Three-Quarters Delivery

"Kafuku settled back in the leather seat, closed his eyes, and tried to focus hismind on the sound of the engine when Misaki shifted gears. But he couldn’t catch the precise moment. It was all too smooth, too mysterious. He could only make out a slight gradation in the engine’s hum. It was like the wings of a flying insect, now drawing closer, now fading away." "Drive My Car" - Haruki Murkami

Sometimes in the Arizona Fall League you see a desert mirage. No that's too cliche. AFL performance is as easy to grasp as a handful of sand. That's not much better. It's been a while, friends.  

Connecticut is home to one first round pick, one lead prospect writer, and one Double-A park.

One must imagine the prospect writer happy.

Prospect List Season #1 On the heat death of the universe, corner bats, industry consensus, the inherently limited thinking of trying to tie Jazz Chisholm to a role grade, and of course catchers.

Gabriel Ynoa made the 2017 Orioles Top Ten, but only if you own a copy of the Futures Guide from that year. Also, here his this week's suggested reading: https://marinakittaka.com/posts/2021-02-26-Good-Ol-Charlie-B.html

Suggested Reading: Branded to Kill by John Zorn https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/47-branded-to-kill Tokyo Drifter by Manohla Dargis https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/54-tokyo-drifter Unveiling the Mystery of Chablis by Eric Asimov https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/dining/your-next-lesson-chablis.html

We aren't really sticking to one question or four minutes per team by this point.

Did not expect the Athletics to be the organization that stretched the furthest past our four-minute target.

“I swear to you that I am not quite such an ass as I like to appear sometimes, although I am rather an ass, I admit.” - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (I double-checked)

We didn't skip the Rockies, although we considered it.

Our prospect lists are done which means we have time to...uh...podcast about our prospect lists.

The senior prospect team gets together to discuss the philosophical underpinnings of this year's national prospect list.

"In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you." - Leo Tolstoy

This would normally be around the time when our Midseason Top 50 Podcast would be published. This is not that.

“That's maybe the reason he does so many things, so that he will not have to think.” - Gabriel García Márquez

Show Notes 1. There's been no minor league baseball long enough now that yes we are talking about a 61-year-old on a prospect podcast. 2. 65 is not a grade, Craig.

We know you shouldn't explain the reference, but the structure of this show is a reference to the interview interludes in Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle. Also, we didn't actually plan on this being the topic for Episode 17, but once it came up in discussion we realized we had no choice.

From Wikipedia: The term a sliding doors moment became a term popularized in the late 20th-century meaning tiny, seemingly inconsequential moments, that nonetheless alter the trajectory of future events.

We have a special guest co-host this week, as Chris Blessing of Baseball HQ takes us through some of the sites and sounds and promotions you'll see in the minors. Plus, Nathan Graham and Jen Mac Ramos tell us all about epic Monte Harrison tater trots and Cal Quantrill, rodeo champion.

The senior prospect staff gathers for a roundtable discussion about what the 2020 and 2021 draft changes might mean for the future of Minor League Baseball and player development.

Jeffrey hasn't played in a fantasy league in a while, so he enlisted Nick, Mark Barry, and Craig Goldstein to give him some advice.

Leody Taveras won't be playing games for a while, but the prospect team has a lot of thoughts on him.

We continue our season preview with more talk about Russian composers and Rylan Bannon.

In the first of our "season preview" episodes, there is already baseball being played in locations warmer than Jeffrey's house, so we bring on Alec Dopp and Keanan Lamb to chat about preseason rituals and how we pass the offseason. Meanwhile, Jeffrey waxes poetic for columns lost to time and possibly the Mandela Effect.