Author | Jim Callis

For the second straight draft, Stanford righthander Mark Appel entered the spring as the consensus best player available. Another college righthander, Oklahoma’s Jonathan Gray, quickly joined him after a string [...]

May 9, 2013, 4:12 pm EDT via baseballamerica.com

Happy holidays, everyone. Ask BA will return to a more regular schedule now that the 2013 Prospect Handbook is all but done. Covers R.A. Dickey trade (Syndergaard/d'Arnuad), Trevor Bauer, Miguel Almonte...

December 31, 2012, 5:44 pm EST via baseballamerica.com

Content: Assistant editor Conor Glassey sorted of the players in our ongoing minor league Top 20 Prospects series by their current organization. There were 289 unique players (31 guys appeared on multiple lists), and here's how they break down by team: That chart correlates well with organization depth in most cases, though bear in mind that no distinction is draw...

October 1, 2012, 3:25 pm EDT via baseballamerica.com

The Padres have hired Billy Gasparino as scouting director, a move they announced on Saturday. Gasparino, 35, had been one of San Diego's two national crosscheckers and had served in that role since the fall of 2010. He began scouting with the Blue Jays in 2004 and crosschecked for Toronto from 2007-10. "Billy has proven [...]

September 4, 2012, 3:44 pm EDT via baseballamerica.com

Content: Ronald (Toronto): Talk me off the ledge, Jim: Should I still be as excited about the Jays farm system as I was a year ago? Jim Callis: Yes. Some players have regressed, sure, but they do that in every system. Focus on the Lansing rotation (Sanchez, Syndergaard, Nicolino) and their banner 2012 draft. Jim (Philly): Would you consider Darin...

August 29, 2012, 3:32 pm EDT via baseballamerica.com

Content: Jim Callis: Hi, everyone. After the trade deadline yesterday, I'm sure we'll have a lot of related questions. But feel free to hit me up on any subject. Mike (Denver): Hi Jim. What are your thoughts on the return for Ryan Dempster (specifically Christian Villaneuva)? Where would he and Arodys Vizcaino fall in the Cubs Top 10 prospects? Thanks....

August 1, 2012, 3:25 pm EDT via baseballamerica.com

Content: Has there ever been a 10-player trade with fewer significant players than the deal the Astros and Blue Jays pulled off on Friday? Toronto got three big league pitching reinforcements in David Carpenter, J.A. Happ and Brandon Lyon, but all three are complementary pieces. Happ has the most upside but at the same time is a No. 4 starter...

July 23, 2012, 5:01 pm EDT via baseballamerica.com

Content: Jim Callis: I can't promise that I won't take draft-related phone calls during this chat, but let's see how many questions we can bang out. And while the header on this chat says "Draft and Prospects," my focus is on the former . . . Jim Callis: Let's kick this chat off early, in case my phone starts ringing....

July 12, 2012, 10:31 pm EDT via baseballamerica.com

The Blue Jays signed Marcus Stroman, their second of two first-round choices, for $1.8 million. His bonus matches the assigned value for his No. 22 overall selection. Several scouting directors thought Stroman had the most electric arm in the draft, but he lasted 22 picks because he's 5-foot-9. Though he lacks size, the Duke righthander [...]

July 3, 2012, 4:40 pm EDT via baseballamerica.com

The Blue Jays signed supplemental first-rounder Matt Smoral to a $2 million bonus on Monday, doubling the assigned value for his No. 50 slot. He's the fourth player in the 2012 draft to have signed for $1 million or more over his pick value, joining Astros sandwich pick Lance McCullers Jr., Cardinals second-rounder Carson Kelly [...]

June 19, 2012, 1:46 am EDT via baseballamerica.com