If you’re reading this, that means the power/internet in my house stayed on, despite it being hideously windy outside.
— Where do baseball teams get their prospects from? The following info is from the Baseball America Prospect Handbook, which lists the top 30 prospects for each team.
Of the Tampa Bay Rays’ 30 top prospects, only 19 of them are home-grown, the fewest of any major league team. 11 of their top 30 prospects were acquired via trade, the most of any team; St Louis Cardinals are next, with eight prospects acquired via trade.
— Atlanta Braves are only team that doesn’t have a top 30 prospect that was acquired via trade.
— Cardinals/Oakland A’s are only teams that don’t have an international player among their top 30 prospects.
— Who has the most international prospects in their top 30?
15- Bronx
14- Angels
13- Red Sox
12- Rockies
— Houston Astros/Baltimore Orioles both have 19 college players in their top 30; Cardinals and Royals both have 18, Braves have 16.
Red Sox have only 5 college players in their top 30; Guardians have 6, Angels 8.
— Red Sox, Padres, Blue Jays have 9 high school players in their top 30, the most of any team; Tigers/Mariners have 8.
Bronx has only two top 30 prospects who went pro out of high school; Orioles-Cardinals-Astros have three each.
— Teams approach their prospects differently; the big $$$ teams will try and trade them to cheaper teams for star players, the cheap teams will promote their prospects, and play them until they hit their arbitration years, then they trade them to the big $$$ teams.
— Word of the Day: Corrupt- acting dishonestly in return for money or personal gain.
— Pretty cool baseball record that I never knew about, until Monday night; former Seattle 1B Alvin Davis reached base safely in his first 47 major league games, which is the all-time high for any player at the start of their career.
— Stolen bases were up 41% last year from 2022; the rule changes worked.
— Under is 41-15-1 in NBA games, since the All-Star break.
— Minnesota Vikings named former NFL QB Josh McCown their new QB coach.
— Famous people with birthdays on February 29:
Tony Robbins, 64
Terrence Long, 48
Tyrese Haliburton, 24
February 29 has to be the worst day to have a birthday right? You only have a birthday once every four years.
— Drake 107, Ill-Chicago 105, 3OTs
DeVries, the coach’s son, scored 39 points, with 13 boards, 7 assists.
Drake won six of its last seven games.
UIC shot 16-35 on the arc, only 15-42 inside the arc.
— Tennessee 92, Auburn 84
Dalton Knecht scored 39 points for the Vols.
Auburn led by 8 with 12:17 left in game.
Tennessee has won five in row, 11 of last 13 games.
— Iowa State 58, Oklahoma 45
Cyclones are 22-6, 11-4, in 2nd place in the Big X.
Iowa State forces turnovers 25.8% of time (#2 in country)
Teams combined to shoot 7-33 on the arc.
— Fort Wayne 79, Wright State 77 OT
Neither team led by more than six points.
Fort Wayne’s bench outscored Wright State’s subs 25-4.
— Illinois 105, Minnesota 97
Gophers lost despite shooting 14-20 on the arc.
There were a TOTAL of only 9 turnovers in this game.
Minnesota is 17-11 SU this year, but 24-4 against the spread.
Minnesota scored 1.48 points/possession; over the last 15 years, teams that scored that many points/possession are now 310-2.
— Alabama 103, Ole Miss 88
Crimson Tide outscored Ole Miss 64-46 in second half.
Both teams shot 60%+ inside the arc.
Alabama gets 38% of their points on 3’s, #22 in country.
— Upsets of the Night:
Wichita State (+7.5) 74, UAB 66
Green Bay (+7.5) 69, Cleveland State 61
Fort Wayne (+6.5) 79, Wright State 77 OT
South Carolina (+5.5) 70, Texas A&M 68
Northwestern (+5.5) 68, Maryland 61
Wofford (+5.5) 91, Samford 69
— RIP to Richard Lewis, a stand-up comedian and a star of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” who passed away at age 76. Known for his self-deprecating humor and acerbic wit, he was very funny.
RIP, sir.
