Masataka Yoshida is MLB’s latest NPB import, having been inked to a five-year, $90M contract by the Boston Red Sox earlier this week. A 29-year-old, left-handed-hitting outfielder, Yoshida is coming off of a season where he slashed .335/.447/.561 with 21 home runs for the Orix Buffaloes… and it wasn’t a breakout season. He’s been one of the best hitters in Japan’s top league in each of the last five years.

Who is the best pitcher in NPB? I asked Yoshida that question on Thursday following his introductory press conference at Fenway Park.

“Probably Kodai Senga,” replied Yoshida, citing the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks right-hander who recently signed a 5-year, $75M deal with the New York Mets. “I think he was the best pitcher in Japan.”

Intrigued by that answer, I followed up by asking, via interpreter Keiichiro Wakabayashi, if he feels that Senga is actually better than his former Orix teammate, 24-year-old Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Read the rest of this entry »

The following article is part of Jay Jaffe’s ongoing look at the candidates on the BBWAA 2023 Hall of Fame ballot. Originally written for the 2021 election, it has been updated to reflect recent voting results as well as additional research. For a detailed introduction to this year’s ballot, and other candidates in the series, use the tool above; an introduction to JAWS can be found here. For a tentative schedule, and a chance to fill out a Hall of Fame ballot for our crowdsourcing project, see here. All WAR figures refer to the Baseball-Reference version unless otherwise indicated.

Torii Hunter could go get it. Fluid and graceful while patrolling center field, he was renowned for his leaping, acrobatic catches and his willingness to sacrifice his body. He made a strong enough impression upon those who watched him that he won nine Gold Gloves during his 19-year career, more than all but three center fielders, namely Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., and Andruw Jones. Hunter earned the nickname “Spider-Man” for his ability to climb outfield walls to steal home runs — something he did more than just about anybody else during his career — though one attempt to do so at Fenway Park left him with a broken ankle, and another a concussion.

“I’ll do anything to get that little white ball. I’ll put my life on the line,” Hunter told Sports Illustrated’s Albert Chen in 2005, sounding very much like the football player he was during his high school days in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Hunter rose from difficult circumstances in Pine Bluff, including a father who was addicted to crack cocaine and friends who fell into the dead-end life of drugs, guns, and gangs. His athleticism helped him escape, though when he entered professional baseball as a first-round pick of the Twins in 1993, his talent was more raw than most. Read the rest of this entry »

The following article is part of Jay Jaffe’s ongoing look at the candidates on the BBWAA 2023 Hall of Fame ballot. For a detailed introduction to this year’s ballot, and other candidates in the series, use the tool above; an introduction to JAWS can be found here. For a tentative schedule, and a chance to fill out a Hall of Fame ballot for our crowdsourcing project, see here. All WAR figures refer to the Baseball-Reference version unless otherwise indicated.

Francisco Rodríguez was the October Surprise. As the Angels went on their 2002 postseason run, they introduced a secret weapon out of their bullpen, a 20-year-old Venezuelan righty with an unholy fastball-slider combination and the poise of a grizzled veteran despite him having all of 5.2 major league innings under his belt. Often throwing multiple innings and quickly graduating into a setup role in front of closer Troy Percival, Rodríguez set a number of records, including one for the most strikeouts by a reliever in a single postseason (28) while helping the Angels to their first (and to date only) championship in franchise history.

Though he endured some growing pains at the major league level, by 2004 Rodríguez was an All-Star, and from ’05-08 he led the American League in saves three times, setting a still-standing single-season record with 62 in the last of those campaigns. His mid-90s fastball and mid-80s slider befuddled hitters, while his demonstrative antics — “a melange of pirouettes, fist pumps and primordial screams,” as one writer put it — sometimes got under their skin.

Rodríguez cashed in via free agency, signing a three-year, $37 million deal with the Mets, but he was rarely the same pitcher he’d been in Anaheim. He made three more All-Star teams, but was arrested twice, once for assaulting his girlfriend’s father (and tearing ligaments in his thumb in the process) and once for domestic abuse. He pled guilty to the former and attended anger management classes, while the charges for the latter were dropped when the woman left to return to Venezuela. Both incidents likely would have interrupted his career to an even greater degree had they occurred after Major League Baseball and the Players Association adopted its domestic violence policy in 2015. Read the rest of this entry »

Gabe Kapler was asked about next season’s more-balanced schedule when he met with the media during the Winter Meetings. More specifically, he was asked about not having to play as many games against powerhouse division rivals like the Dodgers and Padres. His response began with an unexpected nod to the team that finished in fourth place with a record of 74-88.

“The Diamondbacks were really tough on us this year,” said the Giants manager, whose club went 9-10 versus Arizona. “They’re a really challenging team. I think about the Diamondbacks a lot, because they’re so gifted and athletic, and they’re all so young. Torey [Lovullo] does a great job, and Mike Hazen… their whole front office is a good group.”

Arizona’s young talent on the position player side includes Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy, and Geraldo Perdomo, with more reinforcements on the way. Carroll, who debuted at the end of August, is No. 4 on our Top 100 — a list that includes five D-Backs — and the farm system that Hazen oversees as Arizona’s GM ranks sixth-best among the 30 organizations.

How does this group compare to the young talent Lovullo worked with as Boston’s bench coach from 2013-2016, and before that as the team’s Triple-A manager? Read the rest of this entry »

The Braves have taken a heterodox approach to building a bullpen in recent years. Sometimes they apply the overall team strategy of strongly preferring players with ties to Georgia, like Collin McHugh and former Brave Will Smith. Sometimes they take fliers on players looking to reinvigorate their careers, like Kirby Yates and Nick Anderson. Sometimes they fleece the Angels for Raisel Iglesias, or sign a good closer to a short-term deal like Kenley Jansen, or draft and develop an A.J. Minter. Heck, sometimes they just call Jesse Chavez, and he magically appears in the bullpen.

This week, they’re trying a new tack, making a trade to shore up their already-solid relief corps. It wasn’t the biggest transaction of the week or anywhere near it, but every transaction deserves a little analysis. Let’s talk Braves and Tigers. Let’s talk Joe Jiménez, Justyn-Henry Malloy, and Jake Higginbotham:

#Braves acquire RHP Joe Jiménez: pic.twitter.com/VkFZGXIdhw

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) December 8, 2022

Jiménez is a walking advertisement for reliever volatility. Depending on the year, he’s been either excellent or near-unplayable. His true talent level likely lies somewhere in between his superlative 2022, when he struck out a third of opposing batters to go with pinpoint control, and his ’21, when he ran a 16.7% walk rate and an ERA approaching 6.00. Sure, relievers are volatile, but Jiménez has been really volatile. Read the rest of this entry »

Matthew Boyd has been on quite the baseball journey over the last few years. After spending the bulk of his career with the Tigers as a promising member of their rotation, an unfortunate elbow injury in 2021 resulted in Detroit non-tendering him after the season. He signed a one-year deal with the Giants and spent the first half of this year rehabbing from his flexor tendon surgery. He was traded to the Mariners at the trade deadline and returned to the big leagues to pitch 13.1 innings for his hometown team in September as they worked towards breaking their infamous playoff drought.

Hear what it means to @mattboyd48 ? pic.twitter.com/lDdXd1q5yZ

— ROOT SPORTS™ | NW (@ROOTSPORTS_NW) October 1, 2022

With his childhood dream fulfilled and a clean bill of health, Boyd will now return to the Tigers on a one-year, $10 million deal with the potential for an additional $1 million in performance bonuses.

With his recent injury history, the one-year contract doesn’t come without its share of risk. And even if Boyd’s elbow is completely healthy, he wasn’t exactly the most consistent performer in Detroit. In 2019, he posted a career-best 3.2 WAR behind a 30.2% strikeout rate and an above-average walk rate. Unfortunately, both his ERA and FIP sat above 4.00 that year because he also led the league in home runs allowed. The long ball had been a consistent problem for him throughout his career, but the improvements he made to his strikeout-to-walk ratio seemed like they could offset the number of balls flying over the fence. Read the rest of this entry »

Associate, Baseball Analytics (Seasonal)

Location: Detroit, MI

Key Responsibilities:

1. Assist with importing, cleaning, and preparing of baseball datasets.
2. Assist with the design, development, testing and support of proprietary data collection and decision-support systems.
3. Design ad hoc SQL queries.
4. Assist with statistical modeling of baseball data.
5. Execute exploratory research and analysis as directed.
6. Review public research on a regular basis.
7. Provide support for important events such as the Rule 4 Draft, the trade deadline, contract negotiations and salary arbitration.
8. Support Baseball Operations, Scouting and Player Development with ad hoc requests.
9. Other duties as assigned by members of the Baseball Operations Department.

Minimum Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

1. Demonstrated familiarity with SQL querying and database design principles.
2. Demonstrated knowledge of baseball-specific data, modern statistical techniques and sabermetric analysis.
3. Familiarity with R/Python and/or other software applications/languages used for statistical calculations and graphical representations.
4. Experience with software development, including requirements definition, design, development, testing, and implementation, a plus.
5. Physics coursework, a plus.
6. Highly motivated with excellent attention to detail.
7. The candidate must have excellent verbal and written communication skills.
8. The candidate must have excellent organizational skills.
9. The candidate must be available full-time.
10. The candidate must be available to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as dictated by the baseball calendar.
11. The candidate is willing and able to relocate to the Detroit metro area.

Working Conditions:

1. Remote working environment; potential for office environment.
2. Some evening, weekend, and holiday hours will be required.

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

Associate, Major League Advance Scouting (Seasonal)

Location: Detroit, MI

Key Responsibilities:

1. Utilize internal software systems to create scouting reports for ML Coaching Staff.
2. Prepare full suite of scouting reports for pre-series preparation.
3. Operate BATS software to provide custom video analysis to coaches and players.
4. Assist with video operations, and the distribution of video to both coaches and players.
5. Various ad hoc tasks to support Major League Advance Scouting.
6. Other duties as assigned by members of the Baseball Operations Department.

Minimum Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

1. Highly motivated with excellent attention to detail.
2. The candidate must have excellent verbal and written communication skills.
3. The candidate must have excellent organizational skills.
4. Demonstrated proficiency with the Microsoft Office suite.
5. The candidate is willing and able to relocate to the Detroit metro area.
6. The candidate must be available full-time.
7. The candidate must be available to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as dictated by the baseball calendar.
8. Familiarity with SQL, R, Shiny, or Python, a plus.

Working Conditions:

1. Clubhouse and office environment, along with remote work.
2. Evening, weekend, and holiday hours will be required.

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

Baseball Performance Associate

Location: Detroit, MI

Job Summary:
The baseball performance associate will assist with the delivery of performance science solutions within Baseball Operations. This role will work closely Baseball Analytics, Player Development, Strength and Conditioning, Sports Medicine and Coaching staffs in order to optimize performance.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Assist with implementation and maintenance of existing performance science initiatives across the organization, including data collection, analysis and reporting.
2. Assist with the design, development, testing and support of new performance science initiatives.
3. Work closely with the Director, Performance Science to develop and disseminate information from performance science initiatives.
4. Effectively collaborate and communicate with player development, coaching, sports medicine, strength and conditioning and front office staff.
5. Assist with data management, organization and integration into the organization’s athlete management system.
6. Review research and technology updates relevant to baseball performance.
7. Perform exploratory performance science research projects and analysis as directed.
8. Assist with the maintenance, calibration and upkeep of performance science related equipment.
9. Other duties as directed by Director, Performance Science

Minimum Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

1. Bachelor’s degree in exercise science, exercise physiology, sports science, kinesiology, biomechanics or similar field.
2. Experience with the following technologies preferred: Force plates, IMUs, motion capture, high speed video, Trackman.
3. Experience using an athlete management system.
4. The ideal candidate must have excellent computer skills. Coding or data visualization skills a plus; R preferred.
5. The ideal candidate must have excellent communication skills. Candidate must be able to convey complex performance science findings to relevant staffs.
6. The ideal candidate must have excellent attention to detail.
7. The ideal candidate must have excellent organizational skills.
8. Previous experience working with professional athletes and coaches a plus.
9. The ideal candidate must be willing to work longs hours, including days, nights, weekends and holidays.
10. The candidate must be available full-time.
11. Willing and able to relocate to the Lakeland, FL area or Detroit metro area.

Working Conditions:

1. Office environment
2. Evening, weekend, and holiday hours required

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

Detroit Tigers Affiliate Systems Operator

The Detroit Tigers are looking for Hawk-Eye and TrackMan systems operators to assist their affiliates day of game. This position will report to the Director, Performance Science.

Location:

• Toledo, OH
• Erie, PA
• Grand Rapids, MI
• Lakeland, FL

Job Summary:

• Operate a Hawk-Eye or TrackMan system for each home game, arriving at least one hour prior to game time (or earlier, as requested).
• Verify system readiness, rosters and pre-game information.
• Log necessary information for each play of the game, including but not limited to pitch types and roster changes. 
• Verify logged data to ensure accuracy.
• Review previously logged data for data accuracy corrections, as necessary.
• Provide data and reports to Baseball Info Analysts conclusion of game, as necessary.
• Other duties may be assigned.

Minimum Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Qualified candidate must be motivated, well organized, and detail orientated.
• Previous experience using hawk-Eye or TrackMan software is preferred but not required.
• Preferred candidate lives in proximity to affiliate location.
• Knowledge of Microsoft office software including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook, and Internet Explorer.

Duration:

• Availability for every home game as determined by each affiliate’s schedule.
• Lakeland requires availability from beginning of Spring Training to end of Minor League schedule. 

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

Amateur Scouting Seasonal Assistant

Key Responsibilities:

1. Assist the amateur scouts, crosscheckers, Assistant Director & Scouting Director in multiple aspects of Amateur Scouting – team sheets, stat sheets, organization of event schedules, etc.
2. Catalogue prospect medical questionnaires and general questionnaires found within the Draft Prospect Link.
3. Provide assistance in video editing/logging/uploading/maintenance within Scouting database.
4. Assist in meeting setup throughout the year.
5. Statistical compilation for all Draft eligible prospects throughout the country.
6. Prospect profile management within Scouting database.
7. Schedule management within database.
8. Gather and distribute research material and articles to Amateur Scouting staff
9. Assist with projects and perform other ad hoc duties as assigned.
10. Seasonal Assistant will work closely throughout the year with Baseball Operations, Analytics and Amateur Scouting.

Minimum Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

1. The ideal candidate must have excellent verbal and written communication skills
2. The ideal candidate must have excellent computer skills and strong Excel knowledge
3. The ideal candidate must have excellent communication skills
4. The ideal candidate must have excellent time management and organizational skills
5. The ideal candidate must be available full-time
6. The ideal candidate must be willing to work longs hours, including days, nights, weekends and holidays.

Working Conditions:

1. Office Environment in Lakeland, FL
2. Some evening, weekend, and holiday hours will be required

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

Baseball Operations & Pro Scouting Assistant

Location: Detroit, MI

Key Responsibilities:

1. Assist baseball operations and pro scouting with day-to-day operations
2. Work with pro scouting on special projects and target lists
3. Review daily reports and information with front office
4. Assist in player acquisition preparation & analysis
5. Support baseball administration and logistics
6. Assist with salary arbitration preparation
7. This position will work closely with the Baseball Operations and Pro Scouting staffs

Minimum Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

1. The ideal candidate must be at least a college senior or recent graduate
2. The ideal candidate must have excellent verbal and written communication skills
3. The ideal candidate must have excellent computer skills and be proficient in Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, and Word)
4. The ideal candidate must have a general understanding of MLB rules, regulations, and contracts
5. The ideal candidate must have a general understanding of baseball scouting
6. The ideal candidate must have a general understanding of recent analytical baseball research and trends
7. The ideal candidate must have excellent interpersonal skills
8. The ideal candidate must have excellent organizational skills
9. The ideal candidate must be available full-time
10. The ideal candidate must be willing to work longs hours, including days, nights, weekends and holidays.

Working Conditions:

1. Office Environment
2. Some evening, weekend, and holiday hours will be required

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

International Scouting Seasonal Assistant

Location: Lakeland, FL

Key Responsibilities:

• Assist Director/Crosschecker/Manager with travel logistics (airfare, hotel, transportation, etc.).
• Organize Intl Staff travel documents (Visa/Passport/Entrance Docs/etc.).
• Support Scouting and Player Development staff with DR Visa paperwork on newly signed players.
• Assist in logistics involved with periodic departmental meetings.
• Work with Manager to update expense reporting and budget files.
• Assist Scouts with any reporting/information/database needs.
• Gather and maintain information on international amateur and professional players, including but not limited to stats, news, video, bio updates, etc.
• Update internal reports to help identify trends and production within the market.
• Compile daily international media clips.

Minimum Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• The ideal candidate must have excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• The ideal candidate is bilingual with Spanish as the second language.
• The ideal candidate must have excellent computer skills and strong knowledge of Microsoft Excel.
• The ideal candidate must have excellent time management and organizational skills.
• The ideal candidate must be available full-time.
• The ideal candidate must be willing to work long hours, including days, nights, weekends and holidays.

Working Conditions:

• Office Environment in Lakeland, FL
• Some evening, weekend and holiday hours will be required.

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

Nutrition Associate

Location: Detroit, MI

Overview:
The Detroit Tigers Minor League Sports Nutrition Associate is responsible for providing our minor league players and staff with effective strategies to optimize their performance and improve their well-being. Through the benefits of nutrition and science, the sports nutrition associates will enable the Toledo Mud Hens, Erie SeaWolves, and West Michigan White Caps athletes the ability to manage their body composition and perform at their highest level.

Responsibilities:

• Coordinate services with Tigers’ team physicians, athletic trainers, physical therapists, strength and conditioning coaches, MLB Nutrition Coordinator, and MiLB Nutrition Coordinator and be available to such personnel at all reasonable times during the term for consultation.
• Provide regular education in the clubhouse with the flexibility to create nutrition education pieces based on the most pertinent topics to their team. Sessions may be in person and/or via closed social media or online player platforms. Short team talks are to be coordinated with strength coaches/athletic trainers and affiliate coaches.
• Work with other associates at the affiliates to share education pieces to help eliminate duplication of effort and ensure a consistent message across the organization. Have education pieces translated into Spanish. Examples of typical high priority education piece in the minor leagues include:
• Healthier fast food and quick service restaurant options.
• Hydration – how to evaluate hydration status, when to hydrate, how much, use of electrolytes.
• Meal prep – quick and easy, on a budget and with limited cooking resources.
• Protein shakes – recipes, preparation techniques, when to use.
• Pre-training/game nutrition principles.
• Post-game recovery nutrition principles.
• Safe supplementation – NSF certification, is it necessary, safe and effective.
• One on one nutrition consulting – assess and counsel minor-league players at your affiliate team for optimal performance, recovery, and health. Document sessions and regularly communicate with other associates at the affiliates when players move to other affiliates to ensure continuity of care. Keep open communication regarding any relevant issues with the MLB and MiLB Nutrition Coordinators.
• Keep inventory of supplements and identify when supplement inventory is low. Communicate inventory or needs with the MiLB Nutrition Coordinator. Provide education as listed above on safe supplement usage.
• Oversee food and nutrition services at the minor league clubhouse.
• Select and order high performance food for pre and post-game meals at home and away stadiums.
• Work with opposing teams visiting clubhouse mangers to identify options. Utilize feedback from strength coach to assess on the road food and make necessary modifications as necessary.
• Attend all home games and assist in preparation of smoothies (and teach players how to make their own) and food set up.
• Remain available at reasonable times to provide other related consultations as reasonably requested by the Tigers.
• Any equipment purchases must receive prior approval from the organizations.
• Other services and work as mutually agreed upon.

Characteristics & Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in clinical nutrition, food and nutrition, food science, sports nutrition or related expertise required.
• RD or RD eligible. Completion of a didactic program in nutrition and supervised program approved by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) or formally, Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education (CADE) of the American Dietetic Association. 
• Experience providing nutrition education and counseling (preferred experience with athletes).
• Excellent communication, presentation, and counseling skills.
• Excellent time-management and organizational skills.
• Self-motivator, ability to work independently and collaborate as a member of a team.
• Ability to accurately measure height and weight, as well as assess body composition.
• Knowledge of eating disorders and any signs and symptoms.
• Knowledge and application of medical nutrition therapy, ergogenic aids, nutritional/herbal supplements.
• Excellent organizational and record keeping skills.
• Knowledge of food service quality and safety practices.
• Ability to pass background screening and drug test.
• Ability to operate in highest professional standard.
• Membership in SCAN (Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutrition and/or CPSDA (Collegiate & Professional Sports Dietitians Association) preferred.

Compensation / Location / Time Commitment:

• To be determined
• Spring Training March-April – Lakeland, FL (length TBD)

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Detroit Tigers.

Last Tuesday’s 40-man roster deadline led to the usual squall of transaction activity, with teams turning over portions of their rosters in an effort to make room for the incoming crop of young rookies. Often, teams with an overflow of viable big leaguers will try to get back what they can for some of those players via trade, but because we’re talking about guys straddling the line between major league viability and Triple-A, those trades tend not to be big enough to warrant an entire post. Over the next few days, we’ll endeavor to cover and analyze the moves made by each team, division by division. Readers can view this as the start of list season, as the players covered in this miniseries tend to be prospects who will get big league time in the next year. We’ll spend more time discussing players who we think need scouting updates or who we haven’t written about in the past. If you want additional detail on some of the more famous names you find below, pop over to The Board for a more thorough report.

The Future Value grades littered throughout these posts may be different than those on the 2022 in-season prospect lists on The Board to reflect our updated opinions, and may be subject to change during the offseason. New to our thinking on this subject and wondering what the FVs mean? Here’s a quick rundown. Note that because we’re talking about close-to-the-majors prospects across this entire exercise, the time and risk component is less present here and these FVs are what we think the players are right now. Read the rest of this entry »

Beau Brieske had a promising rookie season with the Detroit Tigers, and he beat the odds in doing so. The 24-year-old right-hander lasted until the 27th round of the 2019 draft, where he was selected 802nd overall out of Division II Colorado State University-Pueblo. He entered pro ball on the heels of a junior season in which he logged a 5.42 ERA.

Brieske has improved exponentially since that time, and pitching analytics is one of the reasons why. Armed with a better understanding of how his stuff plays (and he’s added to his arsenal, too), he made his big league debut in April, then went on to throw 81.2 innings before a forearm strain ended his season in mid-July. Brieske finished with a 4.19 ERA and a 4.97 FIP over 15 starts.

Brieske, who relies more on pitch-ability than on raw stuff, discussed his repertoire and approach shortly before going on the shelf with the injury.

———

David Laurila: What do you know about pitching now that you didn’t when you signed your first professional contract? I’m guessing that might require a long answer.

Beau Brieske: “For sure. I have a lot better understanding of myself as a pitcher than I did at that time. With all the analytics… I mean, I had no idea what any of those were when I was coming out of college. I didn’t really even know about spin rate, let alone all the other in-depth analytics that people use. Now I know a lot more about where my stuff plays.

“I also have a better understanding of sequencing certain pitches to get guys off-balance. I’m using effective velocity with my fastball, going in to low and away, then back in, maybe followed by a changeup low and away. Another big thing is learning where I can throw certain pitches to get a take, where certain pitches are better if I need a weak ground ball, and what to throw when I’m trying to get a punch-out.

“All of that stuff is continuing to grow for me, the learning about myself and my arsenal, and I’m trying to improve on a day-to-day basis. That’s whether it’s strictly internal feel, the eye test, or using analytics to, I guess you could say, ‘hit certain points’ where I can build my best arsenal. So yes, probably a long-winded answer. There has been a lot.” Read the rest of this entry »

Denzel Clarke isn’t one of the highest-profile prospects in the Oakland Athletics organization. A 2021 fourth-round pick out of Cal State Northridge, the 22-year-old outfielder is No. 17 in our most recent ranking of the system. But he is one of the most intriguing — and most exciting. Gifted with elite athleticism, Clarke made a number of highlight-reel catches this summer, and he also legged out a pair of inside-the-park home runs. In a season split between Low-A Stockton and High-A Lansing, he put up a 123 wRC+ while going deep 15 times and stealing 30 bases in 33 attempts.

His baseball background is modest compared to that of most of his peers. A native of Ontario, Canada, Clarke began playing at age 10, and it wasn’t until he was 16 that he began taking the game seriously. It was then that his travel-ball coach with the Toronto Mets told him he had a shot at doing something special if he devoted his attention to the diamond. Prior to that, he was multi-sport to the max.

“I played everything,” explained Clarke, who is currently with the Arizona Fall League’s Mesa Solar Sox. “In school, it was track and field — that runs in the family (Clarke’s mother competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics) —volleyball, basketball, badminton. I love racquet sports, so I played some tennis. I touched on pretty much everything except football and hockey. My mom was very precautionary with concussions, so those are the two I avoided.” Read the rest of this entry »