microline133

Penn State vs USC whiteout game in October with the boys.....should be a great time!

Good Area Scouts build relationships with players in their areas over several years. They talk regularly, they know the families. Players are talking to any scout/team that is showing interest and whether they want to divulge other conversations is their discretion and how they want to play the game. Area Scouts are talking to players as the draft is happening..."We are thinking about grabbing you here. If we do that, does a $20k bonus get it done?" If they've fine their job, the bonus question is just confirmatory and not a real question. The teams are doing the math on their bonus pool in real time as a result of this information. When the draft concludes they have a high confidence in how the signings are all going to play out.

Nope.

The Area Scout's job is to get to know the player, understand what it will take to sign them, etc. They are vital to a team being able to execute a draft strategy.

This is not a clerical error. It is routine business and these players told the Tigers they would sign for these bonuses before they even picked them. There will not be any animosity toward the club over this.

Tickets are done via random lottery every year; no wait-list. I believe lottery registration is June 1-20, 2026 for the 2027 tournament.

No, it was AA.

I sat on back-to-back series when he was with Erie and he didn't make contact in anything over 92, if memory serves. It wasn't particularly close either. That report was less than flattering when I wrote it up and I heard it from the org when it was published.

Interesting, maybe only to me, but seeing this just crystallized the history of some road names out here. A common one being Boston Post Road running through several towns near me. The creation of a federal Post Office and the designation or creation of associated Post Roads connects some dots with present day road names that have survived. I'll have to dig into it a little later today to verify.

I'll actually be in the house for this one!

Definitely a house down the street that hands out nips to parents as they come by. It's very welcome at that point in the journey.

Jalen Carter was also out.

College baseball, fall weigh in....showed up my freshman year, stepped on the scale and the trainer said 6-2, 185. The head coach immediately told the guy writing stuff down 6-4, 225 and that continued with every player. Don't ever believe college (or minor league) height/weight!

Josue Briceno, as a prospect, is exceptionally overrated.

Not really.

Occasionally they will consider something like that, as long as it doesn't significantly impact the timeline or progression they are aiming for.

In all the years I've talked to front office folks about players/prospects, I've never seen them have the concerns over log jams, roster crunches, players being blocked, promotions, etc. These are concerns of fans and I've yet to see front office type stress over any of it....they are manufactured "problems" for the most part. Priority prospects get handled first....this goes with season-opening roster construction and in-season player movement. If a priority prospect needs a specific assignment, they get it....end of story. When the team decides to promote -- for the purposes of this, let's say McGonigle -- then they promote him, and the underlying decisions are quite black and white or obvious.

Whether it's truly the best or not is to be determined, but I'm currently halfway through what is easily one of my top two or three..... Nas with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood in the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts.

A little surprised to see my hometown stepping up with one.

I think it's far more likely a lot of today's baseball podcasters "grew up" listening to Kevin Goldstein and Jason Parks. That was the model they used and it was wildly successful, so that's probably at least some basis for what they think should be done.

I've never considered any knuckleball pitcher legit in the minor leagues. A-ball hitters -- even Double-A -- aren't capable of making heads or tails of a knuckleball. They are overmatched by it. Until such time as a knuckleball pitcher not only has success in Triple-A but then in the big leagues, they are always a non-prospect.

When Dombrowski was GM of the Red Sox, my favorite party trick out here in New England was texting him and getting a reply....always dumbfounded people.

Bravo, sir. Definitely a smile in my face reading this. Good for you!

If that happens, I'll be there.

That was a great showing.