03 Dec

eye on …

He pitched only 16 2/3 innings last season, but Dakota Hudson looms as a player to watch at Mississippi State in 2016. The junior right-hander has been ranked No. 33 on what mlb.com calls its “early Draft Top 50” chart. He is described as having a lively fastball and a “nasty cutter/slider” among his four pitches. Hudson had a 4.32 ERA for the Bulldogs last season but did strike out 26. His work in the Cape Cod League over the summer no doubt boosted his draft stock. Pitching for Hyannis, Hudson went 2-3 with a 1.68, fanning 41 in 42 2/3 innings. In the postseason, he was even better: 2-0, 0.64 in two starts. P.S. Former Bulldogs star Tyler Moore has signed a one-year, $900,000 contract with Washington, avoiding arbitration. Moore, who also played at Northwest Rankin High and Meridian Community College, is primarily a pinch hitter for the Nationals, providing right-handed power. He hit six homers in 187 at-bats in 2015, hitting just .203. He has 24 career MLB bombs in 601 ABs. … The Biloxi Shuckers were named Baseball America’s minor league team of the year. The new Southern League club, a Milwaukee affiliate packed with prospects, won the South Division first-half title despite playing the first two months of the season on the road. The Shuckers reached the SL Championship Series, losing in five games.

02 Dec

this just in

For the third time in a pro career that began in 2010, Drew Pomeranz has been traded. The left-hander out of Ole Miss was dealt today by Oakland to San Diego in a four-player trade that moved Yonder Alonso to the A’s. Pomeranz was 5-6 with three saves and a 3.66 ERA for Oakland in 2015, starting the season in the rotation and ending it as a closer. He had minor shoulder surgery in October but was expected to be ready for spring training. Pomeranz, 27, has a career ERA of 4.07 in 107 games, 49 of them starts. The fifth overall pick by Cleveland in 2010, he was traded to Colorado in 2011 and from the Rockies to Oakland in 2013.

01 Dec

making a list

A pair of Mississippi high schoolers — one an Ole Miss signee, the other inked by Mississippi State — made Baseball America’s recently released (and somewhat premature) list of the Top 100 prep players in the Class of 2016. Thomas Dillard, a catcher at Oxford High, is ranked No. 37 by BA. A transfer from Memphis Briarcrest, Dillard is one of four current Chargers who have signed with Ole Miss for the 2017 season. Walker Robbins, a first baseman from George County who signed with State in the early period, is ranked No. 65. Robbins is the brother of former Southern Miss star Mason Robbins, currently playing in the minors. Two other UM signees, Cooper Johnson, a catcher from Illinois, and Will Ethridge, a right-hander from Georgia, also made the Top 100 at No. 23 and No. 62. Graham Ashcraft, a righty from Alabama who signed with State, is No. 98. P.S. Hinds Community College will hold a signing ceremony on Thursday for the four players on its roster for 2016 who signed with NCAA Division I schools in the early period. The four, all right-handed pitchers, are Trent Driver (USM), Trey Jolly (Mississippi State), Timothy Jordan (Louisiana Tech) and Carlisle Koestler (Southeastern Louisiana). There were 14 sophomores on Sam Temple’s 2015 club who signed with D-I schools.