Baseball America

This year teams left more first-round players unprotected from the Rule 5 draft than we’ve seen in a decade. Carlos and Peter revisit some of the high-profile misses from the 2021 and 2022 drafts and what lessons we might be able to draw from them. 

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Time Stamps

• (0:00) Intro
• (3:00) Unprotected player talk begins
• (7:00) Frank Mozzicato 
• (11:00) Gavin Cross
• (14:30) Benny Montgomery & toolsy players
• (20:00) 2022 college bats we missed on
• (28:00) A calibration for amateur tool grades
• (32:00) Did the covid ripple effect impact the hit rate?
• (36:30) Reggie Crawford
• (40:00) 2022 HS players who might be at risk

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Dynasty rankings season is in full swing at Baseball America, as hosts Geoff Pontes and Dylan White jump into their second positional ranking breakdown of the offseason. The open the show discussing the Grayson Rodriguez for Taylor Ward trade before diving into the Top 10 first basemen.

Time Stamps

• (1:00) Grayson Rodriguez/Taylor Ward trade reaction
• (9:30) Nick Kurtz reigns supreme across the first base landscape
• (12:30) Why Bryce Harper at No. 3?
• (15:00) Questions about Pete Alonso, Rafael Devers, Matt Olson & Freddie Freeman entering 2026
• (20:00) The Josh Naylor problem
• (22:00) Why is Vinnie Pasquantino still underrated?
• (24:00) Is Michael Busch a top 10 first baseman?
• (27:00) Kyle Manzardo's sneaky 2025

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We've got the Rule 5 fever.

Geoff Pontes and J.J. Cooper are a day late with the Prospect Podcast this week, but it's for a good reason, as we've been busy working on the 40-man roster protection deadline and doing our early Rule 5 draft preview work. We talk about that and discuss the Orioles-Angels trade that saw Grayson Rodriguez and Taylor Ward swap coasts.

Time Stamps

(00:00) A Rule 5 name to watch

(10:00) Explaining Rule 5 rules, as well as what the 40-man roster deadline is about

(16:00) Trends we noticed in 40-man roster additions

(19:00) Why the fireballing Class A pitcher doesn't get picked anymore

(23:00) Traits to look for when trawling for Rule 5 picks

(28:30) It was a bad year for first-round picks being protected, especially for one team

(32:00) Two teams with perfect first-round protection records recently

(34:00) A few sneaky things to look for in the Rule 5 draft

(38:00) Analyzing the Grayson Rodriguez-Taylor Ward trade

Rule 5 Draft Preview: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2025-rule-5-draft-preview-top-players-to-know/

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On this week's Hot Sheet Show, J.J. Cooper, Ben Badler and Geoff Pontes discuss a number of topics, including the Dodgers' new top 10, Tuesday's 40-man roster deadline and the Brewers' unique strategy for finding value later in the MLB Draft.

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

Time Stamps

• (0:00) Introduction
• (1:00) Digging into Ben's story on the Brewers' unorthodox draft strategy
• (12:00) 40-man roster deadline—what should we expect Tuesday?
• (15:45) Which traits will teams want to target in the Rule 5 draft?
• (20:00) Dodgers Top 10 Prospects—how does LA keep doing it?

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This week on the Baseball America Fantasy Podcast hosts Geoff Pontes and Dylan White discuss catchers in the first installment of their positional rankings. We also talk about a trio of talented NPB imports and their potential FYPD rankings.

• (2:00) Munetaka Murakami
• (11:00) Tatsuya Imai
• (21:00) Kazuma Okamoto
• (27:00) Cal Raleigh No.1
• (29:00) Samuel Basallo and his aggressive ranking
• (31:00) Ben Rice full time at bats and the upside potential
• (34:00) Agustin Ramirez and the tale of two halves
• (36:00) Reasons behind the aggressive Rainiel Rodriguez ranking
• (37:00) Dylan's target of Francisco Alvarez
• (39:00) Geoff's target of Adley Rutschman
• (42:00) Why we're fading Hunter Goodman

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This week in another edition of our Fix It series, Geoff Pontes and JJ Cooper take a look at the Pittsburgh Pirates. We are much more bullish about the Pirates turnaround, although we also get into why Pirates fans understandably are skeptical.

(0:00) Have Any Fans Suffered More Than Pirates Fans?

(5:00) Ownership Has To Do Better

(7:00) Paul Skenes Is A Great Start For Any Team

(9:00) Strengths And Weaknesses Of The MLB Team

(13:00) With Bubba Chandler Arriving, This Rotation Is Stacked

(18:00) Hitting Development Has To Take A Step Forward

(21:30) What's Termarr Johnson's Potential?

(27:00) Why We Are Optimistic

(28:30) Konnor Griffin Can Be A Star

(30:00) It's Hard To Not Win If You Have Two Stars

(37:00) Trying To Figure Out The Rest Of The Lineup

(39:00) Spend Some Money

(45:00) Bold Predictions

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Baseball America national college reporter Jacob Rudner and national writer Peter Flaherty break down National Signing Day, examining top classes and discussing potential last-second movement.

(2:44) A look at the top classes

(9:59) Are more top high school prospects making it to campus?

(14:45) Examining Texas' class

(19:24) Stanford looks to land another star

(24:33) Deep class heading to Wake Forest

(32:29) How will Tony Vitello's departure impact Tennessee?

(34:49) Will Florida's class hold up through signing day

(39:45) Our favorite classes

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On this week's Hot Sheet Show, J.J. Cooper, Geoff Pontes, Jesús Cano and Scott Braun discuss scouting reports for star Japanese players being posted to MLB, including Munetaka Murakami, Kazuma Okamoto and Tatsuya Imai.

Later, we talk about the Pirates Top 10 Prospects that debuted Monday and some Arizona Fall League players who have stood out this season in the desert.

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

Time Stamps

• (0:00) Introduction
• (1:05) How will Munetaka Murakami translate to MLB?
• (4:10) Murakami's potential swing issues
• (6:00) Scouting Kazuma Okamoto
• (8:50) How much money will Tatsuya Imai will get?
• (14:30) Pirates Top 10 prospects for 2026: Depth behind Konnor Griffin & Termarr Johnson
• (22:45) Max Anderson's great AFL season
• (24:30) The return of Daniel Espino
• (26:00) More AFL pitchers who have stood out

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Carlos and Peter talk about our annual draft report cards series and pick out a handful of players to know and teams who stood out through the process. 

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Time Stamps

• (0:00) World Series reactions
• (4:30) Intro to Draft Report Cards talk
• (9:00) Ethan Conrad
• (12:30) The Astros
• (16:00) Landyn Vidourek
• (21:15) Sam Horn
• (25:00) The Guardians
• (34:00) Lucas Kelly
• (35:00) Padres 10+ rounders

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This week's episode kicks off the official beginning of our offseason fantasy content. Hosts Geoff Pontes and Dylan White discuss the release of the Dynasty Top 500 ranking for 2026 fantasy baseball. We open the show discussing our approach to ranking relievers, prospects and the concept of "three-year window" in dynasty leagues.

(1:00) Approach to building the Top 500 list.

(5:00) The approach to ranking relievers.

(10:00) Looking at a three year window.

(12:30) The biggest risers in the updated Top 500.

(13:00) Nolan McLean.

(15:00) Cade Smith

(18:00) Trey Yesavage.

(21:00) Cam Schlittler.

(25:00) Biggest prospect movers.

(32:00) All in on Aidan Miller

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