MLB Pipeline

This week's MLB Pipeline Podcast takes us to Iowa as much of Major League Baseball descends on the Field of Dreams this week. That includes the prospect world and Sam Dykstra, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff kick things off by previewing Tuesday night's Minor League game to be held in Dyersville between the St. Paul Saints (Twins) and Iowa Cubs, a contest featuring top prospects like the Twins' Walker Jenkins and the Cubs' Owen Ayers. Then, they look at Wednesday's High School All-American Game, with top prep players from the 2027 Draft class like Dylan Seward and Bryce Cunningham. After that long stop in the Hawkeye State, the guys turn their attention to creating an "All-Teen" prospect team in advance of the new Top 100 coming this week, headlined by Jesús Made of the Brewers and the A's Leo De Vries, then break down a trio of MLB debuts, all in the AL Central: the Twins' Kaelen Culpepper, the Guardians' Angel Genao and White Sox lefty Hagen Smith. They finish up with a question from the Mailbag asking to compare Minnesota top pick Vahn Lackey to its 2001 No. 1 overall selection, Joe Mauer.

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The dust has barely settled on the 2026 Trade Deadline, but Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff mustered plenty of energy to talk about all of the wheeling and dealing from a prospect perspective on this week's Pipeline Podcast. They started out with the five Top 100 prospects who were dealt, headlined by new Tigers outfielder Zyhir Hope, which led to a spirited discussion about the overall return in the Tarik Skubal trade. After taking a look at some of the other top prospects who changed teams, the guys then examined teams that had the most impressive prospect hauls, topped by the Mets (11 total prospects acquired). They shifted gears for a minute to talk about the Yankees' callup of top prospect George Lombard Jr. as well as a sneak peak at the Field of Dreams Minor League and High School All-American games before returning to the Trade Deadline to answer a mailbag question comparing the returns for Kevin Gausman and Dustin May/JoJo Romero.

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With the Trade Deadline fast approaching, Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff spend much of the latest Pipeline Podcast discussing which top prospects might be on the move, including Dodgers outfielder Zyhir Hope and Yankees right-hander Elmer Rodriguez. They also discuss the recent Draft Signing Deadline, risers from our refreshing of our organization Top 30 Prospects lists and the Rookie of the Year races before circling back to the Trade Deadline with a question from the listener mailbag.

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There are a couple of big deadlines on the baseball calendar ahead and with so many people focused on the Trade Deadline in terms of big leaguers who could change hands, Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff looked a lot at the other side of that coin on this week's Pipeline Podcast: the prospects. They looked back: at blockbuster prospect deals of Deadlines past, headlined by the huge Juan Soto to the Padres trade in 2022, determining who won the biggest trades of the past decade. They also looked ahead: by examining which teams are best positioned to deal prospects to bring in big league help at this Deadline, starting with the Dodgers. Then the guys switched gears to look at the Draft, with the signing deadline coming next week, by creating a list of 2026 picks who could be the quickest to the big leagues. They finished off with a fun question about where prospects Leo De Vries and Ethan Salas would have gone in this year's Draft.

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Fresh off of covering and broadcasting the Draft and the Futures Game last weekend, Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff have plenty to discuss on the latest Pipeline Podcast. They break down the first round, from the White Sox taking Roch Cholowsky at No. 1 to the Brewers surprising with Trey Ebel at No. 25, highlighting surprise picks along the way. After that, they detail who hauled in the most talent and identify the best value picks in every round from 1 through 10. Then they welcome in Sam Dykstra, who was part of the Futures Game telecast, and he dishes on the standouts from the prospect showcase, including MVP Nathan Flewelling (Rays) and dominant pitcher Seth Hernandez (Pirates). The podcast wraps up with a listener mailbag question about which draftee will be the first to reach the Majors.

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It's the last Pipeline Podcast before this weekend's Draft, so Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff dedicate most of their time previewing what could happen in Philadelphia. They hash out the biggest story lines, including whom the White Sox will take with the No. 1 overall pick and the biggest wild cards, before taking a deep dive into the prep pitching class. One of the more intriguing members of that group, Brody Bumila, sits down with Jonathan for an interview. After all the Draft talk, the guys also preview Sunday's Futures Game before answering one of the best listener mailbag questions of the year.

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Back from the MLB Draft Combine and heading full steam towards the Draft and Futures Game, Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff come with tons of prospect info on this week's episode of the Pipeline Podcast. Before focusing on the Draft, the guys dig into the new "market corrections" for the Top 100 Prospects list, highlighting big jumpers like the Rays' Theo Gillen and the Dodgers' Mike Sirota. This week's installment of analyzing a Draft demographic looks at the college bats, starting of course with UCLA's Roch Cholowsky, and includes a conversation with one of those hitters, Alabama's Justin Lebron. After feting Golden Spikes Award winner Daniel Jackson, the trio finishes up with a Mailbag question about how many high school players will command big bonuses come Draft time.

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The MLB Draft Combine takes center stage and serves as a backdrop for a discussion of the top prep position players on the latest Pipeline Podcast. Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff talk about which players stood out most on the first day of Combine workouts, including UCLA first baseman Mulivai Levu and Rocco Maniscalco. That leads to talk of the high school bat class, including whether Grady Emerson is the top prospect in the entire Draft, and an interview with another talented prep shortstop in Jacob Lombard. If that's not enough, Jim and Jonathan do a joint mock draft where they project each club's top selection before fielding a listener mailbag question about Phillies right-hander Gage Wood.

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Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff begin a four-part series on each demographic of the 2026 Draft Class. After talking about the College World Series -- with Jim in Omaha for his favorite baseball event -- they kick the series off by analyzing the college pitching in the class. Santa Barbara's Jackson Flora tops the list of prospects in that  pool, and he joins the pod to talk about his outstanding season for the Gauchos, how much he learned from Santa Barbara's pitching factory and what he thinks about the next steps of his career. Then the guys preview Saturday's MLB Network Prospect Showcase between the Columbus Clippers and Scranton-Wilkes Barre RailRiders, a game that features six Top 100 prospects, headlined by Yankees No. 1 George Lombard Jr.. They close things out with a Mailbag question about whether the Giants should consider Flora with their pick at No. 4.

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With the College World Series field set, the latest Pipeline Podcast focused on the upcoming action in Omaha. Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff broke down all eight teams, identifying their best prospects for the 2026 Draft -- and upcoming Drafts as well. They also discussed which players might be under the brightest Draft spotlights at the CWS and some more Draft intel before highlighting the two most recent Top 100 Prospects (Nationals SS Seaver King, Marlins RHP Karson Milbrandt) and another who was just promoted to the Majors (White Sox OF Braden Montgomery). As always, the guys finish with a question from the listener mailbag, this time about what trades they could concoct if first-round picks were in play.

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