around the horn
Jake Mangum took to social media to thank the Tampa Bays Rays for giving him his first opportunity in the big leagues. The club may also have done the ex-Mississippi State standout a solid by trading him to Pittsburgh, where the outfield situation is much less crowded. Mangum was part of a three-team trade on Friday. “Absolutely fired up to get to work for the Pittsburgh Pirates. I’m going to give yall everything I got,” Mangum posted on X. Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz are likely set as starters in the Pittsburgh outfield, but the other spot appears wide open. Mangum can play all three positions. A switch-hitter, he batted .296 with 27 stolen bases in 118 games as a 29-year-old rookie with the Rays. He also plays plus-defense. Drafted in the fourth round as an MSU senior in 2019 by the New York Mets, Mangum bounced via trade to the Miami Marlins and then to the Rays before making The Show. He left Starkville as the Bulldogs’ all-time hits leader and is a .297 career hitter in the minors. … Chuckie Robinson, former Southern Miss star, is back in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ system, signing a minor league deal on Thursday. He’ll likely go to big league spring camp as one of the many catchers they’ll bring in. Robinson, 31, spent a chunk of the 2025 season in the Dodgers’ organization and got one MLB at-bat with the eventual World Series champs. He ended the season in Atlanta’s system. In pro ball since 2016, Robinson has appeared in 52 MLB games since 2022 and carries a .131 average. … JoJo Parker, drafted eighth overall this past summer out of Purvis High, is projected to be Toronto’s top prospect a year from now by MLB Pipeline. (He is currently No. 2.) The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Parker, a shortstop who has yet to make his pro debut, “has an intriguing mix of hit and power tools from the left side at a premium position,” per MLB Pipeline’s report. … Plans are under way for the Legacy League — a new wood-bat college summer league — to begin play in late May at Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium, per an announcement from Tim Bennett of the Hank Aaron Sports Academy. Six teams, representing metro area communities, will play 32-to-36 games each, all at Smith-Wills. (The league was originally slated to begin with 10 teams in 2025.) The Legacy League is similar in structure to the Cotton States League, which has operated in New Albany for many years and was once based in Jackson.