Basbeall, MLB

The Pittsburgh Pirates Austin Meadows is rising fast in the minors

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It seems as if the Andrew McCutchen “will he, won’t he be traded,” saga has been going on for a few weeks now. Pirates general manager Neal Huntington has said that his team has no intentions of trading away the face of their franchise despite the team’s recent struggles and the superstar’s season-long uncharacteristic play. There is no denying, however, that a contingent of Pirates’ writers seem to feel that the time is right to move on from the McCutchen Era.

Is the next McCutchen waiting in the wings? Keep reading to find out!

Basbeall, MLB

Throwback Saturday: 2015 Corpus Christi A.J. Reed Interview

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(Note from the editor: It is well known that I am a prospect junkie, and when one of the bigger named prospects gets called up to the Big Show for the first time, I like to go back and look at past interviews to see what they were like when they were younger. Fortunately, I caught up with the Houston Astros A.J. Reed, who is set to make his big league debut last July. Here’s a look back at that interview from when I was editor at Grading on the Curve. Enjoy!)

A few weeks back, I did a little write up about one of baseball’s most exciting prospects. Amid one of MiLB’s hottest seasons, A.J. Reed had just come off his fourth California League Player of the Week Award, second consecutive Player of the Month Award and his first promotion to Double-A ball. Well folks, since his promotion, he hasn’t stopped hitting.

Keep reading last season’s AJ Reed interview.

Basbeall, MLB

The New York Mets and Gavin Cecchini: What to do?

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It probably didn’t come as much of a surprise to the New York Mets that David Wright is once again on the shelf with much uncertainty surrounding his return. Wilmer Flores — whom the Mets once hoped would be their future shortstop — has taken the reigns at third, while rumors are aswirl that Jose Reyes may be nearing a return to New York to bolster their infield depth.

What about within the organization? The Mets do have the veteran Kelly Johnson as a super-utility role player, but is there some youth on the farm that could possibly provide some help to a thin infield.

Is now the time to give Gavin Cecchini — one of the Mets upper-tier prospects — his shot in the bigs?

Read on for more pros and cons of giving Cecchini a chance.

Basbeall, MLB

The Washington Nationals Reynaldo Lopez on fire in Double-A

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Reynaldo Lopez has been one of the more exciting prospects on the Washington Nationals pipeline for a few years now. The problems that plagued him were in showing consistency in his electric stuff, leaving many to wonder in Lopez had a future in the rotation or as a back-end of the bullpen weapon.

He may finally be figuring it out, and answering that question in 2016.

Keep reading for more on the Nationals exciting pitching prospect.

Basbeall, MLB

The coming of age of the New York Yankees Sir Didi

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Talk about being under a microscope. Last season, the New York Yankees traded Shane Greene away as part of a three-way deal that brought Derek Jeter‘s heir apparent to New York. Didi Gregorius — who had never experienced a .300 season, nor October baseball — was expected to fill the void left by the only guy in Yankees lore to capture 3,000 hits and was nicknamed Mr. November and The Captain.

Talk about pressure.

Suddenly, it seems like Sir Didi has the knight stuff.

Keep reading for more on Didi Gregorius.

NFL

Ridiculously early predictions: the Oakland Raiders

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Earlier this offseason, we took a look at the revamped Oakland Raiders roster. The final conclusion, if you don’t remember, was that — SPOLIER ALERT — the Raiders were suddenly very good and one solid draft away from becoming a serious contender.

So, in continuing our Ridiculously Early Predictions series, let’s turn our attention to that Raiders draft and how it effects their 2016 season.

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