Jonathan Mayo

The Surprise Saguaros won their second straight Arizona Fall League title on Saturday, with their 6-5 victory closing the book on the AFL’s 31st season. As has been the case for the past three decades, the Fall League has been a place to catch the best prospects in action, and

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Marc Kroon played professional baseball for nearly two decades. He reached the big leagues with the Padres, Reds and Rockies. He racked up 177 saves in Japan, setting a then-record for hardest pitch thrown at 102 mph. But his most famous strikeout might have come back in

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- In his first Arizona Fall League game on Oct. 2, Astros outfielder Kenedy Corona injured a finger diving back into first base on a pickoff play. It looked like his AFL experience with the Mesa Solar Sox might be over before it really got started. Some players

MESA, Ariz. -- It’s been said that hitting can be contagious. Hao-Yu Lee, the Tigers’ No. 8 prospect, agrees and was thrilled to be invited to the Arizona Fall League to catch that contagion. It had been a frustrating season for the 20-year-old second baseman, who navigated through a trade,

MESA, Ariz. -- It can take a village to help a hitter find success. Orioles No. 29 prospect Billy Cook has not had the Arizona Fall League experience he might have hoped, though he did hit a walk-off home run in the opening week of the season. But something might

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- By all accounts, Mets right-hander Jordan Geber shouldn’t be here, pitching in pro ball, let alone the Arizona Fall League. The 24-year old spent four seasons, including the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, at Mount St. Mary’s in Maryland. With an extra year of eligibility, he landed at Virginia

Boy have I lucked out. I’m in Arizona for Fall League coverage. And now the World Series is coming here. The baseball stars have aligned. I can continue to watch the best prospects in the game in the AFL and also enjoy watching the prospects and rookies (Corbin Carroll and

Once upon a time, and for a long time, Major League Baseball’s final regular-standings would, for the most part, determine the following year’s Draft order. Take the reverse order of standings and, voila, that’s how teams would pick. - Complete Draft coverage | Top high school Draft prospects | Top

A year ago, MLB Pipeline’s top 20 high school prospects list for the 2023 Draft was headlined by outfielders Max Clark and Walker Jenkins. Not only did that duo go in the top five of the Draft last July, they were two of nine prepsters on that list to go

Gabriel Rincones Jr. plays with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder, but it’s seems to work for him. He wasn’t heavily recruited and headed to a junior college after high school. From there, he went to Florida Atlantic, a solid program, but not one in a power