It’s almost draft day, and with that Ben and Carlos are joined by Peter Flaherty for a joint draft/Future Projection episode where the team does their best to break down round one for each team in the game.

We go through every team in the first round and talk through their potential options for this year’s draft, talk through draft strategy, debate players, talk through team philosophies and much more.

Buckle up, this is a long one and will hopefully get you ready for draft day.

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Time Stamps

• (2:35) Guardians
• (11:30) Who would we take at 1?
• (17:30) Reds
• (19:00) Why is Jac Caglianone so polarizing for us?
• (25:00) Rockies
• (27:20) Which pitcher would you take at 3 for the Rockies?
• (31:00) A’s
• (37:00) White Sox
• (42:00) Royals
• (46:00) Cardinals
• (50:00) Angels
• (52:30) Trey Yesavage as a polished and fast-moving arm
• (56:00) Pirates
• (59:00) What’s the knock on Nick Kurtz?
• (1:04:00) Nationals
• (1:06:00) Bryce Rainer vs. Konnor Griffin
• (1:10:30) Tigers
• (1:13:00) Red Sox
• (1:18:00) What arms make sense for Boston if the top three are gone?
• (1:20:00) Giants
• (1:21:00) Cubs
• (1:25:00) Mariners
• (1:27:00) Jurrangelo Cijntje vs. Brody Brecht
• (1:31:00) Marlins
• (1:33:00) Brewers
• (1:38:00) Rays & Mets
• (1:40:00) Blue Jays &Twins
• (1:44:00) Orioles
• (1:45:00) Dodgers
• (1:48:00) Braves
• (1:53:00) Padres
• (1:55:30) Yankees
• (1:59:00) Phillies
• (2:01:00) Astros
• (2:03:00) D-backs
• (2:05:00) Rangers
• (2:07:00) Players we are higher and lower on

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Do you have a question you want us to answer? Email us: futureprojection@baseballamerica.com

Ben's Twitter: @BenBadler

Carlos's Twitter: @CarlosACollazo

Baseball America Website

Ben and Carlos talk about what they’ve been up to over the last month. Ben’s been focused on the start of the summer showcase season and provides an early preview of the 2025 and 2026 high school classes, while Carlos breaks down his experience at this year’s MLB Draft combine and talks about some late-process 2024 draft class notes.

The two briefly then talk about some of the more prominent up-arrow prospects on our recently released midseason top 100 update including: Tigers pure hitter Kevin McGonigle, A’s shortstop and contact savant Jacob Wilson, Rays first baseman Xavier Isaac, Cardinals lefthander Quinn Mathews and Twins righthander Zebby Matthews.

Next Ben breaks down a few standouts from the early parts of the Dominican Summer League season and the two close the show by opening up the listener mailbag. Topics include this year’s Futures Game rosters, the Angels 2024 draft strategy, personal cheeseballs from the 2024 draft class and where the top tier of prospects is in this year’s class.

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Time Stamps

• (6:00) 2026 preview
• (9:00) Assessing the talent of a draft class
• (12:00) How your ideas of players get crystallized
• (20:00) The 2024 MLB draft combine
• (25:00) Prep standouts at the combine
• (30:00) How the combine works
• (34:00) The combine’s utility for college players
• (39:00) Top 100 updates
• (40:00) Kevin McGonigle
• (47:00) Jacob Wilson
• (52:00) Xavier Isaac
• (55:00) Quinn Mathews
• (60:00) Zebby Matthews
• (1:05:00) DSL standouts
• (1:10:00) Futures Game Players To Know
• (1:13:00) Angels draft strategy
• (1:15:00) Personal cheeseballs
• (1:24:00) The tiers of the 2024 draft class

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Do you have a question you want us to answer? Email us: futureprojection@baseballamerica.com

Ben's Twitter: @BenBadler

Carlos's Twitter: @CarlosACollazo

Baseball America Website

Ben and Carlos talk through two significant pillars of content that hit the site this week: the annual BA 500 for the 2024 class and our international reviews that give you all the information you need as the DSL season gets underway.

The two talk briefly about the Field of 64 and the NCAA Tournament that kicks off this weekend. Ben asks how much the tournament games can move the needle for scouting departments and the two also talk about whether or not high-pressure or clutch performances in these games bring additional value for reports or projecting a player.

After that, the two get into the BA 500 update and talk through the class, particularly the weaknesses of this year’s prep demographic. Who are the high school players we are actually confident in being selected in the first round? And what profiles are we confident in for that 10-30 range period? There are fewer options than a typical draft class.

The two also talk through a switch-pitcher on the rise and a handful of up-arrow high school arms before getting into Ben’s international reviews. He talks about the process of putting them together this year and then mentions a few lower bonus players who are trending in the right direction. Ben praises the Rockies for identifying and signing pitching talent from the international market and then dives into a few tooled up, exciting prospects to know about.

The show ends with a few notable prospect promotions and a Phillies-oriented Aidan Miller/Mick Abel debate.

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Time Stamps

(2:00) Ben’s international review process

(9:00) How much do the tournament games matter for draft stock

(12:30) Makeup and performance in high-pressure games

(15:00) Favorites for the NCAA tournament

(21:00) Draft talk/HS risks

(28:00) HS players we are confident in first round

(30:00) Where do teams pivot this year?

(35:00) Christian Moore

(39:00) Walker Janek

(41:00) Jurrangelo Cijntje

(43:00) Up-arrow HS players

(49:00) Kash Mayfield vs. Cam Caminiti

(54:00) International Reviews

(1:00:00) Lower $$ signs who are trending up

(1:05:30) International pitchers to know

(1:10:00) Rockies doing a nice job IDing INT pitching

(1:16:00) A Blue Jays offensive shortstop to know

(1:17:30) A Yankees international slugger to know

(1:20:00) A Rockies speed demon to know

(1:24:00) A Phillies catcher with a cannon

(1:30:00) Spencer Schwellenbach

(1:35:00) Noble Meyer & Thomas White

(1:45:00) Luke Keaschall

(1:50:00) Aidan Miller vs. Mick Abel

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Do you have a question you want us to answer? Email us: futureprojection@baseballamerica.com

Ben's Twitter: @BenBadler

Carlos's Twitter: @CarlosACollazo

Baseball America Website