Tag Archives: Ole Miss

13 Dec

spotlight on …

Anthony Calarco, former Ole Miss standout and the 2025 Frontier League MVP, is playing in the Puerto Rican (Roberto Clemente) Winter League, hitting .233 with a pair of homers for Ponce. Calarco batted .347 with 24 homers, 116 RBIs, 34 doubles and 82 runs for Schaumburg in the indy Frontier League. The lefty-swinging first baseman had a huge series for the Boomers when they played the Mississippi Mud Monsters at Trustmark Park in early August. After four years at Northwestern, Calarco batted .274 with five homers in 48 games for Ole Miss in 2023. He played that summer in affiliated ball in the Texas system, then spent 2024 with Schaumburg. (Former St. Andrew’s High star Banks Tolley, who was also with Schaumburg in 2025 — hitting .313 with 12 homers — has re-signed with the club.) P.S. Ryan Rolison was not in limbo for long. The Ole Miss product was claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox on Friday after being designated for assignment by Atlanta (see previous post). … Billy Hamilton, former Taylorsville High star, has swiped seven bases in 25 games in the Mexican Pacific League and is sitting at 860 bags for his long pro career that dates to 2009. Hamilton, 35, is batting .241 for Jalisco in his second season in the MPL. … Bobby Bradley, ex-Harrison Central standout, is currently on the reserve list with Mexicali in the Mexican Pacific League. The power-hitting first baseman, 29, batted .273 with just one homer in 16 games for the Aguilas after hitting one homer in 20 games for Tucson before changing teams. … Gorkys Hernandez, who played for the Mississippi Braves way back in 2009, is leading the Venezuelan Winter League in hitting at .377 through 46 games with Aragua. The 37-year-old Hernandez has a .471 OBP and 12 steals. … Rufus Lewis, a two-time All-Star in the Negro Leagues, was born on this date in Hattiesburg (or Johnstons Station, per other sources) in 1919. Lewis won Game 7 of the 1946 Negro League World Series for Newark.

11 Dec

short hops

With Atlanta’s signing of ex-San Diego closer Robert Suarez, ex-Ole Miss star Ryan Rolison has been squeezed off the Braves’ 40-man roster and designated for assignment. The Braves recently traded with Colorado to get the lefty Rolison, who was DFA’d by the Rockies last month. Rolison had a 7.20 ERA in 31 games last season as a 28-year-old rookie for the Rockies. It’s unclear if he’ll remain in the Braves’ system. … Jackson native and ex-big leaguer Stan Cliburn has stepped down as manager of the independent Southern Maryland Blue Crabs after seven seasons with the Atlantic League club. Cliburn went 458-447 with the Blue Crabs, making three playoff appearances and winning a manager of the year award. Cliburn, 68, has 2,083 minor league managerial victories, ranking 12th all time, per a league release. Cliburn said in the release that he will “pursue other challenges.” … No Mississippi products were selected in Wednesday’s Rule 5 draft of unprotected minor leaguers. (There had been speculation that Blaze Jordan, the ex-DeSoto Central High slugger, might be plucked out of the St. Louis system.) … Jackson Smith, a Mississippi College alum, re-signed with the independent Mississippi Mud Monsters. The right-hander posted a 3.06 ERA in 20 games (two starts) in 2025. … Former Mississippi Braves standout Vaughn Grissom has been traded again, going from Boston to the Los Angeles Angels. Grissom, an infielder, made little impact with the Red Sox after coming from Atlanta in the Chris Sale trade. … Ex-Biloxi Shuckers star Brice Turang has committed to play for Team USA in next spring’s World Baseball Classic. The slick-fielding second baseman batted .288 with 18 homers last season for Milwaukee. … Former Shuckers closer Devin Williams, who had a rough go with the New York Yankees in 2025, has moved to the Mets as a free agent and faces the unenviable task of replacing Edwin Diaz in their bullpen. P.S. Kyle Schwarber, returning to Philadelphia as a $150 million DH, has built his legacy on monster home runs, the so-called “Schwarbombs,” many of them game-changers. In an article in the November/December issue of Baseball Digest, Scott Lauber writes about two impactful homers Schwarber hit long before his MLB days, back in 2012, when he was playing in the Cape Cod League, the college summer circuit. His manager was Cooper Farris, the former Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College coach. As the tale goes, Schwarber, coming off his freshman season at Indiana, was having a tough day in the Cape’s championship game, having made an error and struck out three times as the game reached the ninth inning. “Well, are we going to do something about it?” Farris asked Schwarber. “Yes, sir, I got this,” was Schwarber’s response. He homered in the ninth and again in the 10th as Wareham won the title. The next summer, again playing for Farris, Schwarber returned from a trip to Japan with Team USA, scrambled back to the Cape and went 4-for-4 with a homer in his first game, per the BD article. “Craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” Farris said.

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.

23 Nov

return engagement

It was a no-brainer that the Chicago Cubs would make a 2026 contract offer to Justin Steele. The more relevant news is that ex-George County High star Steele, coming off arm surgery, has begun throwing again and could be back in the team’s rotation next May, mlb.com reported. Steele, 30, went 3-1 with a 4.76 ERA in four games before going on the injured list last season. He won 16 games in 2023 and is 32-22, 3.30, for his five-year MLB career, which includes an All-Star Game nod. So of course the Cubs wanted the left-hander back in the fold. “He’s such a good competitor and everybody loves being around him,” Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy told mlb.com. Steele made $6.6 million last year and will get a nice bump in negotiations. P.S. Ole Miss product James McArthur signed a new $810,000 contract with Kansas City. The reliever missed all of the ’25 season after elbow surgery. He posted a 4.92 ERA with five wins and 18 saves for the Royals in 2024 and a had 4.63 as a rookie in ’23. … The news was not so good for ex-Ole Miss slugger Tim Elko, who has become a free agent after being non-tendered by the White Sox. Elko, 26, who made his MLB debut in 2025, recently had surgery to repair a torn ACL and could be sidelined several months. He hit .134 with four home runs in 23 MLB games this season and .292 with 26 homers in Triple-A. … Other 2025 MLB players with state ties who are current free agents: Tim Anderson (East Central CC); Adam Frazier (Mississippi State); Kendall Graveman (MSU); Nathaniel Lowe (MSU); Drew Pomeranz (UM); Hunter Renfroe (MSU); Chuckie Robinson (Southern Miss); Houston Roth (UM); Nick Sandlin (USM); Chris Stratton (MSU); Spencer Turnbull (Madison Central HS); and Jacob Waguespack (UM). … Ashton Lansdell, who played softball at Ole Miss last season, was the seventh overall pick (by Los Angeles) in the Women’s Professional Baseball League draft. Lansdell, a Georgia native, has played baseball in junior college and for the USA Baseball Women’s National team.

20 Nov

taking a flier

Atlanta, reportedly shopping for pitching this off-season, picked up former Ole Miss standout Ryan Rolison in a trade (for cash) with Colorado on Wednesday. Rolison, a 28-year-old left-handed reliever, doesn’t come with great MLB credentials. As a rookie last season, the injury-dogged Rolison had a 7.20 ERA in 31 games for the Rockies; he allowed 11 home runs in 42 1/3 innings. The Rockies designated him for assignment on Tuesday. Rolison, from Tennessee, won 16 games in two years as a starter at Ole Miss and was picked in the first round by Colorado in the 2018 draft. (Others taken in the first round in that draft include Casey Mize, Alec Bohm, Jonathan India, Brady Singer, Nolan Gorman and Brice Turang, all established big leaguers.) Injuries stalled Rolison’s advancement in the minors, where he has a 17-17 record and a 4.43 ERA over six seasons. P.S. USA Today/Sports Weekly ranks UM product Drew Pomeranz at No. 49 among the current free agent class. The veteran lefty reliever, 37, rejuvenated his career with the Chicago Cubs in 2025. … Ex-Madison Central High star Braden Montgomery made the All-Arizona Fall League team. The White Sox’s No. 1 prospect batted .366 in 12 games in the showcase loop.

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.

17 Nov

of local interest

On this date in 1992, MLB held an expansion draft for the new Colorado and Florida franchises to stock their rosters for the ’93 season. Four Mississippians were among the 72 players drafted from the other MLB organizations. Charlie Hayes, the former Forrest County AHS star, was the second pick — and No. 3 overall — by the Rockies, having been left “unprotected” by the New York Yankees. Pat Rapp, Southern Miss and Hinds Community College alum, was picked 10th overall by Florida and Greg Hibbard, a Mississippi Gulf Coast CC and Harrison Central High product, went two picks later to the Marlins. Mo Sanford, a former Starkville High phenom, was selected 62nd overall by Colorado. (Also picked in that draft were former Jackson Mets Chuck Carr, Tom Edens and Chris Donnels.) Hayes enjoyed his time in Colorado and Mile High Stadium, a hitter’s haven. He batted .305 with 25 homers and 98 RBIs in 1993 and hit 10 more bombs in the strike-shortened ’94 season. (He would wind up back with the Yankees in 1996 and earned a World Series ring.) Rapp went 4-6 with a 4.02 ERA for the Marlins in 1993 and would win 33 more games for the club over the next four years. (He did not pitch in the postseason when Florida won the 1997 World Series.) Hibbard, who won 57 games in six big league campaigns, never pitched for the Marlins; he was traded the day of the expansion draft to the Chicago Cubs. Sanford worked in 11 games for the ’93 Rockies, going 1-2, 5.30. That was his only year in their system. P.S. Southern Miss alum Nick Sandlin has rejected an outright assignment to the minors by Toronto (see previous post) and become a free agent. … Billy Hamilton, the ex-Taylorsville High standout, plays on at age 35, now with Jalisco in the Mexican Pacific League. Former big leaguer Hamilton is batting .273 with three steals and 10 runs in 13 games in the winter league. He has been in pro ball since 2009, when Cincinnati drafted him in the second round. He finished last season in the Cubs’ minor league system. … Ex-Ole Miss star Chris Ellis leads the Dominican Winter League with six saves for Cibao; the erstwhile big league has a spotless ERA over eight games.

07 Nov

on this date

Jake Gibbs, the Ole Miss icon who played parts of 10 years in the big leagues, was born on this date in 1938. A two-sport All-America pick at UM, Gibbs chose to pursue baseball and shifted from third base to catcher in the New York Yankees’ minor league system. He reached the big leagues in 1962 and played until 1971, batting .233 with 25 home runs in 538 games, primarily as a backup. His best season was 1970, when he hit .301 with eight homers and 26 RBIs over 49 games behind Thurman Munson. Gibbs became Ole Miss’ baseball coach in 1972 and his first team won the SEC championship. He won 485 games over 19 seasons. P.S. Former Mississippi prep stars Braden Montgomery and Cade Smith have been chosen to play for the American League team in Sunday’s Fall Stars Game in the Arizona Fall League. Mississippi Braves alum Nacho Alvarez Jr. made the National League roster. … Ex-Southern Miss star Chuckie Robinson was outrighted to Triple-A by Atlanta. Robinson, a catcher who got one at-bat with the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, was claimed off waivers by the Braves in late September but was never activated to the 26-man roster. He has been in pro ball for 10 years, with 52 MLB games under his belt. … Justin Dean, former M-Braves standout who played for the champion Dodgers in the World Series, was claimed off waivers by San Francisco. He played parts of four seasons (2021-24) in Pearl.

03 Nov

ring it up

Justin Dean doesn’t have a big league hit on his resume, but he will have a World Series ring. The ex-Mississippi Braves star, who won a Double-A ring in 2021, was in center field for the final out of Game 7 on Saturday night and celebrated with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates after they won the World Series for the second straight year. Dean’s postseason line with the Dodgers is interesting: 13 games, no at-bats, one run, one steal, six putouts. He played in three of the Series games and made that heady move in Game 6, throwing up his arms to signal that a ball had gotten stuck under the outfield padding for a ground-rule double. Toronto likely would have scored a big run on the hit. Dean, in his MLB debut, went 0-for-2 in the regular season for L.A., appearing in 17 games and making seven putouts. He has played 689 minor league games, having spent parts of four seasons with the M-Braves. In 2024, the team’s finale at Trustmark Park, Dean stole 47 bases and set the M-Braves career record with 117 bags. He signed with L.A. as a minor league free agent in December. … Former M-Braves star Freddie Freeman earned a second ring with the Dodgers, as did ex-M-Braves pitcher Evan Phillips, a reliever who made seven appearances in 2025 before going on the injured list and having elbow surgery in May. P.S. Braden Montgomery, former Madison Central High star and top Chicago White Sox prospect, is listed among the Arizona Fall League top performers for week four of the season by mlb.com. Montgomery, completing his first pro season, went 5-for-15 last week with a homer, a triple and five RBIs. He is batting .385 overall in the AFL and has drawn 10 walks. … Ke’Bryan Hayes won a second Gold Glove at third base in the National League; his dad, Hattiesburg native Charlie, never got one of those but did win a World Series with the 1996 New York Yankees. … Former Ole Miss standouts Chris Ellis and Cooper Johnson are batterymates in the Dominican Winter League with Cibao. Ellis, who has pitched in the majors, has worked three scoreless innings. He posted a 3.66 ERA and 19 saves in the Mexican League in 2025. Johnson, who played in the Texas system this past season, is 4-for-15 in seven games in the DWL. … Veteran slugger and ex-big leaguer Bobby Bradley from Gulfport is toiling for Tucson, an expansion team in the Mexican Pacific League; he is hitting .250 with a homer in 15 games. Bradley has 254 career homers in pro ball.

30 Oct

there and here

In light of Trey Yesavage’s dominant start for Toronto in World Series Game 5 on Wednesday night, mlb.com compiled a list of other outstanding performances by postseason rookies in other organizations. Brandon Woodruff, who debuted with Milwaukee in 2017, was still technically a rookie in 2018 when the Mississippi State product shined during the Brewers’ run to a Game 7 in the National League Championship Series. Woodruff made four appearances all told in the playoffs, yielding three runs in 12 1/3 innings with 17 strikeouts. He got the win in Game 1 of the NLCS with two hitless innings and famously homered off Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw. … Tim Elko, the ex-Ole Miss star who made his MLB debut in 2025, will miss the start of the 2026 season after having surgery to repair a torn ACL, according to an mlb.com report. He could be sidelined several months. Elko, 26, hit just .134 with four home runs in 23 games with the Chicago White Sox this season. He batted .292 with 26 homers and 70 RBIs in Triple-A in his fourth pro campaign. Elko suffered an ACL injury to the same knee during his senior year in Oxford before returning to help the Rebels win the national championship. … The MLB Players Association has named Ronald Acuna Jr. its NL comeback player of the year and Drake Baldwin the NL’s outstanding rookie. Both are former Mississippi Braves stars. … Former MSU standout Eric Cerantola, a prospect in Kansas City’s system, is pitching in the Dominican Winter League and has a 2.25 ERA in four appearances for Cibaenas. A fifth-round draft pick in 2021, he went 2-2 with a 4.04 era and a save in 38 games at Triple-A Omaha this past season. … Coming Nov. 7, MSU’s annual alumni game — the Diamond Dawg Classic — that will bring an impressive list of ex-Bulldogs to Starkville, including current big leaguers Adam Frazier and Jake Mangum. Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro will serve as managers of the two squads. Expected to participate are Mitch Moreland, Jonathan Papelbon, Hunter Renfroe, Tyler Moore, Reid Humphreys, Tanner Allen and current minor leaguers Dakota Jordan and Connor Hujsak. … Colt Keith, former Biloxi High star, is expected to again play a utility role for Detroit in 2026. The second-year big leaguer did time at first, second and third base as well as DH while batting .256 with 13 home runs. “The fact that he can play all three positions gives us a real advantage,” Detroit’s president on baseball operations, Scott Harris, recently told the Detroit Free Press. … Born on this date in 1986: Desmond Jennings, the ex-Itawamba Community College two-sport star who played seven years in the big leagues, all with Tampa Bay. He hit .245 with 55 homers and 95 steals; he also batted .303 in 11 postseason games.