Random Images: early season edition

The minor league season began on a very chilly note here in the Northeast.  Yankees AAA infielder Andrew Velazquez was masked up when Scranton Wilkes-Barre visited Syracuse last Wednesday -- where the thermometer barely broke 40.  His Mets counterpart Luis de los Santos (who appeared in 13 games last season for the Blue Jays) was even more bundled up -- only his eyes glance out from behind the layers.


Jett Williams, the Mets 2022 1st round draft pick, is "repeating" AA ball this year.  After missing most of the '24 season with a hand injury, the 2nd baseman-center fielder began this year year healthy -- and in a Binghamton Rumble Ponies uniform.

(Below:) While we're talking Binghamton, Jake Mangum, who played there in '22, has become one of this year's Cinderella stories.  The 29 year-old had a big Grapefruit League campaign and became a surprise addition to the Rays roster, filling in for Josh Lowe. In his first six big league games, he's hit .435 -- including three- and four-hit games last week!
In the same April 2022 game that I snapped Mangum's photo, I got my first look at Gunnar Henderson.  He was four months shy of being called up to the Orioles, where he earned 2023 AL Rookie of the Year honors and then finished fourth the following season for American League MVP.

Hunter Goodman was also on the fast track to the majors when I saw him in AA ball.  His 34 minor league home runs in 2023 landed him a late-season promotion to the Rockies, where he's now splitting time between the outfield and DH.

Kristian Campbell played just a handful of games before the Red Sox were certain he was the real deal.  Two years after he was one of several super-impressive Boston prospects, the club inked him to an eight-year $60 million extension, buying out all his arbitration years and his first two of free agency.  I hope the kids who got Campbell (then with Portland) to sign for them held on to those balls and baseball cards!


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