By WDAE
Toronto Blue Jays v Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays top minor-league affiliate, the Durham Bulls, are off to a spectacular start in their season. They nearly pulled off the almost unheard-of feat of sweeping a six-game series on the road, taking the first five games from the Memphis Redbirds before dropping Sunday’s finale 7-6 in 10 innings.
Kyle Glaser of Baseball America named the Bulls Opening Day roster the most talented in the minor leagues (subscription required to view), and a number of players on the roster have seen the big leagues at some point already, but here are five players Rays fans should be excited for if they make their Major League debut in 2021.
The 35 Royals minor leaguers who could end up in the big leagues
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I could write up prospect ranking as you see around the web, but is there a point to that other than people like numbers next to player’s names so they can argue about if you were right or wrong? Instead, let’s follow Kyle Glaser’s lead at Baseball America and try to identify the 35 players who will make it to the majors.
Per Glaser, each farm system will have 2-3 All-Stars per system; on average, they will have 10-11 regulars and 35 total players that will reach the big leagues at some point. So instead of breaking down the players 1 to 35, I’ll change it up by putting the players into those buckets. Of course, Kyle Isbel and Jake Brentz have already crossed themselves off that list by cracking the bigs this season when we look back, but 35 other candidates still fit well.
Rick LaFountain hits 500 wins in his 53rd season Published by sports@presspub. on Thu, 04/01/2021 - 1:45pm
By:
J. Patrick Eaken
Oak Harbor’s tennis coaching staff is “all in the family.” At Baywinds Tennis Club after a New Year’s tournament, head coach Rick LaFountain and assistants Greg LaFountain, Jacqueline (McClune) LaFountain, Connor Russell and Ashley (LaFountain) Russell. Connor Russell is Rick’s son-in-law and not on the staff.
Oak Harbor senior Brenen Ish and junior Kyle Glaser are the Rockets’ only returning letter winners from the 2019 tennis season. “We have a bunch of athletic kids. I am hoping for continued improvement throughout the season,” Oak Harbor coach Rick LaFountain said.
MLB Trade Rumors
6:55pm: First baseman/outfielder
Rangel Ravelo is also among the Dodgers’ non-roster invitees to camp, Kyle Glaser of Baseball America tweets. The 28-year-old batted .189/.250/.351 in 84 PA as a Cardinal from 2019-20. Ravelo has hit a much more productive .293/.369/.452 over 1,652 trips to the plate at the Triple-A level.
6:41pm: The Dodgers have reached a minor league agreement with corner infielder
Davidson, the 35th overall pick of the Diamondbacks in 2009 and a well-regarded prospect in the ensuing years, debuted in the bigs with the club in 2013. The Diamondbacks traded Davidson to the White Sox prior to 2014 for reliever
Addison Reed, however. Davidson didn’t make his White Sox debut until 2016, but the now-29-year-old owns a lifetime .223/.292/.433 line with 52 home runs in 1,075 plate appearances. He was a 20-home run hitter in both 2017 and ’18.
1:58
In a video with the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Kyle Glazier, a farmer and rancher in Kingfisher County, uses an ax to break up ice in a tub that is several inches thick. He said he doesn’t remember weather like this.
“I tried to prepare as best I could. I tried to get all the hay arranged where I could get to it even if the roads get bad,” Glazier said.
The temperatures are historic. Oklahoma City saw temperatures dip as low as -15 degrees, according to the National Weather Service in Norman. That makes work difficult for ranchers like Nocona Cook, who raises cattle and grows wheat outside of Cordell in southwest Oklahoma. He says he has to haul water to his wheat, but with the low temperatures, it can freeze by the time he gets there.