Baseball America

On today's Prospect Podcast Deep Dive, Geoff Pontes and Josh Norris take an in-depth look at the World Champions. The Dodgers' farm system had a fascinating quartet who all had cases to be the system's No. 1 prospect.

(00:00) How Good Is The System?

(02:00) How Tough Was The Choice To Pick Eduardo Quintero No. 1?

(06:30) Is This System Better Or Worse Than Last Year?

(10:15) Who Is Your Guess To Be Next Year's No. 1?

(13:20) What Is This Org Good At Developing?

(17:30) A Secret Weapon In The Dodgers Success

(20:00) Are There Future Top 100 Prospects Lurking On The Rankings?

(25:00) Other Names To Know

Dodgers Top 30 Prospects: https://www.baseballamerica.com/teams/2012-los-angeles-dodgers/prospects/?season=2026&ranking=preseason

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On the latest of our Prospect Deep Dives, Josh Norris and Geoff Pontes take a look at a much improved Giants farm system. Yes, Bryce Eldridge remains as the No. 1 prospect, but it's what has emerged behind him that has the system on the upswing.

(01:00) Bryce Eldridge Is No. 1. How tough was this decision?

(03:30) Is this system better or worse than last year?

(09:30) Who is the best guess to be No. 1 next year?

(12:45) What is the system good at developing?

(17:00) Other names to know in the Giants system

Giants Top 30: https://www.baseballamerica.com/teams/2019-san-francisco-giants/prospects/?season=2026&ranking=preseason

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On this week's Hot Sheet Show, J.J. Cooper and Geoff Pontes lead a packed show featuring a breakdown of the fallout for Matt Shaw and the Cubs after the Alex Bregman signing.

We also welcome No. 2 Astros prospect Ethan Frey to the show before discussing our latest FYPD fantasy baseball rankings.

We stream the Hot Sheet Show every Monday at 3:30 p.m. ET on YouTube.

Time Stamps

• (0:00) Introduction
• (1:45) Alex Bregman Cubs fallout for Matt Shaw
• (7:45) Ethan Frey joins
• (10:30) How Ethan feels in recovery from injury
• (12:30) Making the transition from college to pro ball
• (16:15) Ethan's goals for 2026
• (17:00) Ethan's college baseball pick for 2026
• (19:00) Breaking down BA's latest FYPD rankings
• (26:00) Saying goodbye to Peter Flaherty

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Baseball America national college reporter Jacob Rudner and national writer Carlos Collazo dive into the NCAA's new umpire selection process for the postseason and discuss other potential rule changes coming out of the American Baseball Coaches Association convention. Rudner and Collazo also go in-depth on where UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky stacks up compared to No. 1 overall draft prospects of the past.

(2:00) How the NCAA is refining postseason umpire selection and evaluation

(13:46) Can better umpire impact players' draft stocks?

(19:06) Should college add an automatic baserunner in extras?

(32:37) Roch Cholowsky compared to previous No. 1 draft prospects

(45:42) What we're looking for early in the season from draft prospects

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Geoff Pontes and Peter Flaherty are taking an in-depth look at the Padres farm system. San Diego is as aggressive as anyone at using the system to trade for big league stars, but how much is left after the Mason Miller trade?

(00:00) Why this is Peter's last podcast for BA

(04:10) How clearly was Ethan Salas the No. 1 prospect?

(11:30) Is the Padres system better or worse than last year?

(14:30) Who is likely to be next year's No. 1 prospect?

(16:00) What is this org good at developing?

(18:00) What's exciting about the top four prospects

(20:00) Just how thin is this system?

(23:00) Some other prospect names to know

Padres Top 30 Prospects:

https://www.baseballamerica.com/teams/2017-san-diego-padres/prospects/?season=2026&ranking=preseason

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After a holiday hiatus the Baseball America Fantasy podcast is back with our final positional ranking podcast of the offseason. We start the show discussing the trio of Japanese players that signed from NPB. We then discuss the Cubs and Marlins trade before diving into the top 200 pitchers.

• (3:00) Is the market reacting too much to Murakami's swing and miss concerns?
• (6:30) Tatsuya Imai ready to succeed state side?
• (11:00) Is Kazuma Okamoto the best of the three in 2026 only?
• (14:00) Owen Caissie traded to Miami. What are your expectations for Caissie in 2026?
• (17:00) Why Shohei Ohtani No. 1?
• (19:00) Is Yamamoto just outside the top tier of pitchers?
• (25:00) Is Joe Ryan Tier 2 or Tier 3?
• (27:00) Explaining the Aggressive Eury ranking
• (29:00) The Yesavage ranking is more than the playoff bias.

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It’s a bittersweet episode of the draft podcast, as Peter bids farewell to Baseball America and embarks on a new journey as a scout with the Nationals. Carlos and Peter reminisce on their time together covering the draft over the last few years, talk about what they’ve learned and how their processes have changed. As always on the draft pod, there is still player talk. The two express their excitement about the strength of the upcoming draft class and highlight a few names who could move up draft boards this spring. 

Time Stamps:

• (0:00) Peter ditches the scribes and joins the scouts
• (7:00) Our outlook on the 2026 class
• (14:00) The variety inherent in amateur coverage
• (17:00) Potential sleepers who could rise
• (24:00) Lessons we’ve learned from previous drafts

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On the second of our Prospect Deep Dives, Geoff Pontes and JJ Cooper take a look at the Chicago Cubs farm system. It's perfect timing, as we get a chance to analyze the Cubs-Marlins Edward Cabrera/Owen Caissie trade.

(01:00) Analyzing the Edward Cabrera trade. What did the Cubs give up?

(09:00) No. 1 prospect Moises Ballesteros. How tough was the choice and who were the other candidates?

(13:00) Comparing the Cubs system now to where it was a year ago.

(16:00) Who do we think will be the No. 1 prospect a year from now?

(25:00) What do the Cubs do well in development?

(29:45) Are the Cubs in danger of having prospects go stale?

(43:30) This system is thin on pitchers

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Geoff Pontes and JJ Cooper are back to start our series of 30 MLB Farm System Deep Dives. We are beginning with the Cincinnati Reds, a team that has produced a lot of pitching, plus Elly De La Cruz, in recent years. What does the farm system have in store for 2026 and beyond?

(02:00) Who is No. 1 and how easy was that choice?

(10:25) How is this system better/worse than last year?

(17:00) Who do we project to be No. 1 next year?

(21:10) What are the Reds good at developing?

(25:30) Diving deeper into how the Reds have succeeded at developing pitching prospects.

Links:

Reds Top Prospects:

https://www.baseballamerica.com/teams/2006-cincinnati-reds/prospects/?season=2026&ranking=preseason

Sal Stewart's throwing issues:

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/sal-stewart-can-really-hit-but-throwing-is-a-problem/

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Baseball America national college reporter Jacob Rudner and national writer Peter Flaherty examine the resumes of the top contenders for preseason No. 1 with the college baseball season nearing. Rudner and Flaherty also break down the rise of the Big 12 and the ACC's race against the SEC.

(1:36) Peter Flaherty's personal news

(4:41) UCLA's case for No. 1

(18:24) Can LSU repeat as champions in 2026?

(31:02) The state of the Big 12

(41:26) How the ACC is working to challenge the SEC

(49:07) Two college players who excite us heading into 2026

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