Jordan Shusterman

welcome to Year 4 of me celebrating D-I baseball Opening Day by stating a bunch of draft-eligible college players that I particularly enjoy in hopes that some fraction of them will one day become major leaguers with that said: here are my 25 favorites for the 2025 Draft ⤵️

with so many expected bidders, no reason for AZ to deal Geno now before all the best offers have arrived and we're still a long way from that point M's have enough get it done but I'm skeptical they will end up being the most desperate to do it (especially after landing Naylor)

🫣 (this piece is so good, so many great non-Dipoto anecdotes within as well)

that Dave Parker poem, whew

all 5 players going into Cooperstown today have had remarkably impressive, inspiring and unique careers but the magnitude of Ichiro’s legacy is truly staggering. it’s almost difficult to even capture the degree to which he is one of the most important figures in baseball history

June 5, 2005: @corbin_carroll cotton candy & watching the GOAT. Congrats to Ichiro on your HOF induction. 100% earned.

Here are some of our favorite Kurtz notes! share_remarkable.inside-edge.com/Notes/Index?id…

"[Josh Naylor] shows up and the dude hits" 🔱 @Jake_Mintz and @j_shusterman_ on the Mariners acquiring Josh Naylor from the Diamondbacks before the trade deadline.

after hitting his first career HR on May 13, Nick Kurtz fell into an 0-for-21 skid that dropped his OPS to .558 with MLB ranks among qualified hitters, his 42 games since then: .327 BA (2nd) .408 OBP (4th) .782 SLG (1st) 18 HR (T-5th) 45 RBI (6th) 217 wRC+ (1st) 2.7 fWAR (3rd)

Nick Kurtz may have just won AL Player of the Week, but he's quietly been the most productive hitter in baseball for over two months now new for @YahooSports, on the 22-year-old 1B who is slugging his way into the thick of the AL Rookie of the Year race: sports.yahoo.com/mlb/article/ho…

Jerry Dipoto unsurprisingly got the action started this trade deadline...but what could AJ Preller have cooking up over the next week? and what will the Yankees do? all that and more with the great @ByRobertMurray ⤵️

Seattle’s bullpen is a major need @j_shusterman_

that's the holy trinity right there

It’s that time of year again and there’s nobody better to join the show than @j_shusterman_ of @CespedesBBQ and @YahooSports We discuss all things Dumper, Draft, and Deadline!🔱🎙️open.substack.com/pub/sealevel/p…

"I'm not sure the AL is gonna be this bad again any time soon - or this wide open," says @j_shusterman_ to @michaelbumpus5 & @StacyRost on the #Mariners potential in 2025. 📺: youtu.be/Ms-1h88h1pA

Ryan Sloan has allowed just 1 earned run over his last 21 innings. 29 K, 2 BB and a 61% ground ball rate. Opponents have an OPS of just .391 in that span. The sweeper, splitter and cutter have all been dominant and the fastball sits 96. He's 19. Few arms in MiLB with more upside.

NEW POD TRADE DEADLINE PREVIEW EXTRAVAGANZA thoughts on all 30 teams -- the buyers, sellers, and the messy middle plus: @ByRobertMurray joins to share his latest intel, on which teams he expects to be most aggressive (Padres!), CHC/MIL differing deadline strategies, and more!

go time