Regular Show

Is Ohtani trying to go for TJS #3? He can dial it back and still be very effective. I mean if you're going to throw this hard, at least save this effort (and velo) for the postseason.

I knew an MLB player was eventually going to do this after a bad call, but I'm surprised he tried to deny it. That wasn't a subtle gesture lol.

Good video on local rising prep lefty Jack Bauer. Seems pretty mature and well spoken. Probably does really well in private sessions when talking to scouts for MLB teams. He feels like a potential target for the Padres, Royals or Dodgers (they have 2 high picks now, one acquired in the Gavin Lux trade with the Reds).

Lots of interesting names on the list and not just at the top of the list. I'm very intrigued by RHP AJ Russell (ranked #55) and some prospect analysts think he could be this year's version of Cade Horton. He missed most of his sophomore year recovering from internal brace surgery. Hasn't thrown very much, but has a lot of interesting metrics, a low release point and good stuff that could get even better after getting drafted. I doubt the Cubs take him at #17, but he probably won't be available at their next pick in the 2nd round. ^This clip is from him pitching in 2024.

I'm still formulating my draft rankings and learning more about certain draft prospects, but I think the Cubs are taking a proven college talent just like in previous years. That strategy has worked out pretty well, and I think the draft model they use tends to push these advanced hitters higher up in their internal rankings. I don't think Wehiwa Aloy makes it to the Cubs' pick at 17 (I would be happy if he was still available). I think we should be monitoring Gavin Kilen, Marek Houston, and Brendan Summerhill. Maybe Andrew Fischer if the Cubs think he has a possibility of being average defensively at 3B (I don't think he will be and many scouts doubt it). Probably ends up being just a 1B prospect, but he has a good stroke and power. Reminds me of Michael Busch in college.

I really like Aiva Arquette, but I also highly doubt he gets selected with the top pick (I think the Rockies take Arquette). I agree with Jim Callis. I think Mike Rizzo and the Nationals take Ethan Holliday at #1, and I have like a 99% conviction in that.

The Cubs seemingly are relying more on data and their draft model these days, and you can't really argue with the results. The MLB Draft combine is more like the NBA combine than the NFL one (in terms of impact and improving draft stock). It doesn't really do that much, but it does allow teams to gain better information about the health of pitchers' arm/shoulder for the ones that agree to participate.

*^I'm pretty sure the video clip on the far right is suppose to say APR 2025, not APR 2024. I don't love the delivery and think he'll need to smooth out his mechanics/pitching motion either in college or after going pro. Definitely has room to get stronger and refine his secondary pitches. I would probably avoid a pitching prospect like this in the 1st round, but after that he becomes very intriguing (depending on how much he is looking for). His rise kinda reminds me of another Illinois prep lefty (Bryan Hudson) that the Cubs drafted in the 3rd round of the 2015 MLB Draft. It took him a while to reach MLB, but he did eventually make it as a lefty reliever (currently on the Brewers).

Yeah, I'm not exactly sure how this situation will resolve itself... I don't believe MLB and Rob Manfred will ever force Jerry Reinsdorf to sell the team or apply any public pressure. They don't want the White Sox to move to another city like Nashville. I know Manfred wants Chicago to remain a 2-team city. They might strongly encourage him to sell his stake to Justin Ishbia behind the scenes and let him become the majority owner. Reinsdorf clearly doesn't want to do that and is annoyed by the reporting. I think he knows his legacy is a bad one but he wants to salvage it (in his mind at least) by getting a new stadium deal done. I don't understand him and I think he's just a stubborn old man set in his ways who doesn't care about doing what's best for the franchise (selling the Sox to another ownership group). If I were to predict what happens it would probably be his family and friends finally convince him to sell his share of the team to Justin Ishbia in the next 3-5 yrs after this latest rebuild stalls and no new stadium deal is announced. Maybe he croaks and then his sons sell the team to Justin Ishbia. The endgame is Justin Ishbia eventually taking over the team and it'll probably be a good thing (I say probably only because his brother Mat Ishbia has done a horsefeathers awful job as the majority owner of the Phoenix Suns).

It is indeed very hard. That's why you shouldn't immediately judge an international draft class by the signing bonuses and/or total seven-figure IFA signings. MLB teams obviously messed up evaluating the 2015 international draft class, and the White Sox really messed up by signing and trading away Fernando Tatis Jr. in 2016. So no one should be evaluating or making proclamations or box-score scouting these prospects early on because it takes years to fully judge an international draft class (Yes, the best prospects do rise quickly and get sent to low-A or get promoted quickly, but other prospects can take a while to matriculate and fully acclimate to pro ball, like Cristian Hernandez). All that said, I do think Roki Sasaki will end up being the best prospect in the 2025 international draft class when we look back on it in 10 years.

From the latest chat on Fangraphs: He's #2 on the draft big board over at Fangraphs. I was a little surprised by how high Eric has Wehiwa Aloy ranked currently. When I talked to him last yr I brought up Aiva Arquette and we both really liked him and thought he had a chance to potentially go 1-1 if he took off in the spring. I think Arquette has a good chance to stick at SS (Eric was a little more skeptical) and hit for power eventually. I prefer Aiva Arquette over Wehiwa Aloy, but both are premium draft prospects.

People have been waiting for this moment and I'm happy Duke obliged lol.

I'm glad they're utilizing this challenge system, but would have preferred a full ABS system instead. Hitters and catchers with a really great understanding of the strike zone will be rewarded in this new system. I think there will be added benefits too: - Umpires will stop making the egregiously bad calls (Angel Hernandez special) because no umpire wants to get overturned a bunch of times in a row/inning/game. - Younger players/managers will like the added strategy/ability to get the call right, and I believe they will eventually expand the system from 2 challenges per game to 3 challenges per game. - Umpires will bitch and complain about this system anonymously lol - Catchers with amazing pitch framing will stop being rewarded for stealing strikes, and making balls look like strikes on the edges of the strike zone. Framing won't completely go away, but it'll have less significance now. The only thing I really dislike is that MLB might remove the K zone from broadcasts for some dumb reason. I get that the K zone shown on TV might not match up with the strike zone used by Hawk Eye & MLB, but you shouldn't get rid of it. Viewers have grown accustomed to it now and I prefer having it, and I'm sure they can eventually get it to match the strike zone used by MLB. They also mentioned having the K zone on the broadcast takes away from the "suspense" of knowing whether the challenge is right or wrong, but that's a really stupid reason to get rid of it IMO.

I get why they call his splitter a grade 80 pitch. That's nasty and he could honestly just utilize a fastball/splitter combo and not really need a breaking ball to get MLB hitters out. I thought the second pitch in the video was a hard downer curve/slider when I saw it, but Rob says that was also a splitter. It sucks that the Dodgers signed him, but I bet he's going to need TJS at some point in the next few yrs.

Sasaki has to sign by 1/22 or 1/23 so I bet any team that thinks it has a chance will wait the extra week before formally signing their big time IFAs. Additionally, it might be possible to sign your IFAs (or have them take a reduced amount) and sign Sasaki. We don't know how much he is looking for, but if he obviously cared about making the most money possible then he would've waited to come over and join MLB (like Yoshinobu Yamamoto). Remember, Shohei Ohtani only got a bonus of $2.3M from the Angels. I believe MLB teams can trade for additional money for their IFA pools (up to 50%). You would have to trade a premium prospect(s) and other teams would try to extract quite a bit knowing that you need that additional slot pool money to sign Sasaki. But it is possible to sign Sasaki and your high-end IFAs, assuming it doesn't require $4-5M as the signing bonus. Sasaki will obviously make plenty of money off the field like Ohtani so the initial amount to sign isn't too big a deal.

It's very easy to protect players from the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 draft. Guys, if the big league team actually values a prospect they wouldn't leave them unprotected (for the minor-league phase)... We selected LHP Connor Menez out of the Giants organization in the minor-league phase of the Rule 5 draft back in 2021. I was not excited at the time because I knew it wouldn't amount to much. He pitched a grand total of 1 IP for the Cubs (that's it). There is a huge difference between the major league and minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft.

Yes some games were close in this series but Golden State is just the better team. Crazy that people still don’t believe in them