463 victories behind the minors all-time managerial wins leader—Stan Wasiak, who managed from 1950 to 1986. Here are the winningest minor league managers who were active in 2018. They are listed with their 2019 organizations. * Ingle will serve as development supervisor for the Rockies’ low Class A Asheville affiliate this season.…

The Padres’ path to the No. 1 farm system was laid with three consecutive top 10 draft picks, a series of veteran-for-prospect trades and $80 million spent on the international amateur market in 2016-17. Getting talented players into the organization was only the first step. In order to become the No. 1 farm system, the Padres’ player development staff had to successfully mold that talent. “I think for all of our 70-plus staff members on our development side, it’s a great privilege to be working with this group of players that might not come around again in our baseball careers,” Padres farm director Sam Geaney said. “It’s also a huge responsibility. We don’t want to screw things up.” As much as the organization’s amateur scouting, the Padres’ development staff has…

MIDDLE INFIELD This year’s middle infield class is solid, but the top of the group is still shaking out. All five players on this list received at least one vote to be first-team Preseason All-American, illustrating the lack of consensus in the class. After college second basemen were drafted among the top 10 picks in back-to-back years (Oregon State’s Nick Madrigal in 2018 and UC Irvine’s Keston Hiura in 2017), college second basemen have returned to their historical normal in 2019. The top talent is UCLA’s Chase Strumpf, who is projected to be a second- or thirdround pick. 1. WILL WILSON, NORTH CAROLINA STATE Wilson has done nothing but hit throughout his college career, both for NC State and USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team. He’s a career .300 hitter for…

It happens every year. A team signs a 16-year-old Latin American prospect for a small or mid-level bonus. Within a few months, that player’s stock can soar. Sometimes it’s because a player changes after signing. He grows taller, gets stronger, works with a professional coaching staff daily at the academy in the Dominican Republic and takes off fast. Suddenly the pitcher throwing 87-90 mph is sitting 91-95, or the hitter with occasional gap shots starts consistently driving the ball over the fence. Other times, a player flies under the radar for international scouts in a lower profile program. Or a player just ends up being even better than the team that signed them expected. With games in the Tricky League (an informal league for July 2 signings) and during Dominican…

ASTROS: Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio BRAVES: Chipper Jones BREWERS: Robin Yount CARDINALS: Stan Musial CUBS: Ernie Banks DODGERS: Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Bill Russell* GIANTS: Mel Ott ORIOLES: Cal Ripken Jr. MARINERS: Edgar Martinez PADRES: Tony Gwynn PHILLIES: Mike Schmidt PIRATES: Willie Stargell, Bill Mazeroski, Roberto Clemente RED SOX: Jim Rice, Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski REDS: Johnny Bench, Dave Concepcion*, Barry Larkin, Bid McPhee ROCKIES: Todd Helton* ROYALS: George Brett, Frank White* TIGERS: Charlie Gehringer, Al Kaline, Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker* WHITE SOX: Luke Appling YANKEES: Derek Jeter (N/E), Bernie Williams*, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig…

From 1999 to 2008, few teams drafted as well as the Rays. When it came to athletic outfielders and young pitchers, the Rays had success year after year, which laid the foundation for the team’s success that saw them win the 2008 American League pennant and make three other playoff appearances from 2009 to 2013. The following is a list of Rays’ draftees who produced five or more wins above replacement from the 1999 to 2008 drafts. A NEED TO IMPROVE Over the past decade, despite having bounties of first-round picks, the Rays have struggled to draft and develop big league stars. Kevin Kiermaier was a great find in the 31st round and Blake Snell is coming off of a Cy Young season, but that’s been the extent of what…

Understandably, most prominent major leaguers never return to their minor league roots after their playing careers are over. Most of them are not keen on returning to the grind of the minor league life as a coach or manager. They still remember the bus rides on their way up. But there are always a few exceptions. For six seasons, Ryne Sandberg worked as a minor league manager before holding the Phillies’ major league gig from 2013-15. This season, the biggest name in the minors is Birmingham manager Omar Vizquel, who works in the White Sox system. As a shortstop, Vizquel played 24 years in the majors. Now he’s in his second year as a minor league manager, having led Winston-Salem to a Carolina League playoff spot last year. Here is…

Last year proved to the Mariners that a new approach was needed In 2017 and 2018, Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto had gone all in to try to push the big league team to the playoffs. Any and every prospect was available. Many were traded. And in the end, it resulted in two playoff near misses. One near miss could be excused. But last year, almost everything went right for the Mariners and they still found themselves sitting home in October. “We had a talented core at the big league level and a limited support group around them,” Dipoto said. “We opted to be as competitive as we could be, and make a push. We did talk about the idea, even when I interviewed, we discussed a two- to three-year…

Welcome to campus, baseball prospect. You’ve got a core five classes, mostly in the mornings, to free your afternoons for skills work. That’s why you’re here after all. Maybe you’ll take a few extra cuts in the indoor hitting facility, or bulk up in the state-of-the-art weight room. We really mean that. The advanced EliteForm-integrated squat rack even tracks your bar speed, letting you know whether to increase or decrease your weight to maximize power. The automatic video recordings help, too, when you can dissect your form afterward with coaches. How’s that for state-ofthe-art? Tired? Hurt? Hungry? There’s a hyperbaric chamber in the training room just next door to the weight room, with a hot tub and ice bath as well as a full team of trainers and physical therapists.…

Major league organizations signed more 950 players during the 2017-18 international signing period. The number of signees for the 2018-19 period will surely be higher than that. But a minor league pact with an international player isn’t complete once he signs on the dotted line. Once a player signs, he goes through an extensive Major League Baseball investigation to determine his age, official date of birth and confirm his identity. Then comes the visa application process, which determines whether a player will be cleared to play for a U.S. affiliate when he is deemed ready. This process can take months, however, and players are occasionally denied visas. That’s why clubs will invoke a visa contingency clause in the professional contact so that they don’t have to pay a player if…

In this, the Futures issue of Baseball America, we look to the future of baseball talent streams, from the Rays’ revamped farm system to the return to prominence of SoCal draft prospects after a fallow period. We also investigate ways to improve the game, because it’s possible to love our game, to appreciate the gargantuan talents of modern players and still consider how we can make things better. So it’s gratifying to see Major League Baseball doing the same. In February, the league announced a three-year partnership with the independent Atlantic League. The small circuit, best known to date as the landing spot for ex-big leaguers searching for a way back to the bigs (Rich Hill is among its success stories), will implement rules changes at MLB’s request to serve…

FACTORY ATHLETICSTM is BA’s For the Love of the Game Selection Partner MICHAEL NARDONE, 12 WEST PALM BEACH, FL: Michael, a seventh grader, is a natural athlete. He plays shortstop and pitches, and is also a nationally ranked junior golfer who plays for the American Heritage Boca/Delray High School varsity. He excels off the field, carrying a 5.34 GPA and is president of the seventh grade Student Government Association, vice president of National Junior Honor Society and secretary of Builders Club. ANGELINA LOCKHART, 15 JBER, AK: Angelina is your typical 15-year-old softball-crazy girl, with one minor difference. She is completely deaf in her left ear. She has learned to overcome this difficulty on and off the field, teaching herself to read lips and watch movements twice as much as the…

The Padres have the second-longest streak of losing seasons in baseball (eight), trailing only the Marlins. They have not made the playoffs since 2006, a 12-season drought that is the franchise’s longest since the 15 years it took them to go from 1969 expansion team to 1984 playoff team. It’s been a long, difficult decade for the Padres franchise. The good news is the lean times may soon be over. The Padres are No. 1 in our organizational talent rankings—for the first time in franchise history—crowning them the best farm system in the game as we head into 2019. San Diego’s system overflows with talent, which will begin trickling to the big leagues this season. Leading the charge is shortstop and No. 1 prospect Fernando Tatis Jr., who will be…

The Rays don’t splurge on major league free agents, and in fact outfielder Greg Vaughn is the only free agent signee in Rays history to produce at least five career wins above replacement, as measured by Baseball-Reference.com, for the club. But Tampa Bay has been equally as ineffective in producing big leaguers on the international amateur market. Dominican righthander Alex Colome is the most accomplished international free agent signee in franchise history, but he accumulated a mere 4.3 WAR. The Rays’ two international success stories were both professionals: 32-year-old Cuban righthander Rolando Arrojo and 28-year-old Japanese second baseman Akinori Iwamura. Colome ranked No. 68 on the Top 100 Prospects list in 2010. Until recently, he was one of just two international amateur prospects signed by the Rays to ever make…

As teams begin to take some of the guesswork out of scouting and player development with more sophisticated player modeling and better technology, impact prospects are more valuable than ever before. This is true whether a team uses those prospects to trade for missing major league pieces, a la the Red Sox, or uses prospects to fortify pennant winners, such as the Astros, Cubs and Dodgers in recent seasons. 1. SAN DIEGO PADRES 2018: 3 | 2017: 9 | 2016: 25 2015: 14 | 2014: 6 TOP 100 PROSPECTS (9): SS Fernando Tatis Jr. (2), LHP MacKenzie Gore (28), 2B Luis Urias (31), C Francisco Mejia (32), LHP Adrian Morejon (52), RHP Chris Paddack (66), RHP Luis Patiño (67), LHP Logan Allen (92), 1B Josh Naylor (99) Fernando Tatis Jr.…

In 2018, Minor League Baseball launched Copa De La Diversión, enabling teams at every level to connect with local Latino communities and embrace Hispanic culture. The program was such a success that it’s expanded to 72 teams. Each team will transform with new colors and logos, spanning nearly 400 games. “The growth in team participation is outstanding,” said Kurt Hunzeker, MiLB’s VP of Marketing Strategy and Research. “To see this engagement with our Latino fans in MiLB communities across the country is very exciting. We like to say that you don’t attend a minor league baseball game, you feel it. To extend that extraordinary feeling to a previously underserved fan base is remarkable.” ©2019 Minor League Baseball™ and Copa de la Diversión™ trademarks and copyrights are property of Minor League…

@DAVESERRANO11 Logan Davidson learned from past Clemson stars, including his big league father, how to handle draft-year expectations. When Logan Davidson runs on to the field at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, he knows eyes are watching him; they’ve been watching him since he prepped at Providence High in Charlotte, and they will continue to come to watch and evaluate. Not only because of the Clemson junior’s athletic 6-foot-3, 195-pound frame, but because he is one of the top shortstop prospects in this year’s draft. With former All-American teammate Seth Beer moving on this year to pro ball, Davidson now faces the burden of being more in the forefront for the Tigers. Pressure—that’s what comes with being in the spotlight. And, add to the fact that he is following in the footsteps…

With the 2019 draft fast approaching, the scouting community has battled cold weather and rain—including in Southern California, where it normally isn’t allowed to rain—to get schedules lined up to get looks at priority players. Even with some elemental barriers, there has been plenty of movement on teams’ draft boards, on both the college and high school side. Every year there are a few players who come from almost completely off the radar to become a name teams consider in the first round. Last year, it was Grayson Rodriguez, and in 2017 it was Michael Mercado, who now goes by David. The former was a Texas product, and the latter came out of Southern California. HERE ARE SEVEN PROMINENT POP-UP PROSPECTS TO MONITOR KAMERON MISNER, OF, MISSOURI Misner hit .373/.529/.588…