Baseball America

Baseball America Editor-in-Chief JJ Cooper joins national college reporter Jacob Rudner to break down Rudner's latest in-person evaluations of Florida shortstop Brendan Lawson and Arizona State outfielder Landon Hairston, two leading candidates for 2027 College Player of the Year honors. They discuss what separates elite college production from professional projection, the impact of a superstar on a team's championship aspirations and three freshmen making strong early impressions this fall.

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JJ and Carlos break down Team USA’s performance in the 2026 U-18 Pan-American Championship in the Dominican Republic. The two talk about George Ferguson’s lights out performance in the final game and hit on a number of the individual standout performers beyond that.

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Time stamps:

• (0:00) Intro
• (1:00) An overview of Team USA’s dominance
• (5:00) George Ferguson’s complete game shutout
• (9:30) Other standouts
• (14:00) Chase Fuller & Sebastian Castillo
• (17:00) Malachi Butler, Dylan Seward, Lubin Rincon
• (21:00) Team USA’s recent success

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You can preorder Baseball America’s 2027 books today. Get your 2027 Prospect Handbook, 2027 Almanac and 2027 Directory at the BA Store here.

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This week on the Baseball America Fantasy Podcast we continue to go through our positional rankings as we dive into first baseman and utility only players. Hosts James Anderson and Geoff Pontes highlight tiers within the position, top names to target and good values.

(1:00) Bryce Eldridge vs. Sal Stewart vs. Nick Kurtz

(5:00) Josue De Paula and Ralphy Velazquez Likely 2027 Impact Rookies

(11:00) The Top First Baseman Are Cornerstones

(16:00) The Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Problem

(22:00) Alec Burleson a good value?

(26:00) BREAK

(27:00) Vinnie Pasquantino

(29:00) Jake Bauers

(31:00) Brett Baty

(34:00) Sean Keys or Charlie Condon?

(39:00) Ryan O’Hearn

(40:00) Nolan Schanuel

(42:00) Any reason to buy low on Spencer Torkelson, Josh Naylor, Royce Lewis?

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On this week's Prospect Podcast, J.J. Cooper & Geoff Pontes discuss prospects in the National League who changed our minds about how we view them during the process of reporting and writing our NL Top 10 lists coming next month.

But before that, we debate: Who will be better the next three years, the Brewers or the Dodgers?

(00:00) Next three years: Brewers or Dodgers?

(12:10) Jurrangelo Cijntje, RHP, Cardinals

(22:35) Wyatt Sanford, SS, Pirates

(28:30) Ronny Cruz, SS/2B, Nationals

(37:45) Cam Cannarella, OF, Marlins

(42:00) Leo Bernal, C, Cardinals

(45:45) Tyson Lewis, 3B, Reds

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On this week's Hot Sheet Show, Jacob Rudner, J.J. Cooper and Geoff Pontes examine what has made the Brewers so successful this postseason with Milwaukee just one win away from a World Series title. Are they primed for extended greatness?

The Hot Sheet Show airs live on the BA YouTube channel every Tuesday at 3 p.m. Give us a sub, and we'll see you then!

Time Stamps

• (0:00) Introduction
• (0:55) Brewers on the verge of greatness
• (4:00) Jackson Chourio's impact
• (6:30) Milwaukee's late-bloomers
• (8:45) Are the Brewers the next dynasty?
• (14:25) AFL standouts
• (20:15) Jesús Made impressing in LIDOM
• (22:00) Answering viewer questions

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Baseball America Editor-in-Chief JJ Cooper joins national college reporter Jacob Rudner to break down the latest developments from college fall ball. The two discuss the early buzz surrounding Japanese righthander Genei Sato at Penn State, how Troy is positioning itself for an encore after its historic College World Series run, the next step in Kansas’ emergence and Rudner’s early pick for a sleeper team to watch in 2027.

(2:34) Genei Sato breaking out at Penn State

(10:32) How does Troy follow up its 2026 Omaha run

(19:53) Kansas poised to make more postseason noise

(35:56) Why Liberty could be a 2027 sleeper to watch

(46:27) Why these programs are thriving

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JJ, Jacob and Carlos talk through Baseball America’s most recent draft board update. Why is there a new No. 1 player in the class? Who are the notable up-arrow players to be aware of and why did the players who fell, fall?

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Time stamps:

• (0:00) Intro
• (7:00) There’s A New No. 1
• (11:00) Big Risers
• (12:00) Georgia HS SS Malachi Butler
• (16:00) Penn State RHP Genei Sato
• (19:00) North Carolina HS OF John Hucko
• (21:00) North Carolina SS Jamie Laskofski
• (24:00) Big Fallers
• (25:00) North Carolina OF/SS Jacob Seamon
• (28:00) Stanford OF Teddy Tokheim
• (31:00) California HS RHP Striker Pence
• (33:00) Corner Bats And Contact Issues Drive Drops

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Positional rankings have kicked off over at Baseball America, as Lead Fantasy Analyst James Anderson released his Top 40 Catchers for 2027 Dynasty Baseball. Hosts James Anderson and Geoff Pontes breakdown some key discussion points and tier breaks throughout the rankings. They dive into some players to avoid as well as some sleeper names to know.

(1:00) Drake Baldwin not a traditional No. 1 of a positional group.

(8:00) Rainiel Rodriguez future No. 1 catcher?

(13:00) Carter Jensen: Is there any downside?

(18:00) Samuel Basallo and Joe Mack potential breakouts at the position?

(24:00) Cal Raleigh is in time to buy or sell?

(29:00) Buy or sell? Hunter Goodman, William Contreras or Dillon Dingler

(38:00) What is a fully healthy Kyle Teel season like?

(44:00) Leo Bernal expectations for 2027 and beyond.

(50:00) Detroit Mystery Man

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Baseball America delivers the most comprehensive preview of the 2026 World Series on the market. BA's staff covers every detail, narrative, X-factor and more ahead of this year's Fall Classic between the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays!

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On this week's Prospect Podcast, JJ Cooper, Geoff Pontes, Josh Norris and Ian Cundall look back at our pre-season 2026 rankings to see where we missed, as well as some reports we nailed.

(00:00) Intro

(01:35) Prospect Miss: Moises Ballesteros

(08:15) Prospect Hit: Arjun Nimmala

(12:15) Prospect Miss: Carson Williams

(20:50) Prospect Hit: Kevin McGonigle

(28:30) Prospect Miss: Spencer Jones

(34:00) Prospect Hit: Caden Bodine

(41:30) Prospect Miss: Marek Houston

(50:20) Prospect Hit: Enddy Azocar

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On this week's Hot Sheet Show, Jacob Rudner, J.J. Cooper and Geoff Pontes welcome a pair of promising prospects—one from each of the teams in this year's World Series—in the Brewers' Jett Williams and the Rays' Nathan Flewelling.

The Hot Sheet Show airs live on the BA YouTube channel every Tuesday at 3 p.m. Give us a sub, and we'll see you then!

Time Stamps

• (0:00) Introduction
• (0:45) Brewers shortstop prospect Jett Williams joins the show
• (16:00) World Series: AL's Best vs. NL's Best
• (17:15) How the Rays built their WS roster
• (21:20) Rays catcher prospect Nathan Flewelling joins the show

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Ahead of our next big rankings update for the 2027 draft class, JJ, Carlos and Jacob try to make the case for three of the favorites to be the first overall pick. Unlike a year ago with Roch Cholowsky, there’s not a slam dunk 1-1 favorite—but which player has the most compelling, iron-clad case to be the first pick? And whose minds are changed after the cases are made?

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Time stamps:

• (0:00) What our next draft update is capturing
• (7:00) Explaining our case for 1-1 exercise
• (10:00) The case for Dylan Seward
• (25:00) The case for Tomas Valincius
• (38:00) The case for Brendan Lawson
• (50:00) The Dax Whitney factor

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With the recent release of James Anderson’s Dynasty Top 500 Prospects list on Baseball America, we kick off the 2027 rankings season in style. On this week's show hosts James Anderson and Geoff Pontes talk through the updated 500 rankings with an eye on the youth at the top, the clear pitching tiers, 2026 rookies to buy in on and some undervalued players to target in dynasty this offseason.

(2:00) Young Stars Ascending

(5:00) Konnor Griffin

(8:00) Jackson Merrill

(11:00) Top Pitchers

(16:00) 2026 Rookie Battle: Sal Stewart vs. McGonigle

(21:00) Victor Mesa Jr.

(27:00) Jackson Jobe for 2027

(31:00) Bulk-Reliever-To-Starter Pipeline

(33:00) Grant Taylor

(35:00) Didier Fuentes

(37:00) Hagen Smith

(39:00) Gage Wood

(42:00) Curtis Mead—Breakout Hitter To Target?

(48:00) Isaac Paredes

(54:00) Cam Cannarella

(59:00) Kane Kepley

(62:00) Bryan Rincon

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On this week's Prospect Podcast, Geoff Pontes, Ian Cundall and JJ Cooper discuss the pitching prospects with the best fastballs and breaking balls as measured by Baseball America's Stuff+.
(00:00) Explaining Our Stuff+ model
(02:00) Why It's Useful
(05:45) Reinold Navarro's fastball
(10:00) What Makes A Good And A Bad Fastball?
(16:15) Brody Hopkins' fastball
(19:00) Jacob Kuhn's fastball
(20:45) Tanner Franklin's fastball
(24:30) What Makes A Good Cutter?
(27:30) Tanner Franklin's Cutter
(31:15) Brody Hopkins' Cutter
(33:30) What Is A Slider, And What's A Good One?
(37:15) Luke Gabrysh's Slider
(39:40) Sandro Santana's Slider
(43:00) What Makes A Good Curveball?
(46:00) Pierce George's Curveball
(47:45) Gage Wood's Curveball
(50:00) Josh Knoth's Curveball

Best Fastballs: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/best-minor-league-fastballs-per-stuff-in-2026/

Best Breaking Balls: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/best-minor-league-breaking-balls-per-stuff-in-2026/

Best Offspeed: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/best-minor-league-changeups-splitters-per-stuff-in-2026/

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On today's Baseball America Hot Sheet show, Jacob Rudner, JJ Cooper, and Geoff Pontes dive in to the top 10 rising MLB prospects on the National League side. We talk about what makes the Brewers consistently successful and Cardinals outfield prospect Tai Peete joins the show.

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JJ and Carlos dive into the 2026 Draft Report Card series. Which teams have classes that stand out more today than they did on draft day, and why is that the case? Who are the players who have already impressed us in pro ball? Who are the players who are showing they might be better than we thought? That, plus non-obvious picks to move quickly and highlighting a few of the late-draft (or undrafted) sleepers we are most excited about.

See our complete Draft Report Card series here: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2026-mlb-draft-report-cards-for-all-30-teams/

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Time stamps:

• (0:00) Intro
• (3:30) Why we don’t grade drafts
• (6:00) More under-the-radar Brewers high schoolers
• (13:11) A ton of strong performers with the Yankees
• (19:08) Uncertainty with the Rays
• (21:45) Non-obvious players who could move quickly
• (28:40) A handful of late-pick names to know

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This week on the Baseball America Fantasy Podcast host James Anderson is joined by Ian Cundall to discuss the recently released Top 350 rankings for 2027 redraft leagues. They go through each positional group, discussing tiers as well as names to know.

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(2:00) Liam Hicks

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(5:00) Leo Bernal

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(7:00) Who's No. 1 At First Base

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(9:00) Rafael Devers

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(12:00) Who's No. 1 at Second Base

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(16:00) Bryson Stott

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(17:00) Javier Sanoja

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(18:00) Who's No. 1 at Third Base Rankings

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(22:00) Who's No. 1 at Shortstop

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(27:00) Who's No. 1 in the Outfield

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(37:00) Who's No. 1 Among Starting Pitchers

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On the latest Baseball America Prospect Podcast, Geoff Pontes, Ian Cundall and JJ Cooper hold another draft. After drafting home runs last week, this week we're each picking eight pitching prospects with the goal of picking the most MLB strikeouts from 2027-2030. See who we picked.

• (00:00) The Rules
• (04:00) Round 1
• (06:55) Round 2
• (11:45) Round 3
• (17:10) Round 4
• (22:10) Round 5
• (26:30) Round 6
• (32:00) Round 7
• (35:30) Round 8
• (39:00) Talking about other prospects who could have gotten picked

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On this week's Hot Sheet Show, we react to the ongoing MLB playoffs with thoughts on the Rays' success in the AL, the Yankees' homegrown players, the rise of the White Sox, young NL stars and more.

• Top Prospects Coming For Eliminated Playoff Teams

The Hot Sheet Show airs live on the BA YouTube channel every Tuesday at 3 p.m. Give us a sub, and we'll see you then!

Time Stamps

• (0:00) Introduction
• (0:30) Why the Rays have been successful
• (2:00) The Chandler Simpson effect
• (4:05) Ben Rice is carrying the Yankees
• (6:00) Cam Schlittler and George Lombard Jr.
• (7:45) The rise of the White Sox
• (9:45) Chicago trades that paid off
• (12:20) Can other teams copy the White Sox model?
• (15:00) Thoughts on the NL playoffs
• (17:00) Jackson Chourio & Ethan Salas
• (19:30) Dodgers vs. Braves
• (21:45) Answering viewer questions

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Baseball America national college reporter Jacob Rudner and Editor In Chief JJ Cooper discuss BA's latest reporting on MLB strengthening its relationships with college baseball conferences in a joint effort to advance the game. You can read our reporting here.

(0:41) Summarizing our reporting

(2:35) Examples of MLB's influence

(6:48) A change coming in 2027

(9:00) The MLB Draft timing

(16:30) A disconnect with the NCAA at large

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