Tag Archives: Mississippi State

08 Jan

tagging up

Four teams in three months? It has been a wild off-season for Ryan Rolison, the former Ole Miss star who made his MLB debut for Colorado last summer. The 28-year-old lefty was claimed off waivers by the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday. He had been designated for assignment by the White Sox on Dec. 23 after the team signed former Mississippi Braves star Sean Newcomb. The White Sox had claimed Rolison off waivers from Atlanta, which had DFA’d him on Dec. 11 after signing Robert Suarez. The Braves had traded for Rolison on Nov. 18 after Colorado DFA’d him. The injury-dogged Rolison, a first-round pick by Colorado out of Oxford in 2018, had a 7.20 ERA in 31 games for the Rockies in 2025. The Cubs have room for him on their 40-man roster — at the moment. Of note: The Cubs lost lefty reliever Drew Pomeranz, another Ole Miss product, to free agency this off-season. … Mississippi State third baseman Ace Reese was named a first-team preseason All-America by Perfect Game. Reese hit .352 with 21 home runs in his first season with the Bulldogs in 2025. Southern Miss reliever Colby Allen (seven wins, 12 saves in 2015) made PG’s second team, and Ole Miss lefty Hunter Elliott (a 10-game winner) is on the third team. Allen is a Louisville native, Elliott is from Tupelo. The NCAA Division I season starts on Feb. 13. … Former Mississippi Braves star Justin Dean, who won a World Series ring last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, was designated for assignment by the San Francisco Giants. Dean, a member of the M-Braves’ 2021 pennant winner, was DFA’d by the Dodgers after the season. … M-Braves alum Justyn-Henry Malloy was traded by Detroit to Tampa Bay for cash. Malloy batted .221 in 52 games for the Tigers in 2025. … The independent Mississippi Mud Monsters have added catcher Gray Bane, shortstop Jackson Cobb, catcher Tevis Payne II, right-hander Julio Bonilla, righty Juan Carlos Mendez, catcher Geral Siri and shortstop Cristopher Navarro to their roster for 2026.

06 Jan

on this date

Seattle shook up its outfield on Jan. 6, 2017, with a pair of trades, acquiring one Mississippi native from Kansas City and shipping another to Baltimore. The Mariners, coming off an 86-76 season, got McComb’s Jarrod Dyson from the Royals for Nate Karns and dealt Jackson’s Seth Smith to the Orioles for Yovani Gallardo. Oddly enough, Ole Miss alum Smith, a 10-year MLB vet entering 2017, played just one season for Buck Showalter’s Orioles, batting .258 with 13 homers for a losing club, and then quietly retired at age 35. Dyson — a World Series champ in 2015 with KC — spent just one season in Seattle, batting .251 with 30 stolen bases in 111 games for a losing team. Dyson played four more years for five different teams before bowing out in 2021 after 12 seasons. … After six solid years with San Francisco, Jeff Brantley officially signed as a free agent with Cincinnati on this date in 1994. The former Mississippi State star had gone 29-20 with 42 saves and a 3.24 ERA for the Giants, his original club, but performed even better with the Reds. He saved 88 games — an MLB-best 44 in 1996 — with a 2.64 ERA over four seasons with Cincy and twice helped the club make the postseason. He last pitched in the majors in 2001. Now a broadcaster with the Reds, Brantley — aka “The Cowboy” — was recently named Ohio’s sportscaster of the year. … On a somber note, Yazoo City native Mike Miley — who starred in baseball and football at LSU — died in a car crash in Baton Rouge on this date in 1977. A first-round pick by California in 1974, Miley played in 84 MLB games in 1975-76.

22 Dec

return to the show

Corey Dickerson is going back to the big leagues — as first-base coach for the Tampa Bay Rays. After one season as the coach at Jackson Academy, McComb native Dickerson has been hired by the Rays, one of the eight teams he played for in an 11-year MLB career. “I look forward to him bringing his experience and expertise to the major league club,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said in a statement. Dickerson batted .280 for his big league career and finished with 1,028 hits, last playing with Washington in 2023. He played at Brookhaven Academy and Meridian Community College before being drafted by Colorado in 2010. JA went 21-15 under Dickerson last spring. P.S. St. Louis’ trade of Willson Contreras to Boston presumably opens up the Cardinals’ first-base job for 2026. That might be good news for Blaze Jordan, the ex-DeSoto Central High standout who played at Triple-A Memphis in the St. Louis system in 2025. Jordan, 23, who has played first and third in his minor league career, hit .248 with 13 homers and 62 RBIs overall at the Triple-A level. He was traded from Boston to St. Louis in July. He is rated the Cardinals’ No. 20 prospect by MLB Pipeline. … Ex-Mississippi State star Adam Frazier remains a free agent, but rumors are the Kansas City Royals really want to re-sign him as a utility piece. Frazier batted .283 in 56 games with the Royals last summer (after a trade from Pittsburgh) and played four positions. A 10-year MLB vet, Frazier recently turned 34.

20 Dec

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.

17 Dec

market report

Back in the big leagues this past season for the first time since 2021, Drew Pomeranz showed out at age 36. The Los Angeles Angels hope the Ole Miss product has still more in the tank, signing him to a $4 million contract for 2026. Pomeranz, dogged by injuries and mired in the minors for four years, got a shot with the Chicago Cubs in 2025 and posted a 2.17 ERA in 57 appearances, working almost exclusively in relief. The 6-foot-5 left-hander also pitched well in the postseason. He has been in pro ball since 2010, when Cleveland made him the fifth overall pick out of UM. In 346 MLB games, he has a 3.82 ERA. … Among other players with state ties who remain free agents are Adam Frazier (Mississippi State); Kendall Graveman (MSU); Nathaniel Lowe (MSU); Nick Sandlin (Southern Miss); Spencer Turnbull (Madison Central HS); and Jacob Waguespack (UM). … Ex-Ole Miss star Tim Elko recently signed a minor league deal with the Chicago White Sox, who had non-tendered him following the season. Elko had knee surgery in October and will miss the start of the 2026 campaign. He made his MLB debut in 2025, batting just .134 with four home runs in 23 games. He hit .292 with 26 homers in Triple-A. … The independent Mississippi Mud Monsters have re-signed or exercised options on a slew of players from last season’s club, including former state prep standouts Brayland Skinner and Kyle Booker. Skinner, a Mississippi State alum from Lake Cormorant, hit .294 with 49 stolen bases and 62 runs in 2025, the team’s inaugural season in the Frontier League. “He brings energy every single day, and our guys feed off that. He’s a competitor, a leader, and getting him back for 2026 is huge,” Mud Monsters manager Jay Pecci said in a team release. Booker, who played at DeSoto Central High before college ball, batted .297 with 27 steals and 66 runs. P.S. The late Luke Easter, the Jonestown native and renowned slugger, was inducted into the Puerto Rico Pro Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this month. Easter played three seasons in the Puerto Rican Winter League, won the MVP award in 1948-49 and led the league in homers at age 40 in 1955-56. The first black Mississippi native to play in the major leagues, Easter hit 93 homers over parts of six seasons with the Cleveland Indians after debuting in 1949. He previously starred for Homestead in the Negro Leagues and played many years in the minors after his MLB career ended.

05 Dec

tagging up

A toast to the late Boo Ferriss on the occasion of what would have been his 104th birthday. Ferriss, born in Shaw in 1921, is deeply intertwined in the state’s baseball fabric, having played at Mississippi State for Dudy Noble, helped the Boston Red Sox reach the World Series in an abbreviated pro career and coached consistent winning teams at Delta State for 26 years. The Ferriss Trophy is given each year by the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum to the best college player in the state. Ferriss, who is in the Red Sox’s Hall of Fame, would be more widely known outside of Mississippi had his MLB career not been curtailed by illness and injury. He won 21 games as a rookie for the 1945 BoSox and 25 for the ’46 World Series team. He won only 19 more games. As the coach at Delta State, where he earned ABCA Hall of Fame recognition, he not only won a ton of games and championships but also produced a sprawling tree of prep and college coaches. The DSU field is named for him, and the program still thrives. In addition to all that, Ferriss was the consummate gentleman, gracious to all. He died in 2016 and is buried in Shaw. … Interested to see how the signing of Cedric Mullins impacts Jake Mangum in Tampa Bay, which now has a glut of outfielders. Mullins is a center fielder, which is Mangum’s best position, though the ex-Mississippi State star played all three outfield spots as a rookie in 2025. Mangum, a switch-hitter, batted .296 and stole 27 bases but provided little power (three homers) in 118 games. In the field, he had 90 putouts, including some highlight-caliber catches, and two assists with no errors. He may well prove a nice trade piece during the winter meetings. … Northeast Mississippi Community College product Tyler Samaniego was traded by Pittsburgh to Boston on Thursday as part of a five-player deal. Just added to the Pirates’ 40-man roster last month, left-hander Samaniego has a career 3.82 ERA and pitched in Double-A last season. … Five players at state schools are ranked in the Top 100 in MLB Pipeline’s new 2026 MLB draft prospects list. MSU third baseman Ace Reese is No. 18; Oak Grove High outfielder Eric Booth Jr. is ranked 28th; Ole Miss righty Cade Townsend is 78th; Jackson Prep outfielder Kevin Roberts Jr. is No. 86; and Magnolia Heights third baseman Cole Prosek checks in at 97.

19 Nov

transaction watch

Though Reed Trimble has had trouble staying healthy and on the field in his pro career, Baltimore officials have seen enough good stuff to add the ex-Southern Miss star to the 40-man protected roster. Tuesday was the deadline for MLB clubs to set their rosters before next month’s winter meetings and the Rule 5 draft for eligible minor leaguers. Tupelo native Trimble was the 65th overall pick in 2021 after a standout sophomore year at USM (.345, 17 homers, 72 RBIs). A swift, switch-hitting outfielder, the 25-year-old Trimble has a .251 career average and 61 stolen bases (in 61 attempts) in 226 games over five minor league seasons. He reached Triple-A in 2025 and hit .259 with five homers and eight steals in 30 games for Norfolk. … Former Northeast Mississippi Community College standout Tyler Samaniego was added to Pittsburgh’s 40-man. Drafted in 2021 out of South Alabama, the 6-foot-4 left-hander posted a 3.08 ERA in 20 games in Double-A last season and has a career 3.82, working almost exclusively in relief. … Ryan Rolison, a former first-round draft pick from Ole Miss, was designated for assignment by Colorado, moving off the 40-man roster. The lefty put up a 7.02 ERA in 31 games as a 28-year-old rookie in 2025. … Ex-DeSoto Central High slugger Blaze Jordan and former USM standout Tyler Stuart were among the rated prospects (by MLB Pipeline) who did not get 40-man roster protection and could be plucked by other MLB clubs. Jordan belted a career-high 19 homers in 2025, playing at Triple-A in both the Boston and St. Louis organizations. Stuart, a 6-foot-9 right-hander in Washington’s system, has a career 3.44 ERA. … Brandon Woodruff, ex-Mississippi State standout, accepted a $22 million qualifying offer from Milwaukee; he had previously declined a reported $20M option in his last contract. The right-hander bounced back from injury in 2025, going 7-2 with a 3.20 ERA for the Brewers but missing the postseason. He is 53-28, 3.10, in 142 career appearances with Milwaukee. … MSU alum Nathaniel Lowe was designated for assignment by Boston and is likely headed for free agency. The seven-year veteran hit .280 with two homers and 16 RBIs in 34 games for the Red Sox last year after being released by Washington. He batted .228 with 18 homers all told in 2025.

15 Nov

he is worthy

Ace is a status that must be earned. And Garrett Crochet did exactly that in his first season with Boston, which traded a boatload of prospects to get the Ocean Springs native from the Chicago White Sox last off-season. Crochet went 18-5 with a 2.59 ERA for a playoff team. In just his second year as a starter, he led the American League in quality starts, innings pitched and strikeouts. He finished second in the Cy Young Award voting to Tarik Skubal, garnering four of the 30 first-place votes. The lefty also made the All-MLB first team. Crochet’s season — one of the best ever by a Mississippi-born pitcher — is worthy of the Cool Papa Bell Award, given here for the top performance by a Mississippian (native or school alum) in the big leagues. “He was phenomenal,” Craig Breslow, the Red Sox’s chief baseball officer, recently told mlb.com. “It’s what we had hoped he could be when we traded for him, but to see that actually materialize is great.” Crochet’s second-place finish in the Cy Young voting is the best by a Mississippi native. Weir’s Roy Oswalt placed third in 2004. Crochet was two wins shy of becoming the sixth Magnolia State native to win 20. That club includes Reb Russell (22 in 1913), Guy Bush (20 in ’33), Claude Passeau (20 in ’40), Boo Ferriss (21 in 1945 and 25 in ’46) and Oswalt (20 in both 2004 and ’05). … Other winners of AMB’s Bell Award: Brent Rooker, Justin Steele, Austin Riley, Tim Anderson, Corey Dickerson, Mitch Moreland, Brian Dozier, Desmond Jennings, Lance Lynn, Cliff Lee, Oswalt and Chris Coghlan. P.S. Nick Sandlin, former Ferriss Trophy winner out of Southern Miss, has been outrighted off the 40-man roster to Triple-A by Toronto. Sandlin, in his first year with the Blue Jays, had a 2.20 ERA in 19 games but ended the regular season on the injured list and missed the postseason. … It’ll be interesting to see if former USM pitcher Tyler Stuart and ex-DeSoto Central High slugger Blaze Jordan make the 40-man roster in their respective organizations. Both would be eligible for the Rule 5 draft next month if they aren’t protected on the big league roster. Stuart, a 6-foot-9 right-hander, went 2-2 with a 4.29 ERA in 10 games in an injury-curtailed 2025 season in the Washington system. He has a career 3.44 ERA and has pitched in Triple-A. Jordan, St. Louis’ No. 18 prospect, belted a career-high 19 homers in 2025, playing in Triple-A in both the Boston and Cardinals systems. Still only 22 years old, the fifth-year pro hit .270 with 99 RBIs all told last season. … Madison Central High alum Braden Montgomery compiled some amazing numbers in the Arizona Fall League. The White Sox’s top prospect went 15-for-41 (.366) in 12 games for Glendale, with a homer, six doubles, a triple, 11 RBIs, 12 runs, three steals and 13 walks. His OBP was .527. A switch-hitting outfielder, Montgomery batted .270 with 12 homers and 68 RBIs over three minor league levels in his first pro season. (He was acquired by the ChiSox in the Crochet trade with Boston.) … Brandon Woodruff, the ex-Mississippi State standout from Wheeler, has until Nov. 18 to make a decision on the one-year/$22.025 million qualifying offer he received from Milwaukee. Woodruff, who has spent his entire pro career in the Brewers’ system, became a free agent after the World Series ended. … MSU’s 2026 signing class was ranked No. 8 by Baseball America. The feature signee is catcher Will Brick from Memphis; he ranks among the top 10 prep prospects on Perfect Game’s latest chart.

11 Nov

sudden impact

Drake Baldwin didn’t spend much time in Double-A Mississippi. He didn’t need much minor-league seasoning, as it turned out. In just his third full professional season, the Atlanta Braves catcher claimed the National League Rookie of the Year Award on Monday, getting 21 of the 30 first-place votes in the BBWAA balloting. Drafted in 2022 out of Missouri, Baldwin was a quick study in pro ball. He reached Double-A at the end of the 2023 season and returned briefly at the start of 2024. He hit .260 with five home runs and 38 RBIs over 66 games for the M-Braves. He made Atlanta’s opening day roster — as the system’s No. 1 prospect — this past spring and hit .274 with 19 homers and 80 RBIs while sharing catching duties with oft-injured Sean Murphy. “When (former M-Braves catcher Brian McCann) came up it was the same way,” Braves manager Brian Snitker told mlb.com, comparing the former All-Star to Baldwin. “(McCann was) above his years behind the plate and as an offensive player, and Drake’s right there with him.” Baldwin is the fourth M-Braves alum to win NL rookie of the year honors, joining Michael Harris II, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Craig Kimbrel. Former Biloxi Shuckers star Devin Williams and ex-Jackson Mets standout Darryl Strawberry also won that award. … A’s slugger Nick Kurtz won the AL rookie award; ex-Jackson Prep star Will Warren of the New York Yankees got one third-place and one fourth-place vote. P.S. Marcus Thames, former big league slugger from Louisville, has been named a hitting coach on the Kansas City Royals’ staff for 2026. Thames served as hitting coach for the Chicago White Sox the past two seasons and was with the New York Yankees, Miami and the Los Angeles Angels before that. … Madison Central High alum Braden Montgomery, the White Sox’s No. 1 prospect, went 0-for-1 with two walks and ex-Mississippi State standout Cade Smith, the Yankees’ No. 19, pitched a clean inning in Sunday’s Fall Stars Game in the Arizona Fall League. … Several players with Mississippi ties became minor league free agents last week: Billy Hamilton (who was in the Chicago Cubs’ system at the end of the 2025 campaign), Dakota Hudson (Angels), Spencer Turnbull (Royals) and Jacob Waguespack (Philadelphia). … Of note: MLB teams must set their reserve lists/40-man rosters for 2026 by 3 p.m. CST on Nov. 18. The Rule 5 draft for unprotected minor leaguers is on Dec. 10.

06 Nov

names in the news

Bobby Halford: Congratulations to the longtime William Carey University coach on his election to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Halford is the state’s all-time winningest college coach with 1,375 wins over 40 years at the Hattiesburg school. His teams have made 26 appearances in the NAIA Tournament and three trips to the World Series. Halford has won more coach of the year honors than you can count.
Konnor Griffin: The former Jackson Prep star added a minor league Gold Glove award to the numerous player of the year honors he has collected. The first-year pro, Pittsburgh’s top prospect, had a .980 fielding percentage at shortstop with seven errors in 89 games. He also played some center field while moving through three levels.
Antoan Richardson: The ex-Mississippi Braves standout has joined new Atlanta manager Walt Weiss’ staff as first-base coach. Richardson, who coached with the New York Mets in 2025, played in Pearl in 2010-11 and made the majors in 2011 with Atlanta. He also played for the Yankees and is remembered for scoring the run on Derek Jeter’s walk-off hit in his final MLB at-bat.
Brandon Woodruff: The Mississippi State product from Wheeler declined his mutual option with Milwaukee and became a free agent. Woodruff went 7-2 with a 3.20 ERA in 12 games in 2025 but ended the season on the injured list. He missed all of 2024 following arm surgery. He is 53-28 over an eight-year big league career.
Michael Fowler: The former Southern Miss pitcher has made six appearances in the Arizona Fall League without allowing an earned run over seven innings. Milwaukee signed Fowler off the independent Mississippi Mud Monsters’ roster last summer, and he put up good numbers in A-ball.