breaking good

Good story on the Baseball America web site about Mississippians Anthony Alford and Cody Reed, who have emerged on the magazine’s list of the Top 100 prospects in 2016. Alford, an outfielder with Toronto, is No. 25; Reed, a left-hander in the Cincinnati system, is No. 34. Neither was in the Top 100 last year. Alford came out of Petal High with dreams of being, as he tells BA, “the next Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders.” He was the state’s Mr. Football and Mr. Baseball as a senior, but the two-sport thing didn’t quite work out on the next level. Alford devoted himself to baseball full-time in 2015 and mastered two levels of A-ball. He acknowledges that baseball probably always was his better sport. Reed, a non-prospect in high school at Horn Lake, signed with Northwest Mississippi Community College. Rangers assistant and ex-big leaguer Bill Selby apparently saw potential in Reed, who proceeded to gain 50 pounds and add 15 mph to his fastball. Reed tells BA he was genuinely thrilled to be drafted in the second round by Kansas City in 2013. After struggling for a couple of years, he found his form in 2015 and was a standout at Double-A Pensacola after the Reds got him in a trade. Both Alford and Reed will be in big league camp. … Also appearing in BA’s Top 100 are East Central CC alum Tim Anderson (No. 45, Chicago White Sox); Mississippi State product Hunter Renfroe (No. 86, San Diego) and ex-Harrison Central star Bobby Bradley (No. 93). Former Biloxi Shuckers shortstop Orlando Arcia is No. 8, and Dansby Swanson, who could be the Mississippi Braves’ shortstop in 2016, is No. 17.