MLB Pipeline

Latest Episodes:

Winter Meetings Wonderland (Guest: Mike Shirley) Dec 11, 2025

Show notes

The Winter Meetings in Orlando are a hub of baseball activity, and Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff break it all down on the latest edition of the Pipeline Podcast. They begin by discussing the ramifications of the Draft Lottery and Jonathan talks to White Sox scouting director Mike Shirley about his team claiming the No. 1 overall pick. Then they shift their focus to another draft -- the Rule 5 Draft -- and analyze the 13 prospects taken, starting with No. 1 choice R.J. Petit (Tigers to Rockies). After celebrating the annual Scout of the Year winners, they circle back to the Rule 5 Draft with a listener mailbag question.

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Trade & Draft(s) Fever Dec 02, 2025

Show notes

With the impending release of MLB Pipeline's Draft Top 100 just before the Winter Meetings set to start this weekend, Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff have plenty to unpack on the latest Pipeline Podcast. They begin by previewing the Meetings, taking a look at the Draft Lottery and the Rule 5 Draft before discussing which teams have the prospects and motivation to make significant trades. Next, the guys give a sneak peek at the Draft Top 100 by talking about two of the crop's deepest demographics, shortstops (led by clear No. 1 overall prospect Roch Cholowsky of UCLA) and high school left-handers. They wrap things up with one of the more thought-provoking listener-mailbag questions ever, debating the merits of Paul Skenes vs Roki Sasaki . . . in March 2023.

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Gratitude abounds Nov 25, 2025

Show notes

There's so much to be grateful for in the prospect world and in this Thanksgiving week episode of the MLB Pipeline Podcast, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo dig into those things like it's a pumpkin pie. The duo list things they're grateful for in Pipeline-land, from the Arizona Fall League to the College World Series to the tireless efforts of (in no particular order): scouts, player development staff, the MLB Pipeline department and their spouses. In addition to discussing gratitude, Jim and Jonathan break down the prospect impact of the Brandon Nimmo-for-Marcus Semien swap and unpack the breaking news of Sonny Gray being dealt to the Red Sox. They also took one last look at the AFL via Jim's Top 30 Prospects list, discussed 40-man roster decisions and the new All-Star Week schedule that flips the Draft and the Futures Game before taking two Mailbag questions about intriguing pitching prospects.

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AFL Wrapup & Roster Ramblings (Guest: Max Anderson) Nov 18, 2025

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In the latest Pipeline Podcast, Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo & Jason Ratliff put a bow on the just-concluded Arizona Fall League season. They recap the playoffs and the award winners before Jim interviews AFL batting champion Max Anderson (Tigers). Then they shift their focus to difficult roster decisions teams faced as they finalized their 40-man roster to protect prospects from the Rule 5 Draft at the Winter Meetings. They also look forward to the most intriguing matchups on the 2026 Spring Breakout schedule before circling back to the Fall League for a listener mailbag question.

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AFL homestretch and Rookies of the Year (Guest: Tommy White) Nov 11, 2025

Show notes

It's the final week of the Arizona Fall League and that was the focus for much of this week's MLB Pipeline Podcast. Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff broke down all the action from last weekend's Fall Stars Game and discussed contenders for the league's awards, from MVP to breakout player. Then Jonathan sat down with A's infield prospect Tommy White to talk about his AFL experience and his hopes to join an exciting young big league roster. From there, the guys discussed the 2025 Rookies of the Year (and the fact both Nick Kurtz and Drake Baldwin played in the AFL last year) and then made pick for frontrunners for the 2026 award before answering a Mailbag question about one of those contenders, Blue Jays right-hander Trey Yesavage.

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More Fall (Classic and League) talk (Guest: Dante Nori) Nov 04, 2025

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On the latest edition of the Pipeline Podcast, Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff put a bow on the recently completed World Series by recapping the drama and the many heroes on both sides. Next up are discussions of the Rookie of the Year finalists, the always perilous long-term rookie rankings (Roman Anthony vs. Nick Kurtz!) and the Gold Glove winners. Then the guys shift their focus to the Minors (which current prospects could win big league Gold Gloves in 2026) and the Arizona Fall League (Jonathan interviews Phillies outfielder Dante Nori, plus players to look forward to in the Fall Stars Game). As always, the podcast concludes with a listener mailbag question, this time about which Top 100 Prospects are the best bets to win future Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers.

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A World Series Classic, Plus AFL Musings (Guest: Daniel Espino) Oct 28, 2025

Show notes

Our Pipeline Podcast hosts still have a little gas left in the tank after an epic 18-inning World Series contest, and Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff begin by discussing the Game 3 thriller featuring typical heroes (Freedie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani) and one we never saw coming (Will Klein). After that, they shift their focus to the Arizona Fall League. They talk about the most recent Hitter and Pitcher of the Week (Tigers infielder Kevin McGonigle, Astros right-hander James Hicks) and spotlight Statcast standouts such as Pirates outfielder Esmerlyn Valdez and Tigers infielder Max Anderson. Jonathan interviews Guardians right-hander Daniel Espino, who's showcasing some of the best stuff in the Fall League after missing more than three years following a pair of shoulder surgeries, and then the guys wrap it up with a mailbag question about which farm systems have stood out the most in the AFL.

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Fall classics... in Arizona (Guest: Walker Janek) Oct 21, 2025

Show notes

While the baseball world understandably has much of its focus on the impeding World Series, the MLB Pipeline crew has been keeping tabs on the other exciting action in the Arizona Fall League. Sam Dykstra, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff spent the bulk of this week's episode digging into the AFL, from top performances from Pirates sluggers Esmerlyn Valdez and Tony Blanco Jr. to pitching performances from the Orioles left-hander Luis De Leon. Sam also sat down with Astros No. 4 prospect Walker Janek, who is off to a hot start in Arizona. The gang did spend some time on the World Series, looking at how the Dodgers and Blue Jays were built and how members of both rosters stack up as former prospects before answering a Mailbag question about one of them, Trey Yesavage.

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The Fall League is underway (Guest: Max Muncy) Oct 14, 2025

Show notes

Despite uncharacteristic rainouts wreaking some havoc on Week 1 of the Arizona Fall League, there was plenty of action to discuss for Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff on this week's episode. They talked about the Hitter and Pitcher of the Week as well as some other standout performers from the first set of games before Jim chatted with A's rookie Max Muncy, who is back in the AFL for the second time. Then Jason quizzed Jim and Jonathan on preseason prospect predictions they made last winter before answering a question from the Mailbag.

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Rookies In The Spotlight (Guest: Kevin McGonigle) Oct 07, 2025

Show notes

On the latest edition of the MLB Pipeline Podcast, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo focus on the rookie pitchers who have delivered huge performances in the playoffs: Cam Schlittler (Yankees), Trey Yesavage (Blue Jays), Roki Sasaki (Dodgers) and Jacob Misiorowski (Brewers). Also regarding the postseason, they discuss the prospect pedigrees of the participants, including seven players who ranked No. 1 on the Top 100 Prospects list. The Arizona Fall League has started, so there's plenty of AFL talk, including an interview with the highest-rated prospect in the desert, Tigers shortstop Kevin McGonigle, as well as a related listener mailbag question.

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