Baseball America

This week on the Baseball America Fantasy Podcast hosts James Anderson and Geoff Pontes dive into the top of the First Year Player Draft rankings. They discuss 15 players in total diving into the pros and cons of each profile. Who they think present the best values and which picks come with the greatest inherent risk.  2:30 Grady Emerson, in a tier on his own? 8:30 Vahn Lackey future elite catcher...

The Arizona Fall League rosters have been released, and we have the analysis of who are the prospects to watch. Josh Norris and JJ Cooper have the breakdown. (00:00) Josh loves the Arizona Fall League (02:00) This year's AFL Rosters Are _______ (06:00) Who are the best prospects headed to the Arizona Fall League (12:00) Which teams are the best in the AFL (13:00) Some AFL insights for fans con...

On this week's Hot Sheet Show, J.J. Cooper, Geoff Pontes and Josh Norris get set for the Arizona Fall League with a breakdown of the 2026 initial rosters released on Tuesday. Check out BA's complete AFL coverage for full rosters, schedule information and analysis. 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...

JJ and Carlos take a look back at the 2017 draft. Who picked well? Who picked poorly? Which players did we miss on and what can we learn about the draft with nearly 10 full years of hindsight?  — Time stamps: (0:00) Why Start With 2017? (3:00) Our perception of the class at the time (10:40) The two-way lesson with Brendan McKay (17:20) What we learned with Austin Beck (23:50) You can’t force ideal...

The Baseball America Fantasy Podcasts welcomes new Fantasy Lead Analyst James Anderson this week. Hosts James Anderson and Geoff Pontes dive right into 2027 redraft talk, identifying which prospects might be hot commodities this offseason in NFBC draft and hold leagues. (1:00) Introduction (7:00) Jesus Made (10:00) Leo De Vries (16:00) Sebastian Walcott (22:00) Franklin Arias (31:00) Josue De Paul...

Baseball America national college reporter Jacob Rudner is joined by Editor-In-Chief JJ Cooper to discuss fall storylines to track as players return to team activities. (2:22) Things to look forward to with coverage at BA (3:55) How the fall can influence draft rankings (8:47) Embracing ABS in college (22:09) Will the coaching carousel fire up again (26:45) LSU in the spotlight Use our code for 10...

Josh Norris and JJ Cooper are here for this week's Prospect Podcast to discuss the top prospects in the DSL. A Royals hitter leads our Dominican Summer League Top 35 Prospects rankings. We discuss Angeibel Gomez and other prospects who stood out on today's show. (00:00) Ranking DSL Prospects is hard, but also very beneficial (01:30) Looking back at the tops of the 2024 and 2025 DSL Top Pro...

On this week's Hot Sheet Show, Jacob Rudner, Geoff Pontes and Ian Cundall talk everything MiLB. We go level-by-level for 2026 season takeaways , top players and postseason series to watch. We also answer a slew of viewer questions. 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) Jam...

JJ and Carlos talk about where we’re at in the 2027 draft coverage cycle and what to expect on our next draft board update. The two discuss why the summer is so important for high school hitters in particular, and then talk about a handful of the notable up-arrow college and preps from the summer circuit—including some in-person looks at this year’s Under Armour Next All-America Game.  — Time stam...

This week on the Baseball America fantasy podcast, host Geoff Pontes is joined by National Draft Writer Carlos Collazo to discuss 2026 draftee debuts. Carlos has recently dug into the numbers and wrote up a whole host of first rounders that have played affiliated ball post-draft. We discuss with Carlos if any of these debuts are moving the needle for fantasy. (2:00) How much do pro debuts matter p...

On this week's Prospect Podcast Geoff Pontes and JJ Cooper discuss the record-breaking run scoring and home run rates across the minor leagues. What's going on, why is it happening and who benefits/suffers because of it? (00:00) Just how significant are the 2026 MiLB Runs Scored/Home Run Numbers? (05:45) We're seeing some really weird home runs and extra-base hits when watching MiLB ga...

On this week's Hot Sheet Show, J.J. Cooper, Geoff Pontes and Josh Norris break down need-to-know September prospect callups . Plus, we talk about how Kade Anderson has fared in his first MLB go-round. 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 (1:00) Significant September callups: Sal...

JJ and Carlos talk about the final 20-man roster for USA Baseball’s 2026 18U National Team. What are our overall thoughts of the roster? Who are players who just missed or were surprise additions? What might the lineup look like in competitive games? And why does Texas RHP George Ferguson have major helium?  — Time stamps: (0:00) Overall thoughts (7:00) Breaking down the final roster (10:00) Surpr...

On this week's Prospect Podcast, Geoff Pontes, Ian Cundall and JJ Cooper take a look at some of the MLB draftees who have gotten their pro careers started. (01:00) Why Ian didn't get to see Roch Cholowsky (04:15) Jacob Lombard has shown some power (07:00) Elliot Lascelles is worth watching (09:10) What can be gleaned from 50 PAs? (14:00) Tate Southesine vs. Dax Kilby is an instructive case...

On this week's Hot Sheet Show, J.J. Cooper, Ben Badler and Josh Norris talk standout Dominican Summer League prospects before welcoming Rockies 2026 draft pick Daniel Jackson to the program to talk about his first impressions of pro ball after winning college baseball's Golden Spikes Award. The Hot Sheet Show airs live on the BA YouTube channel every Tuesday at 3 p.m. Give us a sub, and we...

Baseball America National College Reporter Jacob Rudner and Editor-In-Chief JJ Cooper get ready for fall ball with a discussion about how college baseball's offseason training has evolved in recent years. Rudner and Cooper talk about fall ball's scouting relevance and how this time of year has changed for mid- and low-major coaches. (1:29) Scheduling update (4:27) What’s new with fall ball...

JJ and Carlos talk about some of the players to know from the 2027 college class with the bulk of the summer circuit behind us. What are the strengths and weaknesses? What are the limitations with top-of-the-class bats like Landon Hairston and Gavin Kelly? And who are some college arms to be aware of and excited about?  — Time Stamps: (0:00) Intro (1:30) Overall thoughts on the college class (5:40...

On this week's Fantasy Podcast, Geoff Pontes is joined by Lance Brozdowski. The two take in-depth looks at six intriguing pitching prospects. (00:00) Lance and Geoff are back together, like it's old times (07:30) Liam Doyle (13:00) Jonathan Santucci (19:30) Sabdiel Delzine (28:00) Jamie Arnold  (37:00) Kendry Chourio (43:00) Cade Hunter Use our code for 10% off your next order of MLB ticke...

On this week's Prospect Podcast, we're talking all about the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards rank No. 2 on our recently updated farm system rankings. Ian Cundall, Geoff Pontes and JJ Cooper take a look at where the Cardinals stand as far as big league talent and close-to-the-majors prospects. (00:00) Joshua Baez's first game was incredible, why he's still riding a very tricky line t...

On this week's Hot Sheet Show, Jacob Rudner, J.J. Cooper and Geoff Pontes take a look at a few prospects still in the minors who could come up to impact the playoff races. And we take a look at how the AL and NL Rookie of the Year races are shaping up. Plus we answer your questions. (00:40) Kade Anderson Has Been Exceptional (05:00) Could the Dodgers bring up Josue De Paula? (07:30) Why isn&#3...

It's a different podcast this week, as JJ Cooper talks with Bradenton Marauders Manager of Game Presentation & Marketing Brian Spradlin about what are the keys to a quality baseball broadcast. The Marauders have one of the best TV productions in the minor leagues, Cooper and Spradlin get into how they got there, and what they have learned along the way. (00:00) How JJ and Brian got connect...

On this week's Prospect Podcast, Ian Cundall and JJ Cooper take a look at some of the prospects who made the biggest jumps on our August Team Top 30 Prospects rankings update. (0:45) What Did We Learn From This Top 30 Update? (02:30) How The Orioles Farm System Has Been Transformed (07:15) How The Rays Showed The Value Of Prospect Depth (13:00) A Royals OF Prospect Who Made A Massive Jump (21:...

Baseball America National College Reporter Jacob Rudner is joined by Editor-In-Chief JJ Cooper to discuss how college baseball recruiting has evolved in recent years. Rudner and Cooper take a look at the influence of NIL and the transfer portal and how college coaches are building their rosters in 2026. (3:19) How the value of Area Code Games has evolved (8:03) Why regionality no longer matters as...

On this week's Hot Sheet Show, Jacob Rudner, J.J. Cooper and Ian Cundall talk all about BA's final in-season Top 30 Prospect ranking update of the season. We break down which players and orgs are on the rise , plus lots more. 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 (0:58) Bigge...

On this week's Draft Podcast, Ben Badler joins JJ Cooper to discuss the next two high school draft classes. How do these two classes stack up, and why are Dylan Seward and Flip Watters at the top of the rankings? (00:00) The challenges of evaluating underclassmen (10:00) Why ranking No. 1 right now really means something (11:00) This 2027 class has plenty of shortstops (13:00) Evaluating No. 1...