Baseball America
Astros Spreading Opportunities With Tandem Starters
Bob Cluck wasn’t trying to alter the course of pitching development. He was just trying to solve a problem. As spring training wrapped up and the manager prepared to take [...]
Browse Articles
Federowicz Delivers Defense
Dodgers farmhand Tim Federowicz wins the 2012 Captain's Catcher's Award as the top defensive catcher in the minor leaguers. The award is presented by Baseball America and sponsored by All-Star.
2013 Position Rankings: Relievers
Projecting which pitchers eventually will star in big league bullpens is never easy because many minor league starters end up shuffling to relief. But in recent years it has become a little more easy to predict who might close out big league games, as teams have grown more comfortable with the idea of grooming closers in the minors. Of the top 10 saves leaders in 2012, four were minor league closers in the year before they reached the big leagues.
Can Donavan Tate Outrun The Bust Label?
Tate's troubles add to Padres poor record with 1st rounders.
Pirates Training Style Draws Scrutiny
After another late-season collapse, the Pirates front office knows that 2013 is even more important.
New Cubs Regime Finds Team In Need Of Pitching
For Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod, the pitching landscape they inherited with the Cubs was a wasteland. A lack of pitching depth exacerbated by two midseason trades led directly to the Cubs' first 100-loss season since 1966, and the outlook for pitching—especially power pitching—was just as grim in the farm system. Nothing is more important for the new regime than addressing that shortage.
Evan Gattis Takes Unusual Path Toward Big Leagues
In more than a quarter-century in professional baseball, Braves general manager Frank Wren admits he has never seen a player develop along the same path as Evan Gattis.
Which Players Did Your Team Add To Its 40-Man Roster?
Matt Eddy, Conor Glassey and J.J. Cooper -
The Rule 5 draft highlights players who major league organizations did not deem worthy of inclusion on 40-man rosters, but where does that leave the 130 players who did make their way onto 40-man rosters ahead of the Nov. 20 deadline? Here we give them their due by providing a quick burst of information on all of them.
Pitching Development Has Become Oakland’s Strength
When one pitcher went down, another came up. As the Athletics battled into September with their ragtag collection of kids and bargains, part of what kept them fighting was an influx of young arms, immediately ready for big league competition. The likes of A.J. Griffin and Dan Straily, who were never big-name prospects, filled in capably for the experienced veterans. More than anything else, the A's of the first dozen years of the new millennium have been an organization built upon the development of young pitchers.
Indians’ Draft Struggles Come Back To Haunt Them
After success in the 1990s and 2000s building through the draft and trades, the Indians are trying to rediscover that success again.
High-Risk Drafts Create Talent Gap For Red Sox
Everything fell apart for the Red Sox in 2012. The team's third straight year without a postseason appearance represented the most spectacular meltdown recent franchise history. Now the team is trying to figure out why.
FSL Trio Forces Tough Choices For Pro Scouts
Righthander Gerrit Cole was the No. 1 pick in the 2011 draft. Righthander Jameson Taillon went No. 2 overall in 2010. Righthander Jose Fernandez had to wait a little longer to hear his name called, as he went 14th overall last year. But among scouts who saw all three pitch in the Florida State League, the general consensus is that if there was a re-draft, they'd follow in the footsteps of the Marlins and take Fernandez first.
Teenage Jurickson Profar Keeps Showing Up His Elders
No matter where he has played and which team he has faced, Jurickson Profar hasn't been able to escape the attention of being the best player in the Texas League this season at the age of 19.
Cardinals Oscar Taveras Draws Vladimir Guerrero Comparisons
In a look at one of the players who just missed winning the Minor League Player of the Year award, we spotlight Oscar Taveras' rare hand-eye coordination.
Phillies’ Darin Ruf’s Home Run Binge Continues
Phillies first baseman/outfielder Darin Ruf is putting together one of the best months in minor league history.
Mariners Pitchers Know How To Hold ‘Em
Some teams make limiting the running game a point of emphasis for pitchers from the day they sign. Others let them worry about throwing strikes and refining their secondary stuff before working on slide steps and pickoff moves at a higher level of the minors. The Mariners are one of the clubs that emphasizes holding runners, and the results are obvious. Their high Class A High Desert club leads the minors in caught stealing percentage, while low Class A Clinton ranks third overall.
Art Of The Steal
When Alexander Cartwright—or whoever first laid out a baseball diamond—put the bases 90 feet apart, he put them at an ideal distance to make the battle between basestealers and batteries a fair fight. In general, it takes a baserunner about as much time to get from first to second as it does for the ball to take the trip from the mound to home to second. But every now and then, a guy like Billy Hamilton comes along and screws up the symmetry.
When Coleman Set Record, Few Noticed
As Billy Hamilton approaches Vince Coleman's professional baseball record of 145 steals this year, he has been featured in media around the country. Thanks to the Futures Game he has played on ESPN, and he also has been discussed on "Pardon the Interruption" and featured in Sports Illustrated. When Coleman set the record for steals in a season in 1983, though, few people gave it any thought at all. As Coleman ran wild for the Class A Macon Redbirds in the South Atlantic League, the minor league baseball renaissance was still a "Bull Durham" movie and ballpark building boom away from blossoming.
