MLB Pipeline

Latest Episodes:

The 411 on the new Top 30s (Guest: Jackson Jobe) Mar 04, 2025

Show notes

As MLB Pipeline releases the brand-new 2025 Top 30 Prospects lists for all 30 organizations this week, Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff spend the latest edition of the Pipeline Podcast breaking down the farm systems one by one. Tigers right-hander Jackson Jobe, the No. 5-ranked prospect in baseball, joins Jonathan for an interview, and the guys answer a listener mailbag question about which Top 30 lists were the easiest and hardest to rank.

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Gearing Up For Top 30s, Spring Breakout Feb 25, 2025

Show notes

The next couple of weeks will feature the release of MLB Pipeline's organization Top 30 Prospects rankings and the second edition of Spring Breakout games, so those events were the focus of the latest Pipeline Podcast. Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff began by highlighting some lesser-known but interesting newcomers to the Top 30 lists, such as Cubs shortstop Juan Tomas and Reds outfielder Arnaldo Lantigua. Then they previewed the five Spring Breakout contests Jim and Jonathan will help broadcast on MLB Network, including premier showdowns between the Rays and Red Sox and the Cubs and Dodgers. After that, they shone the spotlight on some prospects making strong impressions in the first few days of exhibition games and answered a Draft-related question from the listener mailbag.

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The weather outside is frightful, but the baseball is delightful Feb 18, 2025

Show notes

With Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo bemoaning the frigid temps in their home towns, they warm things up by talking Spring Training and college baseball. With Major League camps getting going, they start by looking at Top 100 prospects who might have a chance to make their Opening Day rosters. From there, they dig into one of those prospects, Kristian Campbell, and how hard it is to find a historic parallel to his ascension in 2024 before shifting focus to college baseball's opening weekend and highlighting a handful of standout performances. They finish up, as always, with a question from the Mailbag

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Back To School (Guest: Jace LaViolette) Feb 11, 2025

Show notes

With the college baseball season starting on Friday, the Pipeline Podcast turns its focus in that direction. Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff discuss the best teams and the best prospects in the nation before interviewing outfielder Jace LaViolette, who's the consensus top college prospect and plays for No. 1-ranked Texas A&M. The guys also preview the best high school players in the country before answering a listener mailbag question about which under-the-radar guys they're most interested in seeing this season.

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More Top 100 Talk (Guest: Owen Caissie) Feb 04, 2025

Show notes

As work continues on team Top 30 rankings (coming the week of March 3!), there are still plenty of ways to slice and dice the already-released lists. On this week's episode of the MLB Pipeline Podcast, Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff do just that, starting with Jim and Jonathan drafting off the positional Top 10s, with the caveat of filling outa lineup while taking one prospect per ranking spot. After that, Jim chatted with Cubs outfield prospect Owen Caissie (No. 54 on the Top 100) before the gang talked about some prospects who just missed the list. As always, the episode concludes with a question from the mailbag, this time discussing who could make a Jackson Merrill-like jump to the big leagues in 2025.

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Hashing Out The Top 100 Jan 28, 2025

Show notes

MLB Pipeline released its preseason Top 100 Prospects list late last week, so Jim Callis, Sam Dykstra, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff dedicate the Pipeline Podcast to breaking down the rankings. They start with the guy at the very top, Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki, and where he fits among past No. 1 prospects and the best pitching prospects in recent memory. They also discuss the top of the list, the teams with the most Top 100 dudes, which prospects made the biggest upward moves in 2024 and who could follow them in 2025. The podcast finishes with the usual dip into the listener mailbag, this time for six Top 100-related questions.

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Top 10 lists & international signings Jan 21, 2025

Show notes

Nearing the launch of MLB Pipeline's new Top 100, the Pipeline Podcast crew gets you ready by looking at more of their Top 10 by Position lists. This week, Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff dig into four lists: second base, third base, shortstop and outfield. Then the guys bring in Jesse Borek to discuss how the international signing period has been going, as Jesse answers questions about Roki Sasaki and the rest of the 2025 class. As always, the pod closes with a question from the Mailbag, this one about prospects Jim and Jonathan think the other underrates.

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It's ranking season! (Guest: Kyle Teel) Jan 14, 2025

Show notes

The 2025 ranking season is underway and the MLB Pipeline Podcast wastes no time digging in to the first top 10 by position lists that have been published. Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Jason Ratliff break down the top 10 catchers list, which features nine of the 10 backstops from a year ago as well as the top 10 first basemen, with eight new names among them. Then the guys welcome in one of the catchers high up on that list, Kyle Teel, who was recently traded to the White Sox in the Garret Crochet deal. It's also the start of the international signing period, so the pod shifts to looking at the top names on the MLB Pipeline international Top 50, starting with the one creating the most buzz, Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki, before finishing up with a Mailbag question about international prospects who could land on the Top 100 a year from now.

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Polling The Executives Jan 07, 2025

Show notes

If it's a new year, it's time for Jonathan Mayo's annual MLB Pipeline Poll where he surveys dozens of front-office executives about several prospect-related topics. So naturally, Jonathan, Jim Callis and Jason Ratliff spend the majority of the latest Pipeline Podcast poring over the results: Rookie of the Year candidates, the best prospects in a variety of categories, the top individual tools in the Minors and which farm systems do the best in various areas. Afterward, Jim and Jonathan draft the most likely destinations for Japanese pitching sensation Roki Sasaki and answer not one but two questions from the listener mailbag.

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Looking back, looking ahead Dec 24, 2024

Show notes

In the final MLB Pipeline Podcast of 2024, Sam Dykstra and Jonathan Mayo take time to review the year that was as well as look ahead to what might be. They kicked things off by highlighting their favorite prospect-related moments from the '24 season, from the Paul Skenes-Jackson Holliday Spring Breakout matchup all the way through to seeing Andrew Painter pitch in the Arizona Fall League. Then they turned the page to look ahead to what's sure to be an exciting 2025 by discussing some intriguing storylines, including whether pitching prospects are back and who will be the No. 1 pick in the Draft. One of the biggest storylines will undoubtedly be Roki Sasaki, and Sam and Jonathan broke down which teams are best positioned to sign him before finishing things up by playing Santa for the Blue Jays farm system in this week's listener Mailbag.

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