Author Archives: Alex Kielar

Top 5 Prospect Series: LA Angels of Anaheim

Alex Kielar | February 11th, 2019

Since the 2016 season when Billy Eppler took over the Angels organization, their farm system has only gotten better and better. After a Rookie of the Year campaign from 2018 No. 1 overall MLB prospect Shohei Ohtani, the Angels are looking for similar debuts from their next line of prospects. With Mike Trout most likely entering free agency after the 2019 season, LA’s grooming of their top prospects will be very important for years to come if they can’t resign Trout. They aren’t necessarily loaded, but they have good top 10-15 prospects. Now let’s get into it! Continue reading →

Top 5 Prospects Series – New York Yankees

Alex Kielar | February 5th, 2019

Even after graduating the likes of Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, and Miguel
Andújar from their prospect list the last couple seasons, while also trading away their No. 1 Prospect at the time, Justus Sheffield, to the Mariners this offseason, the Yankees still have a solid farm system with pieces primed to make their debuts soon. When it comes to the Yankees, they are never in full rebuild mode, so they focus more on grooming raw talent. Some of these names will and already have been mentioned in trade discussions, as the Yankees’ championship window is wide open right now. Now let’s get into the list!

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Top 5 Prospect Series – Cincinnati Reds

Alex Kielar | February 3rd, 2019

After five straight subpar seasons of under-.500 records following Dusty Baker‘s exit, the Reds are primed to make some noise in 2019. With a solid farm system, ranked No. 6 in all of baseball, 4 of their top 5 in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100, they have the pieces to end their rebuild and contend for years to come.

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Top 5 Prospect Series – Atlanta Braves

Alex Kielar | February 1st, 2019

The Braves entered the 2018 season with little to no expectations on their Postseason chances. If anything, they were only expected to fight for a Wild Card spot. The one thing Braves fans were excited for was seeing the rise of the No. 2 Prospect in all of baseball at the time, Ronald Acuña Jr.

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HOF Case – Barry Bonds

Alex Kielar | January 19th, 2019

As Barry Bonds heads into his 7th year of Hall of Fame eligibility, the question still remains if players that were accused of steroid use at any point in their career should be allowed into the Hall. Bonds is coming off a 2018 ballot in which he sat at 56.4% of the vote, still needing an 18.6% increase to get in. Will this be the year that the voters decide to let steroid users in, thus inducting Bonds? Continue reading →

What the Yankees’ Signing of DJ LeMahieu Means Going Forward

Alex Kielar | January 13th, 2019

On Friday, the Yankees reached an agreement with three-time gold glove winner and 2016 National League batting champion DJ LeMahieu. The deal is worth $24 million for 2 years and puts the Yankees above the luxury tax line at the moment. LeMahieu was the top free agent at the second base position, but the Yankees view him as a versatile player who they look to use at first and third base as well.

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