Future Projection

Latest Episodes:

Episode 149: AL Central Farm Systems Dec 12, 2025

Show notes

Ben and Carlos continue their divisional prospect breakdown with the AL Central. The two analyze each team’s farm system, talk about the strengths and weaknesses, get into some of the top players and more.

—

Time Stamps:

(0:00) Intro
(2:00) Draft lottery
(9:20) AL Central talk
(10:45) Tigers
(40:40) Guardians
(1:03:10) Twins
(1:24:30) White Sox
(1:50:00) Royals

Do you have feedback for the show or want to ask us a question? Email us: futureprojection@baseballamerica.com.

Ben's Twitter: @BenBadler

Carlos's Newsletter: Fringe Average

Baseball America Website

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 148: AL East Farm Systems Dec 05, 2025

Show notes

Ben and Carlos continue their divisional prospect breakdown with the AL East. The two analyze each team’s farm system, talk about the strengths and weaknesses, get into some of the top players and more.

—

Time Stamps:

(0:00) Intro
(5:30) AL East overview
(8:00) Red Sox
(33:30) Orioles
(58:00) Blue Jays
(1:16:00) Rays
(1:36:00) Yankees

Do you have feedback for the show or want to ask us a question? Email us: futureprojection@baseballamerica.com.

Ben's Twitter: @BenBadler

Carlos's Newsletter: Fringe Average

Baseball America Website

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 147: Biggest Draft Busts, Thanksgiving Food Grades & More Mailbag Questions Nov 26, 2025

Show notes

Ben and Carlos throw the mailbag wide open and take a variety of listener questions ahead of Thanksgiving. The two put grades on Thanksgiving dishes and also spend plenty of time talking about prospects, scouting, baseball jargon, sleepers, potential position switches, draft busts, personal cheeseballs and more.

—

Time Stamps:

(0:00) Intro
(3:00) Thanksgiving food grades
(14:00) What do we mean by hitterish?
(28:30) Biggest personal cheeseball hits?
(35:00) Pitchers beyond the first round who could pop
(43:00) Who has the best command in the 2026 class?
(50:00) Is travel ball a scam? Has it been good or harmful?
(1:00:00) Biggest draft busts?
(1:12:50) Should Rainiel Rodriguez move off catcher?
(1:14:30) Who are the top 2027 northeast arms to know?

Do you have feedback for the show or want to ask us a question? Email us: futureprojection@baseballamerica.com.

Ben's Twitter: @BenBadler

Carlos's Newsletter: Fringe Average

Baseball America Website

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 146: NL West Farm Systems Nov 21, 2025

Show notes

Ben and Carlos continue their divisional prospect breakdown with the NL West. The two analyze each team’s farm system, talk about the strengths and weaknesses, get into some of the top players and more.

—

Time Stamps:

(0:00) Intro
(5:30) Dodgers
(31:40) Giants
(56:30) D-backs
(1:18:00) Rockies
(1:41:10) Padres

Do you have feedback for the show or want to ask us a question? Email us: futureprojection@baseballamerica.com.

Ben's Twitter: @BenBadler

Carlos's Newsletter: Fringe Average

Baseball America Website

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 145: NL Central Farm Systems Nov 14, 2025

Show notes

Ben and Carlos continue their divisional prospect breakdown with the NL Central. The two analyze each team’s farm system, talk about the strengths and weaknesses, get into some of the top players and more.

—

Time Stamps:

(0:00) Intro
(8:00) Brewers
(41:00) Pirates
(1:00:00) Cardinals
(1:25:00) Reds
(1:42:00) Cubs

Do you have feedback for the show or want to ask us a question? Email us: futureprojection@baseballamerica.com.

Ben's Twitter: @BenBadler

Carlos's Newsletter: Fringe Average

Baseball America Website

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 144: NL East Farm Systems Nov 07, 2025

Show notes

Ben and Carlos kick off their annual farm system review series with the NL East. The two talk through each farm system, discuss development and acquisition trends, break down the top players in each system and try to talk through where players and orgs will rank in the greater prospect landscape.

—

Time Stamps:

(0:00) Quick World Series recap
(3:00) Rockies struggles
(13:00) Mets
(40:00) Marlins
(1:02:00) Nationals
(1:18:00) Phillies
(1:42:00) Braves

Do you have feedback for the show or want to ask us a question? Email us: futureprojection@baseballamerica.com.

Ben's Twitter: @BenBadler

Carlos's Newsletter: Fringe Average

Baseball America Website

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 143: How Did Teams Miss On Trey Yesavage? Oct 31, 2025

Show notes

Ben and Carlos talk about Trey Yesavage’s lights out start in the World Series and think back to draft day when he fell further than expected to the Blue Jays at 20. The two talk about how medical questions impact the decision-making process for signing players and then turn to the AFL. Which high-performing hitters from the league are we buying and which are we selling? The two then briefly touch on some of the managerial hires around the league and answer a listener question about scouting shortstop defense.

—

Time Stamps:

(0:00) Intro
(3:00) Trey Yesavage’s slide on draft day
(13:00) Where will Yesavage rank on the 100
(14:30) Do doctors have too much say in the draft room?
(22:00) Who’s running the room on signing decisions?
(31:30) AFL standouts
(32:00) Esmerlyn Valdez
(36:30) Josh Adamczewski
(42:00) Luke Adams
(51:00) Seaver King
(58:00) Max Anderson
(1:00:30) Kevin McGonigle
(1:03:30) MLB managerial hires
(1:12:30) What are the “three” things we look for with shortstops?

Do you have feedback for the show or want to ask us a question? Email us: futureprojection@baseballamerica.com.

Ben's Twitter: @BenBadler

Carlos's Newsletter: Fringe Average

Baseball America Website

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 142: Question Marks & Sleepers In The 2026 Draft Class Oct 24, 2025

Show notes

Ben and Carlos talk about the official news that Tennessee coach Tony Vitello is moving to the majors and discuss some of the strategic managerial lessons that can be learned from this year’s postseason. The two then talk about our October draft update and explore some of the question marks in the 2026 class beyond Roch Cholowsky and Grady Emerson. The two discuss a handful of their favorite sleeper candidates to move into the first round and then take a listener question about batter handedness.

—

Time Stamps:

(0:30) Tony Vitello news
(6:15) Implications for the Giants
(13:00) Strategic lessons to learn from the ALCS
(20:00) More thoughts on MLB bullpen management
(28:00) Draft class talk
(35:00) Justin Lebron & Tyler Bell
(39:00) College pitching
(44:00) High school pitching
(53:30) Players who have a chance to jump into the first round
(1:06:00) Valuing lefty hitters and righty hitters

Do you have feedback for the show or want to ask us a question? Email us: futureprojection@baseballamerica.com.

Ben's Twitter: @BenBadler

Carlos's Newsletter: Fringe Average

Baseball America Website

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 141: Gold Glove Finalists & Prospects With Gold Glove Potential Oct 17, 2025

Show notes

Ben and Carlos talk about the finalists for the 2025 gold glove awards and talk about the players’ defensive backgrounds leading up to now. Who were the no-brainer gold glove winners as amateurs, and who are the players who surprise us now that they are? After that the two talk about some of the top minor league candidates to win future gold glove awards. They also talk about 2027 high school catcher Will Brick jumping into the 2026 class and wonder where all the high school catching talent has gone in recent years. Finally they tackle a few listener questions.

—

Time Stamps

(0:00) Intro
(2:00) Gold glove nominees
(4:30) Catchers (Alejandro Kirk and Patrick Bailey)
(15:20) First base (Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bryce Harper)
(21:00) Second base (Brice Turang, Xavier Edwards)
(24:40) Third base (Matt Shaw, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Ryan McMahon)
(32:00) Shortstop (Corey Seager, Mookie Betts, Bobby Witt Jr.)
(48:00) Left field (Wyatt Langford, Tyler Soderstrom)
(52:00) Center field (Pete Crow Armstrong, Ceddanne Rafaela, Jacob Young, Julio Rodriguez)
(1:02:00) Right field (Fernando Tatis Jr., Sal Frelick, Corbin Carroll)
(1:07:00) Will Brick and high school catchers
(1:22:00) Minor league gold glove candidates
(1:37:00) Grady Emerson & Jacob Lombard vs. Max Clark & Walker Jenkins
(1:42:00) LSU and Tennessee 2027 recruiting classes

Do you have feedback for the show or want to ask us a question? Email us: futureprojection@baseballamerica.com.

Ben's Twitter: @BenBadler

Carlos's Newsletter: Fringe Average

Baseball America Website

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 140: How To Find Breakout Prospects Oct 10, 2025

Show notes

Ben and Carlos talk about the Arizona Fall League and the degree to which it matters. The two pick out a few players they are excited about in the league, then turn to Ben’s piece on hitting standouts in the Dominican Summer League. The two compare and contrast top prospects like Josuar Gonzalez and Elian Peña to draftees like Ethan Holliday and Eli Willits, then take listener questions including: should we give Angel Genao and Cam Collier mulligans? Is Joshua Baez’s breakout legit? And what do we look for when trying to find out if a prospect is breaking out?

—

Time Stamps