Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter -- which he reported on from Lansing, Mich., on Aug. 27 -- is one of those stories. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here. Mitch Myers, a

MLB Pipeline gives our organizational Top 30 prospect rankings complete refreshes twice per calendar year (once in spring, once in-season) and provides other live updates as graduations and other transactions necessitate them. In the latter category, two dates in particular are our busiest for Top 30 updates: the Trade Deadline

Season No. 32 of the Arizona Fall League is in the books, with the Salt River Rafters beating the Surprise Saguaros, 3-2, in the Championship Game on Saturday. It was another fall full of top prospects and top performances. Below is the 2024 MLB Pipeline All-AFL Team. This is based

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Nick Kurtz's bat got him selected by the A’s fourth overall this year, and his bat has the first baseman ranked No. 45 overall by MLB Pipeline. Where will he land on the other side of the ball? Well, at the very least, he's broadened his horizons

Week 5 in the Arizona Fall League was about spotlighting the best the top prospect circuit had to offer, with Fall Star festivities limiting regular-season AFL play to only four days in the desert. These two players stood out for squeezing exceptional performances into that small sample. Mesa corner outfielder/infielder

MESA, Ariz. -- The Denzel Clarke Arizona Fall League showcase continues. With three more hits for Mesa in the Solar Sox’s 7-3 loss to the Desert Dogs on Monday, the A’s No. 10 prospect ranks second on the circuit with a .506 on-base percentage -- and he added to his

Call it a last-chance saloon in the middle of the desert. The Arizona Fall League provides more than just an opportunity to see some of the game’s top prospects in one spot. It’s also the final place certain Minor Leaguers can prove they are deserving of a 40-man roster spot

Week 4 in the Arizona Fall League was all about big flies and flirting with history. These players separated themselves during what was another excellent week of AFL action. Mesa first baseman Nick Kurtz (ATH No. 2/MLB No. 45) slugged his way to AFL Hitter of the Week honors and

Fans, the Arizona Fall League wants your help. The 18th annual Fall Stars Game is set for 8 p.m. ET on Saturday at Mesa's Sloan Park, and fans have the last word on the rosters. MLB.com's Fall Stars Final 2 Vote is open now, with one spot on the American

Here are the top performers from the fourth week of AFL action:

PEORIA, Ariz. -- The similarities between Nick Kurtz and Jac Caglianone are almost too numerous to recount. Both are left-handed-hitting first basemen with a ton of power. Both played for a big-time Division I program: Kurtz at Wake Forest, Caglianone at Florida. Both made it to the 2023 College World

MESA, Ariz. – Nick Kurtz's first official home run of the 2024 season came on Feb. 17. More than eight months later, much has changed, but one thing has remained consistent: the 21-year-old can still hammer the baseball. Kurtz teed off on Arizona Fall League homer No. 1 on Wednesday

The A’s will play on natural grass when they move to Sutter Health Park in Sacramento next season, rather than on synthetic turf. The club will share the ballpark with the Sacramento River Cats, Triple-A affiliate of the Giants, until a planned stadium in Las Vegas is ready. “Based on

MESA, Ariz. -- Denzel Clarke features some of the best all-around tools in the Arizona Fall League, and he put several of them on display on Opening Night. Clarke went 2-for-4, stole two bases and made a nice running catch in the right-center gap to rob Creed Willems (Orioles) of

Welcome to Crooked Numbers, a monthly column dedicated to Minor League Baseball on-field oddities and absurdities. The edition, rounding up the month of September, encapsulates the end of the regular season as well as the playoffs. Thanks for reading this season, and here's to an even more "Crooked" 2025.

Just think of some of the big numbers put up in the Minors this year -- 40 homers, 104 stolen bases, 202 strikeouts -- and they’re just the tip of the iceberg. Terrific performances came in a variety of shapes and sizes during the 2024 Minor League season. To celebrate

The MLB Postseason opens with Wild Card games on Oct. 1, but eager fans can go ahead and get into playoff mode right now. At the Rookie and A-ball levels, titles have already been decided or will be in the next couple days. At the Double-A and Triple-A levels, the

Welcome to Crooked Numbers, a monthly column dedicated to Minor League Baseball on-field oddities and absurdities. The edition, rounding up the month of August, features RBI explosions, epic sweeps, same-named individuals and, of course, much more. Keeping track of this type of thing is a team effort, so get in

Welcome to the dog days of summer. The races for postseason spots are coming into focus in the Majors. In the Minors, top prospects are eyeballing September roster expansions. Whether you're holding on tight to the long days and balmy nights or patiently waiting for the leaves to fall and

Nick Kurtz tormented college pitchers earlier this year. As it turns out, California League pitching can’t evade the A’s 2024 first-round Draft pick’s 65-grade power either. Oakland’s newly minted No. 2 prospect hasn’t shown any signs of cooling off. The Wake Forest product smashed a three-run homer in Saturday’s 11-1

Professional baseball has finally achieved Maximum Muncy. At long last, the sport's two infielders named Max Muncy -- improbably born exactly 12 years apart and completely unrelated -- finally met and played in the same game, an eventual 10-8 victory by rehabbing Muncy's Triple-A Oklahoma City over prospect Muncy's Las

They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but Max Muncy seemed to be trying to send baseballs out of town on Sunday. The A's No. 8 prospect launched three consecutive home runs in his final three at-bats, capping off his performance with a grand slam in the Triple-A

Welcome to Crooked Numbers, a monthly column dedicated to Minor League Baseball on-field oddities and absurdities. The June edition features a doubles deluge, oppositional surnames, way too many walks and, of course, much more. Keeping track of this type of thing is a team effort, so get in touch if

In a city full of pressing your luck, Jacob Wilson wasn't satisfied with hitting just his first Triple-A home run -- so he hit his second too, giving him his first multihomer game as a pro in one fell swoop. The top Athletics prospect lifted the Aviators to a 12-4

This is an excerpt from the latest edition of the Ben's Biz Beat Newsletter, bringing Minor League Baseball business and culture news to your inbox each and every Thursday. Check out the full newsletter HERE. Every ballpark has its regulars, and these regulars all have a story. Who are they,