Most Valuable Agent with Matt Hannaford

Latest Episodes:

Is a Travel Team Really Necessary? Jun 24, 2026

Show notes

You think the $45,000 travel team is buying your kid a shot at the next level. A former pro hockey player explains why that promise is youth sports' biggest lie.

Every youth-sports parent gets sold the same promise: pay for the elite travel team, the tournament, the showcase, the year-round travel — and your kid will get seen, get recruited, get to the next level. In this conversation, a former NHL player who now runs a development hockey program takes that promise apart from the inside. He came up as one of the only kids from inner-city Philadelphia ever drafted to the NHL, so he is not guessing about what actually moves a player forward. He's seen it with his own eyes.

His message: being recruitable is not the same as being seen. You can go to every event, be at every showcase or every tournament and still go nowhere, because what evaluators are actually buying is what your kid not only does when people are watching but what they do when nobody is watching — the extra reps after practice, the attitude, their ability to grind and to be a self-starter. He calls that the "it factor," and you cannot buy it with an expensive travel program. He explains why being a big fish in a small pond may actually develop your kid faster than sitting on the bench for a "number one" travel team, and how the state that develops the most hockey players in the country does it for far less money, through local high school programs, not pay-to-play clubs.

Matt connects every point to baseball and to the trap parents fall into — dipping into retirement money for a travel-ball promise that was never real — and reframes your actual job as a youth sports parent: not the snowplow clearing the road, but the gardener feeding the conditions and letting the kid grow. In the back half, the guest takes you inside the NHL salary cap from a player's seat — escrow, what the cap is really built to protect, and whether it creates competitive balance at all — and Matt stress-tests the parity myth against real payroll-vs-results examples from MLB.

If you are spending real money chasing exposure for your kid, watch the first twenty minutes before you write the next check.

Chapters

0:00 — The promise youth sports sells you

2:16 — From inner-city Philadelphia to the NHL

13:52 — The $45,000-a-year trap

15:19 — The "it factor": what your kid does when nobody's watching

18:33 — Exposure vs. development — you've got it backwards

20:24 — Being recruitable is not the same as being seen

24:11 — Why Minnesota develops more players for a couple thousand dollars

29:30 — Your real job as a parent: the gardener, not the snowplow

44:48 — Inside the NHL salary cap — escrow and what it really protects

52:31 — Does a salary cap actually create parity?

#youthsports #travelsports #sportsparenting #athletedevelopment #MVAPodcast

The Hidden Negotiation Behind Your MLB Signing Bonus Jun 17, 2026

Show notes

If you are a baseball parent waiting on the MLB Draft, the wait is the hard part — and rushing it is the mistake. MLB agent Matt Hannaford breaks down what actually happens in the months and weeks before draft day, so you know what to do when a team starts testing your number.

Most families think a scout in the stands means their player is on the radar. Matt explains why that depends entirely on which scout is watching. There is a chain of command behind every pick: the area scout who is boots on the ground gathering information, the regional cross-checker who ranks your player against an entire region, the national cross-checker who covers the whole country, and finally the scouting director and sometimes the general manager. If the only scouts ever watching your son are area scouts, you are not getting drafted in the first three rounds — no matter how the spring season goes.

You will also learn why you do not have to attend every pre-draft workout you are invited to. Matt walks through the call he had with a scouting director who told him, honestly, to send his player to a different workout — proof that an invitation is not the same as real interest. He explains when a private workout is worth the flight and the money, why a combine invitation usually beats stacking individual workouts (every team is there), and how getting invited to a workout rarely raises your value by the hundreds of thousands of dollars families imagine it will.

Then Matt gets into the part every family is really waiting for: signability and the signing bonus. He lays out the three ways players set their number, how the week-before-draft "big board" puts your player in play at specific picks, and how teams get creative with slot money — including the strategy used by clubs like the Milwaukee Brewers, who underpay early picks in the top 10 rounds to hand a player a much larger bonus in the 11th. He uses Austin Riley, who went to several workouts as a high school senior and still went in the first round, to show that one rough workout does not end your career.

The center of the episode is leverage. Matt tells the story of a player last year who held firm on his number while a scouting director called three separate times — first trying to knock off hundreds of thousands of dollars, then 150,000 less, then 50,000 less — while the area scout called the player directly to test whether the number was real. The player got his number. Matt explains why that only ever works when the player and the family are genuinely comfortable walking away and attending college, and why the draft is not the finish line. It is the beginning. This conversation connects directly to college recruiting, the transfer portal, travel ball, and NIL decisions every baseball family is navigating right now.

ABOUT THE MVA PODCAST

Matt Hannaford is an MLB agent who gives you the insider playbook on college recruiting, the transfer portal, and MLB Draft decisions. The Most Valuable Agent Podcast helps parents and players navigate the system with confidence.

LINKS & RESOURCES

Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@mostvaluableagent

MVA Website: https://www.aligndsports.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mfhannaford/

#MVAPodcast #MLBDraft #CollegeBaseball #SigningBonus #BaseballRecruiting

Danny Espinosa: How a big leaguer would develop your kid Jun 10, 2026

Show notes

A former MLB player who coaches travel baseball says winning tournaments is quietly stunting your kid. Subscribe for the insider playbook.

Most travel baseball parents measure a weekend by the scoreboard. Danny Espinosa measures it differently. A former MLB infielder, Long Beach State Dirt Bag, and owner-coach of the OC Crush, Danny sat down with MLB agent Matt Hannaford to explain why a team can win every tournament and develop almost no one. The conversation opens with something Danny witnessed at a 9U event: coaches stealing signs and relaying pitches to nine-year-olds. When he called it out, a coach told him that he should get on board because this is the new age of travel ball. The point that follows is the one you need. Relaying signs may win a game, but it teaches your kid nothing about how to develop properly.

From there, Danny and Matt separate two words parents constantly confuse: advanced and developed. The biggest, strongest 10-year-old usually succeeds early. That is not the same as the player who learns the game properly and keeps growing at 16, 17 and 18. Danny explains why he refuses to cut kids off his own roster, why he would rather a young player build strength and athleticism than obsessing over mechanical adjustments he is not physically ready to repeat, and why Freddy Freeman, whose son plays on Danny's team, preaches the importance of not over-coaching. If you have ever wondered whether your kid needs the best private hitting coach in the area, this section answers it.

The most expensive mistake in youth baseball, according to this conversation, is chasing exposure. Matt makes the insider case directly: exposure does not matter until your child's junior year of high school, around 16 or 17. Before that, Danny asks the question that often stops parents in their tracks. Exposure to what? Your local high school will take the best players, regardless of how many showcases you paid for. The episode reframes the obsession on parents to spend. Put development first, and exposure becomes a byproduct of doing everything else well.

Matt and Danny also work through the questions parents need to ask. Should your kid specialize in baseball or play multiple sports, and why did Bo Jackson's answer surprise a guy who believed the opposite? How many games is too many across across a season? Why are holdbacks a problem for some, especially when it's done too early and the result is a 13-year-old gets hit a line drive at 50 feet, and how might the NCAA five-and-five rule correct it? Adjacent topics include college recruiting, the transfer portal, scholarships, NIL, the MLB Draft and showcases.

It ends where it should. Danny explains why he never talks to his sons in the car after a game, and what his own parents told him that he now repeats to his kids: whether you play one more day, I will always love you regardless of the outcome. If you are deciding how much to invest in your child's baseball, this conversation will change your perspective.

About

Matt Hannaford is an MLB agent who gives you the insider playbook on college recruiting, the transfer portal and MLB Draft decisions. The Most Valuable Agent Podcast helps parents and players navigate the system with confidence.

Links

Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@mostvaluableagent

MVA Website: https://www.aligndsports.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mfhannaford/

#MVAPodcast #TravelBaseball #YouthBaseballDevelopment #CollegeBaseball #MLBDraft

How You Act in the Stands Affects Your Son's Draft Stock (An MLB Agent Explains) Jun 03, 2026

Show notes

You think MLB scouts are evaluating your son. They are. But they are evaluating you just as carefully — and what they see in you can move your son's draft stock up or down by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

MLB agent Matt Hannaford sits down with Mike Liguori to break down what scouts actually watch for when they evaluate a draft prospect, why the in-home visit matters as much as the at-bat, and the effect of a single team's draft-day board pivot and how it directly impacts a family.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

Why scouts spend just as much time evaluating your family as they do your son's swing
What in-home visits and Zoom calls reveal that game film cannot
How one of Matt's clients became a first-round pick because of who his family was, not just how he played
Why the draft board pivots after pick 1 — and how it can impact whether you sign or not
How to prepare your son for the draft so a multi-million dollar target doesn't become a $100,000 disappointment
How travel ball volume, social media pressure, and the "dad wound" all show up in scout reports

In this episode, Matt Hannaford explains why MLB area scouts, cross-checkers, scouting directors, and general managers spend so much time on in-home visits. The scout is not just confirming athletic ability — that work is mostly done by draft day. The in-home visit is where the organization grades how the family functions: does the dad let the kid talk, have the mom and dad raised their son well, does the player answer a question well. Every interaction gets logged, and what gets evaluated both with the players performance and a family dynamic shapes how much money the organization could be willing to invest.

Matt walks through a real example: a recent first-round pick whose draft stock was lifted specifically because of family makeup. As Matt puts it, every team in the room said the same thing — if the kid had not been who he is off the field, he would not have gone in the first round. That is what scouts mean when they say "makeup matters." There is on-the-field makeup (do you run hard, do you play the right way) and off-the-field makeup (who are you as a person, how do you communicate, how do you handle failure, what does your home environment say about who that organization thinks you can become). All get scored.

The episode also walks through the draft-day mechanics most families never see. Only one team — the team picking first overall — actually knows what they are doing in advance. Everyone else builds their board live as the picks come in. Matt tells the story of a client years ago who had a clear plan: a specific team picking fourth had told the family they should get to their target number. Then the player that team didn't expect to still be available at pick four was, and it changed everything. Their ideal player fell to them at four. They overpaid to get him. And every pick after that caused them to save money on. The board got reshaped in real time and ended up making compromise calls in the 15th round: a million became 500,000, then 300,000, then 100,000.

The lesson for you, the parent, is preparation. The families who get the best outcomes are not the ones who buy into the hype that the draft will go exactly as planned. They need to have a backup plan — a strong college commitment to a school the player is excited to attend. If your son ends up on a college campus, they need to recognize that for being a positive. And if a team ends up offering life-changing money then that's a decision they should be prepared to make in a moment. Either outcome needs to be analyzed and vetted well before the draft but both must be seen as a good outcome or you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Not because that's a guarantee but because it's how the draft functions. That scenario is real and being prepared for it will give you the best chance for success no matter how it goes.

Matt also addresses the bigger pattern under all of this: the wounds from parents that are created in travel ball that last well into adulthood. Big league players in their 20s and 30s still carry the imprint of how their parents pushed them at 10, 11, 12. Some of them used that pressure to fuel their careers. Many of them also lost the ability to communicate with the parent because of it. The point of this episode is not to make you feel like you are failing — it is to invite you to ask whether what you are doing today is going to help your son for the next ten to twenty years, not just the next ten to twenty games.

Listen all the way through for Matt's breakdown of the major showcases and tournaments that actually get pro scouts and college recruiting coordinators in attendance — Perfect Game, the WWBA in Atlanta, the PG National Showcase, the Area Code Games, and East Coast Pro, Team USA — and the difference between going to an event to be seen versus going to an event to compete.

Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday at 6 AM ET. Send your questions in the comments — Matt reads them.

ABOUT MATT HANNAFORD

Matt Hannaford is an MLB agent with over 25 years of experience guiding families through college recruiting, the transfer portal, and the MLB Draft. This is where you get the insider playbook — direct from the agent room — so you can make decisions with confidence instead of pressure.

LINKS & RESOURCES

Alignd Website: https://www.aligndsports.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mfhannaford/

#CollegeBaseball #MLBDraft #TravelBaseball #BaseballParents #YouthBaseball

The Car Ride Home Is Killing Your Son's Game (An MLB Agent Explains) May 27, 2026

Show notes

What you say to your son on the car ride home after a bad game can either build him up or push him out of the sport. MLB agent Matt Hannaford gives you the framework to get it right.

In this solo Q&A episode, Matt answers three of the most-asked questions from parents and players: If you have a son who's a draft prospect, already committed to a college, and is heading into his senior year in High School, what events over the summer he should attend, what to actually say to your son after a bad game, and how to help build mental toughness in a 9-year-old who tends to melt down.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

✓ How the 2026 MLB Draft timeline changes which summer events get heavily scouted (and which ones don't)

✓ Why the PG National Showcase is a prerequisite — but only if your son wants the PG All American invite

✓ The exact events that put your son in front of every decision-maker: East Coast Pro in Birmingham, Area Codes in Long Beach, the All American Game in Philadelphia

✓ The one question to ask yourself before you say anything to your son in the car

✓ Why questions outperform statements every time, and the gravity analogy that explains it

✓ How to handle dugout meltdowns at age 9 without coddling or breaking your kid

✓ The expectations and agreements conversation most baseball parents never have

Matt Hannaford is a 26-year MLB agent who walks you through the summer draft event strategy first. He breaks down the WWBA in Atlanta, why the 2026 draft's mid-July timing affects which scouts show up, the PG National Showcase as the gateway to the PG All American Game, the East Coast Pro in Birmingham as arguably the most important event of the summer, the Area Codes in Long Beach as its West Coast counterpart, and the Worldwide Bat in Jupiter as the last-chance redemption event. He references conversations on this podcast with Mike Wagner (National Scouting Director, Yankees), Alex McClure (West Coast Crosschecker, Tigers), and Chris Gross (Scouting Director, Mets) for the in-home visit context.

The middle of the episode is the heaviest one. Matt walks you through the car ride home — what scouts and college coaches are evaluating, what to ask yourself before you open your mouth, and why most parents are having the wrong conversation. The gravity analogy lands here: when you push, your son pushes back. The fix is questions, not statements. How does that feel? What about it is frustrating? Is now the right time, or should we talk later? Matt also reframes failure as a relationship problem — your son isn't failing, he's a human being who plays baseball, and the identity work is what separates the kids who keep playing from the ones who quit.

The final question covers a 9-year-old having meltdowns in the dugout. Matt's answer is direct: at nine, the responsibility falls on the parent, and the fix is the expectations and agreements framework. Most parents have unspoken expectations and then get frustrated when the kid doesn't meet them. The fix is to articulate what mental toughness looks like at this age, get the agreement, and then hold the line. Work hard. Respect the game. No helmet throws. No disrespect. That's the deal — and if you can't commit, the family isn't going to keep committing time, money, and missed vacations to it.

ABOUT THE MVA PODCAST

CONNECT WITH MATT

Alignd Sports Agency: https://www.aligndsports.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mfhannaford/

#CollegeBaseball #MLBDraft #BaseballParents #YouthBaseball #TravelBaseball

Why Your Son Doesn't Want to Practice Anymore (An MLB Agent's Honest Answer) May 20, 2026

Show notes

You think you know what's wrong with your son's swing — but an MLB agent says you're solving the wrong problem.

MLB agent Matt Hannaford answers three questions baseball parents keep sending in: how to tell if your son is losing his love for the game, whether you should coach his swing at home, and how to handle the toxic parents at the travel ball field.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

✓ The 'carry the torch' mistake that pushes sons out of baseball

✓ Why the mechanical fix you've identified is probably wrong

✓ The conversation that reveals whether your son actually wants this

✓ What MLB scouts notice about parents at 10U travel tournaments

✓ The field self-test most baseball dads have never asked themselves

In this solo Q&A, Matt Hannaford pulls from 26 years as an MLB agent to answer the questions you keep sending in about navigating travel baseball, college recruiting, and youth development. The episode opens with a parent whose son no longer asks to go to the batting cages — a moment most baseball parents will recognize. Matt walks through the 'vision conversation' framework: what to ask your son before assuming you know what's going on, and why parents who try to 'carry the torch' for their kids rarely get the outcome they're hoping for.

The second question comes from a dad whose son's hands are dropping after a couple of home runs. Matt's counter-intuitive answer: don't be so sure you know the mechanical fix. At the highest level, the fix is rarely mechanical — it's usually pitch selection or what the hitter is thinking before the pitch. Matt explains how to deliver swing information so your son actually receives it, and why a hitting coach or facility should usually have the conversation before you do.

The third question is about a 'toxic' travel ball dad telling everyone his 10-year-old son is going Division I. Matt's advice: don't engage. He walks through the three scenarios that always solve themselves, and the field self-test every baseball parent should run on themselves. The same self-awareness theme runs through all three questions, and the same insider perspective on what scouts, college coaches, and MLB organizations actually look for in players and the families around them. Adjacent topics covered include NIL deals, scholarship conversations, MLB Draft preparation, and the transfer portal pressure that builds earlier than most parents realize.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 - Are you that parent at the field?

1:21 - When your son stops asking to go hit

6:21 - The vision conversation framework

10:57 - Why the swing fix is never mechanical

11:34 - How to deliver advice so your son receives it

18:17 - The toxic baseball parent always solves itself

22:26 - The field self-test every parent should run

ABOUT THE MVA PODCAST

Matt Hannaford is an MLB agent who gives you the insider playbook on travel ball parenting, college recruiting, the transfer portal, scouting and MLB Draft decisions. The Most Valuable Agent Podcast helps parents and players navigate the system with confidence.

CONNECT WITH MATT

Alignd Sports Agency: https://www.aligndsports.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mfhannaford/

#TravelBaseball #YouthBaseball #BaseballParents #MLBDraft

Stop Paying for Exposure — Your 11-Year-Old Doesn't Need It May 13, 2026

Show notes

You're probably spending too much on travel baseball for the wrong reasons — and the people telling you it's necessary are the ones who benefit when you do.

MLB agent Matt Hannaford answers three listener questions that hit the same nerve every travel ball parent shares: how much is too much, when does specialization actually make sense, and what do you do when a coach is treating your kid unfairly.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

- Why no college coach or pro scout is watching your 11-year-old play — and what that means for where to spend your money

- The hierarchy most travel ball families have backwards: exposure, competition, development — and why flipping it is the only path that actually works

- When sport specialization makes sense (and the warning sign that it's happening too early)

- The Tommy John surgery reality nobody tells you about — and why a 13-year-old with a torn UCL has a problem his parents don't understand yet

- How to talk to a youth coach about playing time without your kid paying the price

Matt opens with a question from Steve, a parent who just paid $3,200 for summer travel ball for his 11-year-old son and is staring down another $7,000 of expenses this year. Matt's answer reframes the entire spending conversation. No college coach is scouting 11-year-olds. No pro scout is scouting 11-year-olds. The only people scouting 11-year-olds are other travel ball programs trying to recruit your kid into the next paid tier.

From there, Matt walks through the development-first hierarchy and explains why it has to come before competition and exposure, not after. He uses Brandon Nimmo as a real example — a first-round MLB draft pick who came out of Wyoming and barely attended any showcase events in high school. The lesson: if your son is good enough, they will find him. The events most parents are told they have to attend are not the gatekeepers parents think they are.

Rick's question follows: his 10-year-old's travel coach is telling the family to drop soccer and focus on baseball year-round. Matt pulls from his own multi-sport background — hockey, baseball, basketball, football — and from the Aspen Institute research on youth burnout to explain why early specialization is being sold to families who do not need it. He shares a story from his own client base: a travel ball coach whose player tore his UCL after a parent ignored a rest warning and took the kid to play in another team's tournament. The doctor's recommendation: put baseball down for six years.

The final question comes from Sean, whose son was moved to batting ninth after one fielding error — despite hitting .380. Matt names what is actually happening here. Coaches do not move hitters down for a defensive error. That is a coach with an axe to grind, not a coaching decision. He gives parents and high school players a step-by-step framework for the conversation: do not complain about lineup spot, ask what specifically the coach needs to see for trust to be earned back, and hold the coach accountable to his own answer. The episode covers college recruiting timing, the WWBA tournament in Atlanta, Perfect Game events in Jupiter, and what USA Baseball selection actually looks like.

ABOUT THE SHOW

Matt Hannaford is an MLB agent with 26 years representing Major League Baseball players. He gives you the insider playbook on travel baseball, college recruiting, the transfer portal, and MLB Draft decisions so you can navigate the system with confidence and stop being sold to.

CONNECT WITH MATT

Alignd Sports Agency: https://www.aligndsports.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mfhannaford/

#TravelBaseball #YouthSports #MLBDraft #BaseballParent

The Goal Isn't To Be the Best 8-Year-Old — It's To Be the Best 18-Year-Old May 06, 2026

Show notes

Kevin Gergel played at Georgia Tech, became an All-American catcher at Kennesaw State, was drafted by the Seattle Mariners — and saw his pro career end almost before it really began.

So when his son Kellan was four years old and starting T-ball, Kevin and his wife Teal created their philosophy that has shaped every decision they've made around travel baseball ever since:

The goal was not to raise the best 8-year-old on the field. The goal was to raise the best 18-year-old.

That philosophy changed how they approached travel baseball, development, exposure, pressure, failure, and the parent-player relationship.

In this episode, Matt Hannaford sits down with Kevin and Kellan Gergel for a real conversation about what most baseball families are missing: the long game.

Because exposure is not the goal. Exposure is the byproduct of becoming the kind of player worth watching.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

- The philosophy Kevin and Teal built their decisions around — and why it reshaped everything they did from T-ball through high school

- Why Matt argues that exposure is a byproduct, not a goal — and how most travel ball parents are getting things backwards

- The moment Kevin realized that trying to fix his son's batting stance was the wrong approach

- 90% of players say the mental game is the most important part of baseball — but how much of their time spent training actually reflects that

- Austin Riley's 2019: didn't make the Big League team out of spring training, but despite that, hit 15 home runs in three weeks in AAA, called up, hit 9 more in his first 18 big league games and then hit a wall forcing him to make an adjustment

Kellan is 15, stands six-foot-one, and plays for the East Cobb Mariners — one of the most talent-dense travel areas in the country. His coach Kenny Falk played at Kennesaw State with Kevin, got drafted by the Tigers as a AAA closer, and runs the program on a development-first, blue-collar philosophy. Kellan wants to play college baseball. His current goals are velocity on the mound, driving the ball harder at the plate, and working his way from JV to varsity at Blessed Trinity in Roswell — the same program where Joseph Contreras, the senior who pitched for Team Brazil at the WBC and got Aaron Judge to ground into a broken-bat double play, throws bullpens next to him.

Matt walks Kellan through the mental exercise he ran at an event in San Diego with high performance coach Johan Martinez Khalilian — asking a parent of a player to name a complaint, then tracing the complaint back to the underlying vision. Kellan deflects it in a way that tells Matt everything he needs to know: this kid already has the frame most pro athletes spend years trying to build. Matt learns of Kevin's nightly ritual when Kellan was young — telling him "you have what it takes, you have what it takes" — and the parallel humble huddle the family built around it.

The conversation also touches on an unusual family lineage. Kellan's mother Teal is the daughter of Dusty Rhodes and the sister of Cody Rhodes, the current WWE Undisputed Champion. Kevin walks through what his brother-in-law's "undesirable to undeniable" mindset has meant for how Kellan thinks about betting on himself — and why the family's grounding in faith, family, and work has held up across three very different sports at three very different levels.

Matt closes with a rapid-fire round. When he asks Kevin to finish the sentence "my biggest fear for him on the baseball field is..." Kevin's answer is the line that frames the whole episode: my biggest fear is that he'll feel like he has to perform. I've already had more joy watching him play than I will ever need.

ABOUT MATT HANNAFORD

Matt Hannaford is the president and CEO of Aligned Sports Agency and the host of the Most Valuable Agent podcast. Over 25+ years he has negotiated more than $2 billion in MLB contracts, representing Manny Machado, Albert Pujols, Joey Votto, Austin Riley, and Liam Hendriks, with prior exposure to Barry Bonds, Mike Piazza, and Trevor Hoffman. He gives you the insider playbook on college recruiting, the transfer portal, and MLB Draft decisions.

LINKS & RESOURCES

https://www.aligndsports.com/

https://eastcobbbaseball.com/teams/

Watch Next: https://youtu.be/S9tGzT3foYM

#TravelBaseball #BaseballParents #MLBDraft #YouthSports #MostValuableAgent

Almost Every MLB Player I Work With Has the Same Wound — And It's Their Dad Apr 29, 2026

Show notes

Almost every pro baseball player Matt Hannaford represents has the same wound — and it traces back to their relationship with their dad. In this live event, MLB agent Matt Hannaford and high performance coach Jo Martinez Killian sit down with parents and young athletes to walk through the pattern Joe has seen in nearly every major league locker room he's ever worked in, and what actually breaks the cycle before it starts.

Subscribe to the channel for the insider playbook on what pro scouts, agents, and performance coaches actually see in elite players — and what most parents get wrong long before the draft conversation ever happens.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

- Why Norway produces more elite athletes per capita than any country in the world — and the sports rules they enforce before age 13

- The three-word reframe that took one of Matt's clients from AA to a home run on his first major league pitch

- How to turn a complaint into a vision you both agree on — the exact script

- The difference between expectations and agreements, and why expectations are a pathway to resentment

- Why "I don't wanna see my kid struggle" is the instinct that steals the one thing they actually need from you

Matt reads a letter from the father of a division one SEC pitcher with a zero ERA who is draft-eligible — a letter that made Matt call Joe the same day and say we have to do this live. The dad writes that his son, at 20, told him flat out he cannot relax around him anymore because every conversation turns into criticism. The dad's response is the line that frames the entire episode: there are times I wish he would just step away from baseball so he can feel how much I love him and how it has nothing to do with performance.

Jo breaks down the framework he uses with pro athletes across MLB, NBA, NHL, and NCAA locker rooms. Where there is no vision, the people perish — but most parents are leading from complaints instead of vision, and from expectations instead of agreements. He walks through the four-step move that turns an expectation like "I expect you to respect me" into an agreement both parent and kid actually own. He names the fawning pattern coaches see in kids who have learned to pacify the adult in front of them instead of saying what they actually want.

Matt shares the moment Jo called him out on a client call — Matt jumped in to answer a question Jo was still working through with the player, and Jo told him afterward: you stole his growth. The question was his weight to lift. That single exchange is the frame for the entire conversation with youth athletes and their parents. The instinct to take struggle away from your kid is the instinct that leaves them unable to carry anything hard later. Struggle is the gift. The discomfort is where the identity gets built.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 — The Letter From a Division One Dad

6:30 — Norway's Sports Rules Before Age 13

7:50 — His Dream Not Mine: Jo's Soccer Story

26:59 — Why Success Is Also Poison

37:59 — You Stole His Growth: The Struggle Is the Gift

40:38 — Complaints Are Vision in Disguise

1:02:42 — Expectations Lead to Resentment

59:15 — The Three-Word Vision That Got Zach Cole Called Up

1:19:31 — Disempowered vs. Empowered Language

1:30:51 — Baseball Does Not Make a Good God

ABOUT MATT HANNAFORD

Matt Hannaford is the president and CEO of Aligned Sports Agency and the host of the Most Valuable Agent podcast. Over 20+ years he has negotiated more than $2 billion in MLB contracts, representing Manny Machado, Albert Pujols, Joey Votto, Austin Riley, and Liam Hendriks, with prior exposure to Barry Bonds, Mike Piazza, and Trevor Hoffman. He gives you the insider playbook on college recruiting, the transfer portal, and MLB Draft decisions.

LINKS & RESOURCES

Alignd Sports Agency: https://www.aligndsports.com/

Episode with Jo: https://youtu.be/rR-yZoLEQ3s

The Dad Effect: https://youtu.be/6opkFoZD-sY

#CollegeBaseball #MLBDraft #YouthSports #BaseballParents #MostValuableAgent

Why 50 Travel Ball Games + 50 Practices Beats 100 Games Apr 22, 2026

Show notes

Your son may play 80 games in a single summer, but he can't tell you what he worked on at practice last week. Sound familiar?

Today's guest is Justin Cryer, former professional player, Ole Miss Rebel, former Houston Astros area scout, and now Director of Sports Marketing at Marucci.

Justin joined Matt at Marucci's newly opened Hitter's House in Scottsdale, Arizona, during Spring Training for a conversation that hits on everything from player development and scouting to travel ball and parenting. And beyond his role at Marucci, Justin brings another valuable perspective to the table: he's also a travel ball dad and coach for his 10-year-old son's team.

If you care about helping your son develop the right way, this is an episode you won't want to miss. Subscribe for the insider playbook on recruiting, the draft, and building your son's baseball career the smart way.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

✔ What MLB scouts actually evaluate in your son — and why body type and character matter, sometimes more than the box score.

✔ The development-first framework: why you should flip the priority from exposure to development and what that looks like practically week to week

✔ Why Justin fought travel baseball for his own son — and what changed his mind

✔ What happens inside an MLB draft room that would surprise you — including why some top draft prospects can go undrafted

✔ Why making your son play another sport might be the best thing you do for his baseball career this year

Justin Cryer is a former Ole Miss pitcher who spent five drafts as an area scout for the Houston Astros covering Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Florida. He scouted Alex Bregman and put one of the highest grades in the organization on Kyle Tucker. Justin now leads Marucci's Marketing Department and gave us a tour of their Hitter's House in Scottsdale, Arizona — a baseball performance lab, bat fitting facility, and pro player training space. Justin coaches his 10-year-old son's travel team alongside former big leaguer pitcher Will Harris.

In this episode of the MVA Podcast, Matt Hannaford sits down with Justin at the Hitter's House to get the dual perspective you can't find anywhere else: what the professional baseball industry is actually looking for in your son, and how a dad with that insider knowledge is navigating travel ball for his own kid. Justin explains why the speed of youth baseball is forcing parents into decisions they're not ready to make, why 50 games and 50 practices beats 100 games, and why the best thing he did for his son was make him play flag football even though his son didn't love the idea. Whether your son is 10 or 17, this conversation will reshape how you think about his development.

ABOUT THE MVA PODCAST

#MVAPodcast #CollegeBaseball #TravelBaseball #YouthBaseball #MLBDraft #BaseballDad

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