Innholdsfortegnelse for Friday, February 13, 2015 i Baseball America

FEBRUARY 10 1982 » IN THIS ISSUE: Tracy Ringolsby looks at the rebirth of the Oakland A’s with Walt Jocketty running their drafts. » ALSO: Our College All-America Team features Alabama’s Dave Magadan, Arizona’s Ed Vosberg and Texas’ Spike Owen. John Manuel takes a look back at the Cal State Fullerton’s emergence in this issue, and in the 1982 College Preview we named the Titans, led by 43-year-old Augie Garrido, as one of the teams to beat. When Cal State Fullerton baseball coach Augie Garrido talks about the upcoming season, he doesn’t dwell on the group of players he has returning from last year’s 47-18 squad. And he doesn’t dwell on the players he brought in either, though it might be the best recruiting year he’s had on the Fullerton…

PHOENIX When Mark Appel was pitching at Stanford, coach Mark Marquess occasionally dusted off a time-honored baseball principle to remind the Cardinal players that no lead was big enough to feel safe and no deficit too overwhelming to overcome. “He would always say, ‘There’s no clock in this game’—meaning, ‘The game is never over. If you’re up by 10 runs, you can’t run out the clock. You’re still going to have to get the final three outs,” Appel said. Against that backdrop, Appel experienced some culture shock while pitching for the Salt River Rafters in the Arizona Fall League. When he stared in at the catcher, he saw fingers flashing signs. But with a glimpse toward either dugout or to left-center field at his team’s home venue, Appel could see…

JAYS RETAIN BEESTON Despite rampant and public rumors about overtures to the Orioles’ Dan Duquette and the White Sox’s Ken Williams, the Blue Jays said Paul Beeston will remain team president through the end of the 2015 season. Rogers Communications, which owns the team, said Beeston signed a contract extension with the club and plans to retire at the end of the season. The contract of the 69-year-old Beeston expired in October, leading to reports that Toronto was seeking to hire Williams, or more recently Duquette. The talks with Baltimore for compensation reportedly snagged when the Orioles sought 2014 first-round pick Jeff Hoffman and another player. Beeston was the first employee hired by the Blue Jays when the American League added them as an expansion team in 1976. JAPAN, TAIWAN…

Scouts usually cast a skeptical eye as they size up a draft class. No draft has everything, and usually the evaluators will notice what’s missing. That has become even more notable in recent years as the college game has shifted more to a pitching and small-ball approach. As has been the case in recent years, this class has less power than teams would like, though it has good pitching depth. Plenty of starters and relievers stand out in what shapes up as an excellent group of arms. “Is there a standout college guy who is without question a 1-1? No,” one scouting director said. “There are a few hickeys with everybody.” While the 2015 class does not have one player who is head and shoulders above the rest heading into…

Baseball Members (First Year): Atlantic Division—Boston College (2006), Clemson (1954), Florida State (1992), Louisville (2015), N.C. State (1954), Notre Dame (2014). Coastal Division—Duke (1954), Georgia Tech (1980), Miami (2005), North Carolina (1954), Pittsburgh (2014), Virginia (1955), Virginia Tech (1954). Checking out: Maryland (to Big Ten). TEAM TO BEAT Virginia National runner-up in 2014 has experienced turnover, but opens season ranked No. 4 nationally TOURNAMENT: Eight teams, group play. May 19-24 at Durham, N.C. PLAYER OF THE YEAR D.J. Stewart of, Florida State After winning ACC slash triple crown in 2014, the strongbodied Stewart could hit his way into the draft’s first round. PITCHER OF THE YEAR Nathan Kirby lhp, Virginia Kirby will have to be at the top of his game to out-pitch righthanders Michael Matuella (Duke) and Kyle Funkhouser…

Perhaps the Big Ten will never quite get back to the standard it set in the first 20 years of the College World Series, when league teams won six national championships. Later, Big Ten alumni such as Minnesota's Dave Winfield and Paul Molitor and Michigan man Barry Larkin led their teams to the Series before embarking on Hall of Fame major league careers. However, Indiana’s 2013 club became the conference’s first CWS representative since Larkin’s last Wolverines club in 1984. The Hoosiers produced the No. 4 overall pick in the 2014 draft in catcher Kyle Schwarber, part of a recent league hot streak that also included Purdue in 2012 winning its first Big Ten title since 1907 and playing host to a regional; new league member Nebraska, coached by big…

BALTIMORE The Orioles brought Rule 5 righthander Jason Garcia to their annual minicamp in January to watch him throw two bullpen sessions. Doctors had recently cleared the 22-yearold after he sustained two concussions in November. He also missed the 2013 season after having Tommy John surgery. It’s been an interesting offseason for Garcia, whom the Astros selected from the Red Sox with the fourth overall pick in the major league Rule 5 draft and sold to the Orioles. Garcia threw twice at the Ed Smith Stadium complex in Sarasota, Fla., and continued to impress manager Buck Showalter, pitching coach Dave Wallace and bullpen coach Dom Chiti. “That’s a pretty good, clean delivery there, boys,” Showalter said. “That’s one thing we liked about him. It’s effortless. “I wanted to see if…

TORONTO When Dalton Pompey took part in the Blue Jays’ annual winter tour, he stood as the first option to be Toronto’s center fielder. With Colby Rasmus leaving as a free agent and Anthony Gose being traded to the Tigers, Pompey has a chance to ride a late-September surge into a starting role in April, barring late offseason moves. Kevin Pillar, who has had more big league experience than Pompey, also would be a candidate. Michael Saunders, who was acquired from the Mariners for lefthander J.A. Happ, has played center field, but the plan is to use him in left field. Pompey’s immediate future hinges on how he does in spring training. “He’s going to come in and compete for the job,” manager John Gibbons said. “He showed us enough…

NEW YORK Jake Kuebler began his career as a third baseman in the Royals organization after being drafted in the 17th round in 2008. Now 25, he enters his third season as a righthander in the Mets system. Kuebler has made the transition to relief pitcher so seamlessly that the Mets assigned him to the Arizona Fall League in late October to replace lefty reliever Dario Alvarez, who reached his innings limit. Kuebler made four scoreless appearances for Scottsdale, allowing six hits and one walk while striking out two in five innings. He spent the regular season as one of high Class A St. Lucie’s most-used relievers, logging 33 games and striking out 56 in 58 innings. He said he probably would have pitched at Nebraska had he not signed…

CLEVELAND The best season of outfielder Tyler Naquin’s career turned into a half-season. The 2012 first-rounder suffered a broken right hand when hit by a pitch while playing at Double-A Akron last year on June 27. The injury required surgery and Naquin did not play another game the rest of the season. It was an unfortunate setback for the 24-year-old lefthanded hitter, who seemed to be emerging as one of the top prospects in the organization. In 304 atbats, Naquin hit .313/.371/.424 with four home runs, 30 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. “Every day you are out there, every game you play is an opportunity for you to improve,” farm director Carter Hawkins said, “but we feel Tyler has the maturity and work ethic where we don’t think this will…

CHICAGO With a new manager in place and a revamped big league roster, what will 2015 bring for Javier Baez? The sophomore middle infielder is the poster boy for new manager Joe Maddon’s vow to instill accountability on a roster that late last summer was filled with prospects on free passes to swing—and most often miss. Baez faces the prospect of a return to Triple-A Iowa after he hit .169 with the Cubs and stuck out more often (41.5 percent) than any player who came to bat 200 times in 2014. “He has to earn his playing time, I don’t think there’s any question about that,” general manager Jed Hoyer said. “He’s got a new manager and some new coaches to impress.” Maddon has no appetite for coddling or enabling…

PITTSBURGH Jung-Ho Kang will have no buffer zone in his attempt to become the first position player to make the jump from the Korea Baseball Organization to the major leagues. The Pirates plan to have the 27-year-old, power-hitting infielder begin the season with the major league club rather than have him transition with a stint in the minors. Kang will begin 2015 as a utility infielder, backing up second baseman Neil Walker, third baseman Josh Harrison and shortstop Jordy Mercer. “The best way to transition a player to the major leagues is by having the player play in the major leagues,” general manager Neal Huntington said. “Our challenge, as it would be with any role player, is giving him enough playing time to stay sharp.” Though Kang played almost exclusively…

SEATTLE As two of the top prospects in the organization, Patrick Kivlehan and D.J. Peterson stood in the Safeco Field dugout at the Mariners’ fanfest celebration, meeting fans and building excitement for 2015. Eventually, the third basemen could be pitted against one another for big league playing time. Both players finished 2014 at Double-A Jackson and will attend big league camp for the first time as two of 17 non-roster invitees. Peterson, 23, had hoped to be invited last season, but the 2013 first-rounder from New Mexico still was in the process of recovering from a shattered jaw he sustained after being hit in the face with a pitch. “I was still looking in the mail every day, even though I knew it wasn’t going to happen,” he said. “This…

Transition In Translation LOS ANGELES First-year farm director Gabe Kapler knows what it feels like to be on the wrong side of the language barrier. “When I went to Japan in 2005, the baseball was nearly the same, but I was very used to communicating in the clubhouse,” Kapler said. “When that element was removed for me, I felt very out of my skin and that translated to poor performance on the field. “I’m not saying it was the only reason (he hit .153 in 38 games for Yomiuri), but it was certainly a contributing factor.” The Dodgers are taking steps this season to remove that hurdle for young players from Latin America making their way through the system. When Kapler announced the minor league coaching assignments for 2015, it…

Diamondbacks general manager Dave Stewart created a stir recently with his comments seemingly disparaging baseball analytics, but something else he said has a lot more bearing on the 2015 season. Stewart said that the Diamondbacks are planning to stand pat with their current options at catcher. If he stands by that statement, it means Arizona will head into the season with Tuffy Gosewisch, major league Rule 5 draft pick Oscar Hernandez and recent trade acquisition Peter O’Brien as its big league catching options. Stewart said O’Brien, picked up last year at the trade deadline in the deal that sent Martin Prado to the Yankees, could be a viable catcher for Arizona in 2015. “I’ve decided that I’m not going to pursue another catcher,” Stewart told the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro.…

It’s not quite pay-for-play, but it’s a step toward that for college athletes, and for some schools it’s a glimpse into an uncertain and perhaps unsustainable sports future. At the NCAA Convention in January, the socalled Power Five conferences (Southeastern, ACC, Big 12, Big 10 and Pacific-12) passed a measure that raises the value of scholarships to cover the full cost of attending school. The NCAA granted autonomy to the Power Five last August to pass legislation without the support of the other 27 Division I conferences. The vote during the NCAA Convention on the “cost of attendance” measure was 79-1, with 64 of the 65 schools in the Big Five— excepting Boston College—in favor. A release from the school read, “Boston College is concerned with continuing to pass legislation…

BOSTON The Nationals’ signing of Max Scherzer can probably be explained by this: Scherzer was, as Scott Boras insisted, healthy from 26-29 years old and elite. And as we saw with Madison Bumgarner, Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson over the past 14 years, a healthy, rested elite pitcher can carry a team in October. The investment makes sense for those teams that feel they need to win it all, such as the Phillies in 2008 (when Cole Hamels started five postseason games) and the Yankees in their new park in 2009 (when C.C. Sabathia did the same). What Bumgarner did in October, if it had been spread over a 162-game season, was the equivalent of throwing more than 500 innings. Nationals owners Ted and Mark Lerner decided to go for…

Editor in Chief Baseball America johnmanuel @baseba llamerica.com The first issue of this magazine, before it even had the name Baseball America, featured college baseball on the cover. Allan Simpson, starting a publication called All-America Baseball News in his garage in White Rock, B.C., put Arkansas outfielder Kevin McReynolds on his first cover. That first issue arrived six years after the inspiration for our throwback cover this issue—which features Cal State Fullerton pitchers Thomas Eshelman and Justin Garza—celebrating the 40th anniversary of Fullerton’s first Division I season. We were hoping to evoke a certain era, and thanks to Fullerton photographer Matt Brown and some great work by BA design and production director Sara McDaniel, I think we did that. Major League Baseball is often defined by different eras, and college…

Jake Lemoine grew up roughly two hours from Houston’s campus and nowadays stars in the Cougars’ weekend rotation. Ask him if he knew much about Houston baseball before coming to school, however, and you start to get an idea of just how far this program has come to be the preseason No. 3 in the country. “Honestly, I didn’t,” Lemoine says. “Growing up, I didn’t even know there was a baseball program here.” It’s hard to blame him. In the 10 years before Houston’s breakthrough 48-win campaign in 2014, the Cougars had five losing seasons and made regionals just twice. But it wasn’t always that way. The Houston program does have two College World Series appearances in its distant past (1953 and 1967). But of more recent vintage, the Cougars…

Forget Google. Forget Wikipedia. There’s no official hashtag. No T-shirts hanging on the racks. Good luck finding it in a dictionary. But it is real. Make no mistake. Ray Birmingham has coached in New Mexico for 37 years, and he’s seen it. He’s felt it. He has it. Albuquerque Swagger. There’s something about being from Albuquerque that thickens your skin, hardens your heart, eases your mind. As Birmingham defines it: “We’re the little dog in the big-dog bullpen. The thing is—there’s no fear, and there’s no doubt. We know we’re going to get punched. We know we’re going to get knocked down, and we know people think we’re not supposed to, but we’re going to.” Oh, and one more thing: “That’s Alex Bregman, baby.” Alex Bregman—Louisiana State’s junior shortstop, the…

Baseball Members (First Year): East—Florida (1933), Georgia (1933), Kentucky (1933), Missouri (2013), South Carolina (1992), Tennessee (1933), Vanderbilt (1933). West—Alabama (1933), Arkansas (1992), Auburn (1933), Louisiana State (1933), Mississippi (1933), Mississippi State (1933), Texas A&M (2013). Checking out: None. TEAM TO BEAT Vanderbilt To be the man, you have to beat the man. Vanderbilt finished sixth in the SEC last year, but winning a national championship makes the target bigger. TOURNAMENT: 12 teams, modified single/double-elimination. May 19-24 at Hoover, Ala. PLAYER OF THE YEAR Dansby Swanson ss, Vanderbilt In a league loaded with shortstops such as LSU’s Alex Bregman, Florida’s Richie Martin and Alabama’s Mikey White, Swanson still has the athleticism and bat to stand out. PITCHER OF THE YEAR Carson Fulmer rhp, Vanderbilt Shifting from relief to the rotation…

Baseball Members (First Year): Arizona (1979), Arizona State (1979), California (1916), UCLA (1928), Oregon (1916-1981, 2009) Oregon State (1916), Southern California (1923), Stanford (1918), Utah (2012), Washington (1916), Washington State (1919). Checking out: None. TEAM TO BEAT UCLA The return of injured infielder Kevin Kramer, who shifts from third base to shortstop, should kick-start the Bruins’ offense, which lay dormant in 2014. TOURNAMENT: None PLAYER OF THE YEAR Shaun Chase c, Oregon The senior led the Pac-12 in home runs last season, even as he started just 40 games and had swing-and-miss issues. Improved defense would help put him over the top. PITCHER OF THE YEAR James Kaprelian rhp, UCLA It took Karprelian a while to adjust from freshman setup man to sophomore starter. A strong summer with USA Baseball’s…

NEW YORK Eric Duncan was in a prominent place on a list Gary Denbo assembled throughout his days and in various roles working in the Yankees system. “I kept a list of guys I thought would make good coaches,” said Denbo, who is in his first year as farm director. “He was that kind of guy.” Duncan, the Yankees’ first-round pick (27th overall) in 2003 from Seton Hall Prep in West Orange, N.J., reached as high as Triple-A in seven seasons in the system. “He is a quality guy—one of the best people—the kind of guy you want in the organization,” Denbo said of the 30-year-old Duncan. Duncan will work as a defensive coach at short-season Staten Island this season. A volunteer assistant at Seton Hall, where he is pursuing…

ATLANTA Of all the deals president of baseball operations John Hart made this offseason, the one that may have left Braves fans most aghast was the Jan. 14 transaction that sent slugging catcher Evan Gattis and Triple-A righthander James Hoyt to the Astros. While Gattis may have been a fan favorite, the Braves think highly of the three prospects acquired from Houston: righthanders Mike Foltynewicz and Andrew Thurman and third baseman Rio Ruiz. The deal also left Hart feeling as if his initial mission was complete, after a hyperactive winter in which he traded regulars Gattis, Jason Heyward, Tommy La Stella and Justin Upton—plus relievers David Carpenter, Chasen Shreve, Anthony Varvaro and Jordan Walden—for young big league righty Shelby Miller and a bevy of prospects. “I believe we’ve gone from…

WASHINGTON When righthander Joe Ross learned in December that the Padres did not send him to the Dodgers in the Matt Kemp trade, he stopped thinking about whether he would be dealt. That situation lasted less than a week. The Padres did indeed trade the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Ross, but to the Nationals instead of the Dodgers. Washington acquired him and a player to be named (presumed to be shortstop Trea Turner) in a three-team deal in which the Nationals dealt Steven Souza to the Rays. Though he’ll be separated from his brother Tyson Ross, a starter for the Padres, Joe says he looks forward to pitching in an organization that had a stacked big league rotation— even before signing Max Scherzer. “Obviously the Nationals have so many great pitchers,” Ross…

KANSAS CITY Cattle ranchers in the late 1800s would drive their herds from Ganado, Texas, to markets in Kansas City. In 2013, MaryAnne drove her son Glenn Sparkman all night from Ganado to Kansas City for a predraft workout at Kaufmann Stadium. It turned out to be a worthwhile trip. Sparkman threw an impressive bullpen and the Royals picked the righthander in the 20th round. The Wharton (Texas) JC sophomore eschewed a Texas A&M-Corpus Christi scholarship to turn pro. After logging a 1.72 ERA in 20 relief appearances at Rookie-level Idaho Falls in 2013, Sparkman began the 2014 season in the high Class A Wilmington bullpen, where he posted a 2.28 ERA in 11 relief appearances. He moved into the rotation on May 21 and thrived in 18 starts, going…

CINCINNATI Getting drafted in the first round last June made Alex Blandino happy. But the news that came next made him even happier: The Reds wanted him to play shortstop. In three years at Stanford, Blandino started 140 games at third base and two at second base (both of those as a freshman in 2012) but none at shortstop. Still, the Reds scouting department saw him as a shortstop and the player-development staff wanted him to play shortstop as long as he could. It’s something the Reds have done before, keeping Todd Frazier at short until he finally found a home at third base in the majors. Billy Hamilton was a shortstop until 2013, when he moved to center field. Blandino played 59 games in the field after being drafted,…

HOUSTON Two years after they were intrigued by righthander Akeem Bostick’s athleticism heading into the 2013 draft, the Astros acquired the former three-sport star from the Rangers. The Astros added to their lower-level pitching depth by acquiring the 6-foot-4, 180-pound Bostick in exchange for big league catcher Carlos Corporan. “Coming out of high school, he was a guy who obviously we looked at in the draft,” general manager Jeff Luhnow said. “He’s an athletic kid and . . . he’s still just 19. He pitched in Low-A last year, and we feel like he has a chance to get better.” The 19-year-old Bostick has logged 97 strikeouts over 133 pro innings in two seasons since the Rangers selected him out of high school in West Florence, S.C., in the second…

ARLINGTON Outfielder Nick Williams wouldn’t appear to be at a career crossroads, not at age 21 and not after another season in which he showed he can do damage at the plate. Williams advanced to Double-A Frisco in 2014 and finished the season with Surprise of the Arizona Fall League. A second-round pick in 2012 out of high school in Galveston, Texas, Williams might be closer than most think. The question that continues to hound the speedy outfielder is if he will find a hitting approach that will limit his free-swinging ways and make better use of terrific bat speed that has allowed him to hit .293 in 1,029 minor league at-bats despite striking out 300 times and drawing just 53 walks. The Rangers, meanwhile, are trying to toe a…

The Keepers SAN DIEGO For awhile this winter, it seemed the dwindling number of prospects remaining in the Padres system would be asked to turn out the lights. A.J. Preller, the team’s first-year general manager, shipped out 13 minor leaguers amid a series of offseason trades that netted several big leaguers—including five positional starters— and a few prospects. Preller wasn’t sentimental about holding on to prospects in whom other Padres executives had invested substantial capital. He dealt first-round picks Max Fried, Joe Ross and Trea Turner, plus sandwich picks Zach Eflin and Jace Peterson. Farm director Sam Geaney framed the the trades in a positive light. “We were able to (make trades) because of the work that our scouting department and development side had done,” Geaney said. “So it was…

When it comes to 29-year-old Cuban second baseman Hector Olivera, three words come up that aren’t often said in the scouting community: “I don’t know.” For scouts who followed Olivera on the Cuban national team from 2008-10, they loved what they saw. He was an elite performer in Cuba’s Serie Nacional. He had average to plus tools across the board and excelled during international competition. He missed the entire 2012-13 season, reportedly due to a blood disorder, but hit well upon his return to Cuba in 2013-14—though he played just 29 games at second base and mostly served as the DH for his Santiago de Cuba club. That combination of talent and uncertainty drew hundreds of scouts to a two-day showcase at the Giants’ academy in the Dominican Republic in…

Transactions Transactions involving minor league players, i.e. those not on 40-man rosters, covering the period Jan. 9-22. ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS: Signed RHP Yoan Lopez. Released RHP Jonathan Pulley. ATLANTA BRAVES: Signed RHP David Carpenter, LHPs Wandy Rodriguez and Dail Villanueva and 3B Kelly Johnson. Traded RHP James Hoyt and C Evan Gattis to Astros for RHPs Mike Foltynewicz and Andrew Thurman and 3B Rio Ruiz. Traded LHP Daniel Rodriguez to Orioles for cash. BALTIMORE ORIOLES: Signed C Rossmel Perez, 1Bs Casey Haerther and Logan Uxa and OF Jake Luce. Re-signed SS Sharlon Schoop. Released 2B Shawn Roof. Acquired LHP Daniel Rodriguez from Braves for cash. BOSTON RED SOX: Signed RHP Mitchell Boggs, LHP Matt Hoffman and C Humberto Quintero. Traded C Dan Butler to Nationals for LHP Danny Rosenbaum. CHICAGO CUBS:…

The Revamped Rays 30 What would the Rays’ Top 30 Prospects look like now after all the trades this offseason? JORDAN GRIMES TAMPA, FLA. It’s a good thing the Rays have brought in reinforcements. Before those moves, 26-year-old righthander Alex Colome was slated to be No. 1. He’s an intriguing prospect, but one who is out of options. The list of impact players who ran out of options before establishing themselves in the big leagues is a short one. Now seven of the Rays’ revamped Top 30 (from the Baseball America Prospect Handbook, which is available now) are recent trade pickups. All of the players acquired this offseason are listed in bold below. Only 19 of the 30 players on the list are homegrown, as players like Willy Adames, Nathan…

SURPRISE, ARIZ. More than 40 baseball players dressed in bright white uniforms went through drills on four fields at the Rangers complex on a sunny Sunday morning in late January. A handful of fans looked on, a far cry from the hundreds of observers that cram into the complex during major league spring training. The players were from one of the best teams in their league—but it wasn’t the Rangers. The Nexen Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organization set up shop in Surprise, one of four KBO teams using Arizona for spring training this year. Jung-Ho Kang worked primarily by himself on one of the four fields, with one of the Heroes coaches throwing batting practice or hitting grounders to him. He wore his Nexen Heroes uniform even though he…

DENVER Ernie Banks died in January, but he will live forever in the memories of baseball players, officials and fans. Banks arrived at Wrigley Field back in September 1953, allowing the Cubs to become the ninth of the 16 major league teams to integrate. More than 61 years later, he is still the face of one of the game’s storied franchises. “He became an icon in Chicago,” former Cubs manager Don Baylor said. “He and Buck O’Neil were so much alike. They both broke in in the Negro Leagues. What always struck you was how appreciative they were of getting to make a living in baseball. “I don’t know if either one of them ever had a bad day. They were always so positive.” Baylor, however, knows better. He never…

Rob Manfred was elected the 10th commissioner in Major League Baseball history on Aug. 14, 2014, and officially succeeded Bud Selig on Jan. 25. He served with MLB previously as chief operating officer (for about one year) and as executive vice president of labor relations, a post he held for 15 years, when he led MLB’s negotiations in three rounds of Collective Bargaining Agreements. MLB and the union concluded all three without a labor stoppage, and the last two included significant draft changes. Three weeks prior to replacing Selig, Manfred did something his predecessor never had done— he attended the American Baseball Coaches Association convention in Orlando, Fla., the largest annual gathering of college coaches in the nation. Manfred attended several meetings between major league and college officials, gave a…

ATHENS, GA. Hard hats and safety vests replaced caps and cleats at Georgia’s Foley Field shortly after completion of the 2014 season, as contractors began a $12 million dollar refurbishing project designed to put a fresh face on one of the more venerable ballparks in the Southeastern Conference. Meanwhile, Bulldogs coach Scott Stricklin is doing some renovating of his own. In making four trips to the College World Series from 2001-2008, Georgia danced with college baseball’s elite, coming within an eyelash of winning it all in 2008 before losing to Fresno State in the CWS Finals. But in the six seasons that have passed, the Bulldogs lost much of their bite. Yes, Georgia earned NCAA bids in 2009 and 2011, but it was eliminated in regional play both years. And…

2015 Projecting the Field of 64 * Automatic qualifier ^ Regional host NASHVILLE, TN 1. (1) Vanderbilt 2. Georgia Tech 3. Michigan 4. Bethune-Cookman* BATON ROUGE, LA 1. (2) Louisiana State^ 2. Central Florida 3. UNC Wilmington 4. Alabama State* HOUSTON 1. (3) Houston^* 2. Stanford 3. Texas A&M 4. Bucknell* CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA 1. (4) Virginia^* 2. Nebraska 3. Louisiana-Lafayette* 4. Canisius* LUBBOCK, TX 1. (5) Texas Tech^* 2. Dallas Baptist* 3. Tennessee 4. Stony Brook* GAINESVILLE, FL 1. (6) Florida^ 2. Kennesaw State* 3. Oklahoma 4. Penn* FORT WORTH, TX 1. (7) Texas Christian^ 2. Arkansas 3. New Mexico* 4. SE Missouri State* STILLWATER, OK 1. (8) Oklahoma State^ 2. Rice* 3. Oregon State 4. Oral Roberts* ABERDEEN, MD 1. Maryland^* 2. Clemson 3. Cal Poly 4. St. John’s*…

Baseball Members (First Year): Baylor (1997), Kansas (1997), Kansas State (1997), Oklahoma (1997), Oklahoma State (1997), Texas (1997), Texas Christian (2013), Texas Tech (1997), West Virginia (2013) Checking out: None TEAM TO BEAT Texas Tech The Red Raiders were a surprise Omaha team last year; now they’re the hunted. Can they hold off Oklahoma State, TCU and Texas—all also top-10 teams? TOURNAMENT: 8 teams, May 20-24 at Tulsa, Okla. PLAYER OF THE YEAR Sheldon Neuse ss/rhp, Oklahoma The sophomore preseason first-team All-American shifts to shortstop and will close for the Sooners. He’s slated to hit third, close and play in the middle infield—in other words, to do it all. PITCHER OF THE YEAR Preston Morrison rhp, Texas Christian He’s not the league’s top prospect, but Morrison has gotten important outs…

The measure of a junior college is the ability not only to get someone ready for a four-year school but also for life beyond that, Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. That’s what helps Chipola (Fla.) JC and longtime coach Jeff Johnson stand out. “Jeff has done a great job down there with the success he’s had, not just with kids going to four-year schools, but also professionally,” said Bianco, who recruited three Chipola players for his 2010 class. “He seems to attract a lot of talent. He plays a great schedule and it’s certainly one of the junior colleges you’re looking to when you’re looking for that type of kid, a junior college kid.” Johnson has been at Chipola since 1996 and has built it into a winner, compiling…

ST. PETERSBURG When the Rays uncharacteristically waded into the deep end of the international free agent signing pool last July, they made a $2.95 million investment in Adrian Rondon based on what he’ll do years into the future. But they’re pretty impressed with what they’ve seen already from the 16-year-old shortstop. The power in his bat and softness of his hands has been as expected, and the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Rondon’s athletic build has been eye-catching. But what has really impressed the Rays is the way he has handled a series of extensive transitions. “It’s mind-boggling how mature he is,” farm director Mitch Lukevics said. “He’s just 16 years old. I mean, my goodness, can we all think back to when we were 16?” Rondon fit right in during the Rays…

FORT LAUDERDALE For all those times High Point lefthander Sean Townsley made the short drive to Greensboro, N.C., he never envisioned pitching for the Grasshoppers. His outlook changed after the Marlins selected him in the 25th round of the 2013 draft and assigned him to low Class A Greensboro in 2014. “I had a lot of close friends who were still in the area,” Townsley said. “Just the smell of the whole area was nostalgic from when I was playing at High Point.” The 24-year-old developed a nose for retiring hitters. Townsley began the season piggybacking off righty Matt Milroy’s starts, but in the second half he moved into the rotation. Over his final eight starts he went 5-2, 2.18 with 11 walks and 42 strikeouts in 45 innings. Those…

CHICAGO The way Matt Davidson sees it, 2014 was his mulligan year. Acquired before the season in a trade with the Diamondbacks for closer Addison Reed, Davidson at best was supposed to come out of spring training as the starting third baseman. At the least, he was expected to make his way to the White Sox later in the year after opening at Triple-A Charlotte. Neither scenario played out, and Davidson spent the entire season at Charlotte. A June visit from White Sox special assistant Jim Thome failed to snap Davidson out of his year-long offensive slump, and the 2009 supplemental first-rounder hit just .199/.283/.362, albeit with 20 homers, in 130 games. Even more concerning, he struck out 164 times in 539 plate appearances—or 30 percent of the time. “Last…

MINNEAPOLIS So it turns out that Dereck Rodriguez can’t slug a baseball around the park the way his father could. That’s hardly a surprise, considering Ivan Rodriguez built a Hall of Fame-caliber career in his 21 big league seasons. No, the Twins never banked on their Ivan Rodriguez—Dereck is his middle name— matching his father’s production when they drafted him out of Pace (Fla.) High in the sixth round in 2011. For one thing, he was a sleek, speedy center fielder then—not a stoutand-powerful catcher. But junior Rodriguez, now 22, has a chance, the Twins believe, to someday accomplish something in the major leagues that Pudge never did: Pitch. “He’s got plenty of velocity and he throws strikes,” vice president of player personnel Mike Radcliff said. “He’s got a fastball…

MILWAUKEE Rule 5 draft picks don’t typically make an organization’s Top 10 Prospects list the next year, but lefthander Wei-Chung Wang has been an exception in many ways. The only reason the 22-year-old was eligible for the 2013 draft was because his initial contract with the Pirates out of Taiwan in 2011 was voided because of an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. The Pirates didn’t protect Wang because they figured no team would Rule 5 a pitcher out of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League. But the Brewers decided to think outside the box by selecting Wang, and they managed to keep him in the majors for the required length of time in 2014 while rarely pitching him. He now ranks as their No. 6 prospect. Wang made just…

OAKLAND When second baseman Joey Wendle receives a challenge, he takes it on full bore. He spent the offseason trying to better both his foot speed and arm strength, two of the most difficult elements to improve. He wants to add versatility to his game to help vault him to the big leagues. Oakland traded Brandon Moss to the Indians to acquire Wendle, a scrappy player who has shown tantalizing hitting skills, and the A’s believe the 24-year-old could become an important part of the future. “Joey Wendle is a high-character guy,” director of player personnel Billy Owens said. “He has very good offensive potential, especially for the position. He has sneaky power, and he’s a steady defender at second base.” Wendle drew attention with a couple of big hits…

Staff Changes DENVER After going two seasons without a hitting coordinator, the Rockies have altered the role and filled it with Duane Espy, who is in his 13th year with the organization. He spent 2003-06 as big league hitting coach and has since worked as a hitting coach, manager and development supervisor in the system. The Rockies assigned a development supervisor to each of their affiliates from Double-A on down after the 2012 season. At that time, they also parted ways with Jim Johnson, who had been the organization’s roving hitting coordinator for 10 seasons. “The job as it stood two years ago just didn’t make sense in our eyes,” farm director Zach Wilson said. “It makes sense now again because of the person we have leading the charge and…

Right Kind Of Power SAN FRANCISCO First baseman Skyler Ewing doesn’t offer much in the way of track record. He wasn’t drafted out of high school and batted just .238 as a lightly used reserve in his first two years at Rice. So why did the Giants spend a sixth-round pick on him in the 2014 draft? Simple. Ewing is righthanded, he hits the ball out of the park, and righthanded power might be the hardest attribute to introduce into a farm system. Ewing flashed his power in a breakout junior season at Rice in which he hit .335 with nine home runs and a career-best .403 on-base percentage. He also showed off his home run swing in the Cape Cod League when an injury opened up a last-minute spot…

Withstanding the backlash from unhappy fans has become part of the process when minor league teams get new nicknames and logos. Fans don’t always embrace change right away when it comes to their favorite team, though they usually return to their rooting ways after getting a chance to vent. Fans in Nashville, however, were able to effect change after complaining about the new Sounds logo when it was first revealed last October. The Pacific Coast League franchise released a modified version of the logo in January. The stylized guitar pick remains the centerpiece, but the neon orange colors that were meant to symbolize the bright lights of the city’s Broadway district were replaced by the traditional red and black the team used in its previous look. “We didn’t get the…

PHILADELPHIA Jayson Stark Baseball Analyst, Senior Writer ESPN.com Where in the world is James Shields? Where has he been? Where is he signing? How is it even possible that here, with spring training looming, he was still looking for work, alongside all the Stephen Fifes and Scott Bakers on the baseball unemployment line? These are the questions we heard in late January from executives all over baseball. Jon Lester had been off the board for almost six weeks. Max Scherzer joined him. So how did James Shields turn out to be the Last Free Agent Ace Standing? “I don’t think anyone really knows what happened there,” one GM said. “I don’t understand this,” another said. “Something must have happened,” a rival agent said. Leading up to the Winter Meetings, I…