Tag Archives: Southern Miss

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

29 Oct

boys of fall

Checking in on Mississippi products in the Arizona Fall League:
David Mershon, former All-SEC shortstop at Mississippi State, has been filling the box scores in the AFL after a rough 2025 season in the Los Angeles Angels’ chain. Playing for Salt River, Mershon went 2-for-4 on Tuesday, boosting his average to .258 over 10 games. He has a homer, six RBIs, 10 runs, five steals and 11 walks. After a strong pro debut in Double-A in 2024, Mershon batted just .182 this past season, missing a chunk of time with injury. … Ex-MSU and DeSoto Central High standout Cade Smith worked three scoreless innings as the starter for Mesa and trimmed his ERA to 0.93 in three appearances. The New York Yankees prospect, a third-year pro, has allowed just three hits with 11 strikeouts in 9 2/3 AFL innings. … Former Madison Central star Braden Montgomery, playing for Glendale against Mesa, went 1-for-3 with a walk (and an HBP) and is hitting .429 (.652 OBP) with three stolen bases in five games. Montgomery, the Chicago White Sox’s No. 1 prospect, reached the Double-A level this summer in a solid pro debut. … Southern Miss alum Michael Fowler has put up a 0.00 ERA in four appearances (five innings) for Surprise. The well-traveled right-hander was signed by Milwaukee off the independent Mississippi Mud Monsters’ roster this summer and made a good impression in A-ball. … Former Ole Miss standout Derek Diamond has a 5.63 ERA in six games for Salt River. Diamond, in his fourth year in Pittsburgh’s system, has allowed nine hits and eight walks in eight innings in the AFL. He was limited by injuries to 13 appearances (19 1/3 innings) in 2025. P.S. Mississippi Braves alum Antoan Richardson will not return as first-base coach for the New York Mets, per reports. He is expected to catch on with another organization.

22 Oct

back with a bang

Idled by an injury since early September, Braden Montgomery returned with a literal bang on Tuesday, smacking an RBI double off the center-field wall in his first at-bat in an Arizona Fall League contest. The former state Gatorade player of the year at Madison Central High walked in his other three ABs for Glendale. “I just wanted to add a little bit of normalcy, see a bunch of pitches,” he said in a story on the AFL website. Montgomery, a first-round pick in 2024 out of Texas A&M, is rated the No. 1 prospect in the Chicago White Sox’s system and No. 35 overall in the minors. In his first action as a pro this season, the switch-hitting outfielder batted .270 (.360 OBP) with 12 home runs, 68 RBIs and 14 stolen bases, moving seamlessly from Low-Class A to High-A to Double-A. His regular season ended Sept. 6 when he was hit by a pitch that broke a bone in his foot. He is playing catch-up in the AFL. On Tuesday, he also played right field, where his arm and athleticism are a good fit. Montgomery admits to being something of a copycat in his hitting approach. “I like watching Mookie (Betts) and how his hands work. I like watching Aaron Judge and his effortless pop. I like Shohei (Ohtani) and his torque. I like picking up and looking at tiny pieces of all the guys because I understand that everyone’s big picture is going to be different,” he said in a recent mlb.com story. At 22, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Montgomery is likely a year away from making the big leagues, though the White Sox (three straight 100-loss seasons) need immediate help. P.S. Southern Miss (and Mississippi Mud Monsters) alum Michael Fowler, pitching for Surprise, faced Montgomery once on Tuesday and walked him. Fowler, now in the Milwaukee system, has made three scoreless appearances in the AFL. … In another AFL game on Tuesday, ex-Mississippi State star Cade Smith worked 3 2/3 sharp innings for Mesa, retiring the first 11 batters he faced and yielding just a lone run. The New York Yankees prospect, a third-year pro, has a 1.35 ERA in two outings; he went 2-1, 2.50, in 11 starts in the low minors this season. … MSU product David Mershon, playing for Salt River, faced Smith twice Tuesday and grounded out both times. Mershon, a 2024 draftee by the Los Angeles Angels, is coming off a tough, injury-dampened season; he hit .182 in 91 games, 14 at the Triple-A level.