The Low-A California League team’s current lease at John Thurman Field expires at the end of the 2024 season. The Nuts and the city of Modesto both announced that the team and the city have been unable to come to an agreement on a lease extension.

The Nuts are owned by the Mariners.

“We’re disappointed we were unable to agree upon an extension,” Modesto GM Veronica Hernandez said. “I know we and the city worked very hard to find common ground and unfortunately were unable to accomplish our goal.

“We are thankful for the legacy the Modesto Nuts leaves behind and we wish them the very best success in their future endeavors,” Modesto mayor Sue Zwahlen said. “Negotiations can be very challenging, and we worked diligently over the last year with the Modesto Nuts to explore various solutions.”

The failure to come to a lease extension comes at a time when MLB’s improved facility standards for minor league stadiums is coming due. Teams are expected to be fully compliant with upgraded facility standards beginning in 2025. Teams must have fewer than 10 points on a grading standard. There are several “must-haves,” including locker room facilities for female staff, two covered batting/pitching tunnels, suitable locker room dimensions and lighting standards.

There are concerns that some minor league teams, especially on the West Coast, are unlikely to get the necessary upgrades to meet those standards. Modesto seems to be the first team to make that official.

John Thurman Field was opened in 1955. It would need significant renovations to meet the new tougher MiLB facility standards. At one point, there was a proposal for a new stadium in Modesto, but that proposal has not gained traction.

What this means for the Mariners’ Low-A affiliate going forward is not yet clear. According to Baseball America’s reporting, there is not a finalized solution for where the Nuts will play in 2025.

Generally, minor league team owners want some sort of public funding or tax subsidies for stadium construction. California has proven to be the least willing state to do so in recent decades.

At this point, it’s unlikely there is enough time to build a stadium in compliance with MLB standards for 2025. There are also not a surplus of available, compliant facilities within the California League’s footprint.

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We discuss the economics of the merchandise industry, the history of amateur players signing merchandise agreements and its evolution over the last decade-plus. We also touch on the supply and demand of autographed merchandise.

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The joint features will focus on American Association prospects and include social media content, regular season and jewel event live programming, including Baseball Champions League, and written articles.

The American Association enters 2024 on a high having secured the title at the first ever Baseball Champions League, a year-over-year increase in non-baseball revenue of 47%,  record levels in league sponsorship, and a four year stretch of record annual increases in attendance. Baseball America comes to the partnership featuring a revamped website and business plan. 

“As media has evolved, we have continued to find new ways to reach baseball fans. The American Association is doing the same thing with its unique league, so partnering with them on an innovative initiative is a no-brainer,” said Baseball America VP of Operations B.J. Schecter. “Together we can create and share great stories, reach fans in more places and continue to grow the game.”

“Joining forces with Baseball America to bring our brand of baseball and our best players to the masses in cutting edge media formats is innovative. I don’t believe any league or publisher before us has taken such measures,” said American Association Commissioner Joshua Schaub. “In the baseball world, Baseball America is venerated and we are proud to be in partnership with such a tremendous publication.”

The pairing of Baseball America and the American Association brings together two baseball organizations with an intertwined history. Miles Wolff was the founder and Commissioner of the American Association when it formed in 2006 through 2018, and was instrumental in the success of Baseball America as the owner and publisher of the magazine for much of the 1980s and 1990s.

The American Association (www.aabaseball.com and www.aabaseball.tv) is a Major League Baseball Partner League that operates in nine states and one Canadian province. Formed in 2006, the league consists of twelve member clubs. Since 2006, 54 American Association players have gone on to play Major League Baseball. In 2023, over 65% of American Association players had played at Double-A or higher and 23 former American Association players played at the MLB level.
Baseball America (www.baseballamerica.com) has evolved into a multimedia property across video, digital, social and print channels. Known in the industry as “the Bible of Baseball,” BA has been covering baseball with an emphasis on player development since 1981.

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The all-new designs for the 2024 series highlight the allure of the prospects in a range of styles popular from Bowman, from the Chrome Prospect series to a slew of different autograph varieties. Within the popular Chrome Prospect collections are two fresh series, a new Black Refractor Parallel and Rose Gold Mini-Diamond Refractor Parallel, both numbered to 10 cards. 

The 100-card base set includes 13 different Parallel cards—from the numbered 499 Sky Blue Border Parallel right down to the numbered five Red Border Parallel—and one-of-one Platinum Border and Printing Plates varieties. 

2024 Top 100 Prospects

We ranked baseball’s top prospects.

Full Ranking

The Bowman Prospect cards feature 28 unique Parallel varieties, including the one-of-one SuperFractors. 

Special edition Insert Cards include a mix of new sets. Of the 11 total Insert Card series options, six of them are brand new. The Bowman A.I. features future stat predictions done with artificial intelligence. The Base Set Gold Refractor, Rising Infernos, 1955 Bowman Anime and Prospect Power Up designs give the 2024 Bowman set a renewed perspective on the year’s prospects. 

Recurring Insert Cards include the Gladiators of the Diamond, Origin of Greatness, Bowman Spotlights, ROY Favorites and Bowman’s Scout’s Top-100 sets.

The 2024 Bowman Baseball set heavily plays on autograph varieties, including the rare one-of-one SuperFractor versions in the ROY Favorites, Prospects Power Up and Gladiator of the Diamond categories, among others.

The Autograph styles feature 16 different Parallel or Refractor varieties within the Chrome Prospect Autograph series, nine designs in the Chrome Rookie Autograph series, three Refractor designs in the new Rising Infernos Autographs—with 25 Orange Refractor cards, five Red Refractor and one SuperFractor—three in the Bowman Scout’s Top-100 Autographs collection, four in the Gladiators of the Diamond Autographs series, four in the ROY Favorites Autographs set, two in the Dual Bowman Prospects Autographs series and two in the Prospects Power-Up Autograph Variation design. 

Bowman says “ultra-rare” four-card Pearl Refractor Packs will randomly drop in boxes of 2024 Bowman Baseball cards. With differing ways to purchase the Bowman collections—both in retail setups and hobby setups—collectors can approach the hobby differently in an effort to embrace the prospects that highlight the 2024 Bowman Baseball cards. 

Tim Newcomb covers business and gear for Baseball America.

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There’s a lot that’s new in the fresh iteration of the Louisville Slugger Prime line to get the bats 30% harder and allow the 140-year-old brand to more than double the warranty from 30 days to an industry-leading 75 days. It all starts with a trip back into company history. 

Bobby Hillerich, a fifth-generation bat maker and vice president of manufacturing and product development, is a great-grandson of Bud Hillerich, who created the first-ever Slugger bat for professional Louisville Eclipse player Pete Browning in his father’s woodworking shop. Bobby Hillerich was researching published studies on wood surface hardening techniques when he saw a Penn State University study reference a 1902 patent from his great-grandfather regarding hickory wood spun on a lathe. 

“There is a combination of pressure and heat that is getting us the surface tension that we want,” Bobby Hillerich tells Baseball America. “We’ve updated it with new techniques and pressures.” 

The entire Louisville Slugger manufacturing process received an update. For the new Prime line, made with both maple and birch, the hardening is more than just the pressure and heat. It also comes from optimizing the brand’s vacuum drying system. Previously, wood could sit up to three weeks before going from green to vacuum driers at the Pennsylvania factory, but the cells started hardening while air drying, not allowing the vacuum to compress them. Louisville Slugger now vacuum dries the wood the same week they are processed from the log, all while keeping them stored at 70 degrees to increase stability. 

Once the billets get shipped to Louisville and turned and shaped into a bat, they receive a completely new finish. In search for a finish that wouldn’t take four days to cure, Bobby Hillerich and his team flew to San Diego to check out a process Taylor Guitar was using on their instruments. “We sprayed it on a bat and went and hit it on a steel post,” he says about the visit. “It was fantastic.” 

From there, Slugger met with Taylor Guitar’s engineer and the finish supplier, and the result was a finish developed for bats that can cure in a UV line in 13 seconds. “If we are rushing a bat out for a player,” Bobby Hillerich says, “13 seconds in the UV line and its done.”

The combination of selecting only the hardest woods, the vacuum drying, pressure and heat when turning and a new finish adds up to a bat 30% harder than the previous version. “This is our hardest wood product we have ever made,” Joe Cmelik, senior product line manager, tells Baseball America. “We really went back to the basics, broke down where we were at and where we wanted to be. We see it as a new product.” 

The game’s top players have tested the bat for the last year and Cmelik calls the feedback “overwhelmingly positive,” with players commenting on it without prompting. “They notice this bat is a lot harder,” he says. “They notice it in sound, notice it in feel, they are not seeing ball marks.” 

The harder the bat, the more energy transfer to the ball, ideally increasing exit-speed velocity. “We are always looking for a couple extra feet,” Bobby Hillerich says. The results panned out during the 2023 MLB season, with Ronald Acuna Jr., Cody Bellinger and Kyle Schwarber all having outstanding seasons using the updated technology.

Now Slugger brings that technology to scale with the April 17 retail launch of the entire Prime line. Cmelik expects the RA13 Ronald Acuna Jr. player model and the C271 to remain the most popular bats in the lineup, and Louisville Slugger also plans limited editions and different colorways throughout the year. The Prime wood line has proven sought after at retail by high-level travel players, but also by college players in wood bat leagues. 

No matter the Prime style, every model has received the complete update, but the fifth-generation bat maker still gets drawn to the natural wood finish. It’s in his blood, after all. “I like,” Bobby Hillerich says, “to see everything inside that piece of wood.” 

Tim Newcomb covers gear and business for Baseball America.

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When Rangers hitting coach Tim Hyers first saw a LaceUp in person, he realized he had found the solution to a problem he’d been looking to fix.

Hyers was looking for a weight that would allow hitters to change the weighting of their bat during soft toss or tee work. Ideally, it would be durable, easy to adjust, but most importantly it would be able to use it while taking actual swings.

With the LaceUp, Hyers could shelve some homemade devices that he’d messed with to try to give hitters a different feel with their game bats.

“You can put weights on different parts of the bat with live swings. Front toss, side toss and you can use the same bat in the game,” Hyers said. “I feel the biggest benefit is weight at the knob of the bat. That’s really beneficial for a hitter to feel something heavy on their hands and not cast the barrel. I have used a number of homemade devices that aren’t very sturdy. Wrap it around the knob. They don’t have to change bats.”

With the LaceUp, hitters can quickly move the weight from the knob to up above the hands at the top of the handle. It can also be attached further up to serve like a doughnut.

“It’s a solid device. It’s well made. It’s easy to put on and take off. You don’t have to take a long time to change it,” Hyers said. “Guys loosen up with it. It’s a doughnut too. You can use it for multiple purposes. It’s easy to carry it around. It’s a simple device that has many different advantages.”

But for Hyers, the most useful purpose of the LaceUp is to help hitters use the tool to change the center of balance of the bat and the weighting in drills.

“They get into habits with their regular bat. You put the LaceUp on, the body has to organize to be on time to contact. It’s challenging the body. Adding that degree of difficulty. It’s not so heavy that you can’t swing the bat, but it’s enough weight to challenge the hitter to get the bat to contact. The body has to reorganize but in a good way. You’re challenging the body to attract different muscles in swing. It adds a degree of difficulty. That’s what hitters like.”

“When you add the weight into your hands, you feel that connection to your core and the center of your body. Players feel what they need to feel at that time. The body has to feel strong and stay inside to feel that strength. Fix, six or seven swings with that heavy weight in their hands. That’s where they feel the strength,” Hyers said.

There are overload and underload bats that can serve some of those roles, but the LaceUp allows hitters to do those same drills with the same bat they will use in the game.

“They want to use what’s close to game action. They don’t have to swing a different bat,” Hyers said.

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The full lineup of 2022 bats in the BBCOR, USSSA and USA designations feature the ADV Hype, ADV 360, Maxum Ultra and Alpha ALX. Each model takes a distinct approach to materials, constructions and technologies to provide specific advantages to hitters when the bats release on Oct. 7.

The ADV Hype, available in BBCOR and USSSA certifications, features a new thermo-composite technology that combines a larger barrel and sweet spot with the lightest swing weight in the Easton bat lineup. This combination is designed to create explosive power at the plate. Additionally, The ConneXion Max technology maximizes energy transfer with a stiffer feel at contact and a Nitrocell foam to help reduce vibration. A carbon handle uses extra-stiff carbon fibers to create a more solid handle and stiff feel elite players love, Easton says. At the knob, the Power Boost Soft Knob tech offers additional leverage while reducing vibration and improving comfort.

“Our engineers are always looking for new ways to push the limits of performance for composite bats that also meet the needs of the modern athlete,” says Matt Arndt, Easton senior vice president of product and research and development. “That is what Easton delivers in the ADV Hype.”

The ADV 360 USA made a debut at the 2021 Little League World Series as a two-piece composite bat designed with a balance of power and speed. The composite barrel was designed to have a large sweet spot and combines with what the company calls a “hot out of the wrapper performance.” Isolating the handle from the barrel helps reduce vibration and creates a stiffer feel to transfer more energy into the ball at contact. The Power Boost Soft Knob makes an appearance on the ADV 360 USA.

The Maxum Ultra returns for 2022 with models now available in USSSA and USA certifications. Designed as the longest barrel and biggest sweet spot in the game, according to Easton, the one-piece seamless carbon construction is aimed at providing a uniform barrel strength and maximum performance from knob to cap. The one-piece extra-large barrel uses computer-controlled precision molding to produce a consistent, lightweight wall for performance.

New for 2022, the Alpha ALX offers a one-piece aluminum bat designed for a high barrel response and durability. Using the brand’s FlyWall Barrel Design, the ringless barrel features different layers of alloy across the barrel to create an even bigger sweet spot and a smoother feel at contact, the brand says. The Power Boost Soft Knob makes an appearance on the Alpha ALX, which is available in BBCOR, USSSA and USA.

The Easton BBCOR lineup, all at a -3 drop, includes the ADV Hype, Maxum Ultra and Alpha ALX.

The USSSA certification includes the ADV Hype at four drop options, the Maxum Ultra at two drops and the Alpha ALX at two drops.

Expect to find four different ADV 360 drops for USA certification, along with two Maxum Ultra options and one drop of the Alpha ALX.

Tim Newcomb covers gear and business for Baseball America. Follow him on Twitter at @tdnewcomb.

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The upcoming Louisville Slugger Hitting Science Center, located in the new Norton Sports Health Performance & Wellness Center in Louisville, will place exercise scientists in a lab to analyze a wide range of data points from a player’s swing and reaction time to then design custom training programs to help them become better hitters. It will also allow for more data-driven bat fitting.

“Our mission is to become the gold standard in baseball and fastpitch softball education and instruction,” says Chad Miller, Louisville Slugger Hitting Science Center founder. “We will have an authentic baseball laboratory using the latest technology to help players fine-tune their game through measurable analytics like neuro response times and other important neurological and physical factors. Numbers don’t lie, so we can identify specifically what each player needs to work on and then create individualized programs to help those athletes improve.”

The Bat Fitting Lab will get housed within the Hitting Science Center, helping provide guidance to amateur, college, Minor League and Major League players on selecting bat models suited for them, including aspects such as barrel size, handle and knob style, length, weight distribution and specific species of wood for players selecting a wood bat.

The proximity of the Bat Fitting Lab to the Louisville Slugger wood bat factory will allow players to hit with their new bats and make adjustments in the same day. The Louisville Slugger Hitting Science Center will be inside a renovated 26,000-square-foot training space at the site of the former Louisville Athletic Club on Westport Road in Louisville.

“Pro players have always selected bats based on feel,” says Kevin Uhrhan, Louisville Slugger manager for professional baseball. “Feel will remain part of it, but now we’ll be able to take the data from each hitter’s analysis and help them narrow down to the bat models and specifications that will help them have the most success.”

The Louisville Slugger Hitting Science Center will feature VIP training service packages and a Spring Training Warm-Up Program for professional players. An academy program for amateurs and a hitting coach certification program, along with a series of hitting science camps and clinics, all come part of the plans for the space.

“Hall of Famer Ted Williams, one of the greatest hitters of all time, said that hitting a baseball is the single hardest thing to do in sports,” says Jim Hackett, general manager of Wilson Baseball & Softball, parent company of Louisville Slugger. “Now players at every level will be able to come to the Louisville Slugger Hitting Science Center’s Bat Fitting Lab and have their swing analyzed. Our exercise scientists will review the data and then work with each player to determine which of our wood and non-wood bats best fit their game.”

Tim Newcomb covers gear and business for Baseball America. Follow him on Twitter at @tdnewcomb.

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BaseballCloud, known for offering a suite of software to allow baseball and softball coaches and players to house and analyze data, announced the multi-million-dollar acquisition of optical tracking company Yakkertech. The companies say the changes will enhance products for players and coaches and do so at a competitive price point.

“Over the last four years we ended up spending so much of our time on managing data quality issues,” says Kevin Davidson, BaseballCloud CEO. “The industry is educated now. I feel it is our responsibility to provide the market with what it deserves and what it expects. This transition allows us to do so.”

Davidson says that optical tracking from Yakkertech offers the key to driving down costs, enhancing data quality and increasing data capturing opportunities.

Already serving as the analytics hub for over 100 collegiate programs and providing custom software solutions to MLB organizations, independent leagues, agencies and individual players, BaseballCloud has a strong presence across multiple levels of baseball. Yakkertech already has a heavy influence in MLB organizations.

“Optical tracking is the only viable solution moving forward in the game of baseball and softball,” says Sean Cashman, Yakkertech president. “Now, as part of BaseballCloud, our group can maintain that focus and bring the most user-friendly set of analytics to help coaches coach and players get better.”

Moving forward, users of both products have product improvements on the horizon, BaseballCloud says, whether objective fingerprint tracking for pitcher grips, the integration of a live data feed to give coaches and players the opportunity to make adjustments in real time or the capability to simultaneously capture data and analysis-grade in-game video of the pitcher and hitter.

Both companies were founded in 2017. BaseballCloud started in response to the divide between the quantity of data available in baseball and the quality of available tools used to analyze it. The first product, BCTeam, gave college baseball coaches and players a way to make use of ball flight data. The company has since grown across baseball and softball with multiple visualization tools to help users understand data, create realistic renditions of performance and even customize stadium designs to mimic home-field conditions.

Yakkertech’s goal from the start was to better track ball and player movement and has been in MLB since 2020. The software and camera systems allow for pitching and hitting analysis.

Tim Newcomb covers gear and business for Baseball America. Follow him on Twitter at @tdnewcomb.

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The A2000 lineup already received a significant update last year with the brand’s Comfort Pro Fit designs and Spin Control Technology, so this year’s revisions placed a focus on providing new looks to iconic patterns while adding SuperSkin and updated Spin Control patterns, says Aaron Gillette, Wilson ball glove product manager.

The specific updates feature a 1786 11.5″ infield model and 1799 outfield model gaining new looks and SuperSkin getting added to the 1786SS model and both the Tim Anderson and Ke’Bryan Hayes game models. Two new Spin Control patterns were included for infielders on the A2000 SC1787 11.75″ and the Pedroia Fit model.

The Hayes and Anderson game models represent new additions to the A2000 line, while Mookie Betts changed up his signature model with the 2022 A2K MB50.

“Ke’Bryan Hayes is one of the up-and-coming stars in the league and has made highlight reel play after highlight reel play,” Gillette says. “This year he wanted a glove that represented the city of Pittsburgh with its colors, while also prioritizing SuperSnakeSkin to keep the glove light at the hot corner.”

Anderson has long used his A2000 G4 pattern with reinforced H-Web for extra padding, but the A2000 TA7 GM now features grey SuperSnakeSkin for lightness and an aesthetic nod to his “Southside roots.”

“Anderson added red bold logos for a touch of flair and style that Tim is known for,” Gillette says.

Wilson has worked with Betts over the years and his updated model brings his background as an infielder into a small, light outfield glove, the only 12.5″ outfield glove offered in the A2K lineup. Betts uses royal and white SuperSkin and red laces for aesthetic flair.

Wilson’s Legion of Leather game models also include Jose Abreu‘s A2K, Ozzie Albies‘ A2K and Clayton Kershaw‘s A2000. Expect to see a Matt Chapman A2K and a Juan Soto A2K join the Wilson game model lineup later in 2021.

Gillette says SuperSkin continues as a popular addition to the A2000 line. “It is used by over one hundred MLB athletes and countless fastpitch athletes as well,” he says. “With baseball, many of our gloves trended toward blacks and traditional leathers.”

Along with the A2000 updates for 2022, Wilson unveiled a new A1000 lineup with pro-style patterns and game-ready leather at a less expensive price point than the A2000.

For fastpitch players, the A2000 H75 and H12 both received updated looks while game models from Aubree Munro, Kelsey Stewart and Sierra Romero all now feature Spin Control Technology. Wilson also released a USA Softball Game Model series this summer featuring the gloves of eight of USA Softball’s Olympic roster players that added Delaney Spaulding, Val Arioto, Amanda Chidester, Monica Abbott and Cat Osterman to the mix.

In August, Ali Aguilar will become the first-ever Wilson Advisory Staff fastpitch athlete to release a signature A2K model, bringing her individual twist to the A2K 1787.

Trending colors in fastpitch include traditional leather colors, with Romero’s glove a prime example in saddle tan and walnut leather. That said, Gillette says customization in fastpitch is gaining steam, with Stewart’s sky-blue glove an example of the first of that color to hit the shelves.

Tim Newcomb covers gear and business for Baseball America. Follow him on Twitter at @tdnewcomb.

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