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Kiley McDaniel

@kileymcd

ESPN Baseball Insider. Trying to tell the future. Former: FanGraphs & four MLB teams.

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15.11.2024
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Latest posts by Kiley McDaniel @kileymcd

Kentucky SS Tyler Bell has been cleared to hit and run the bases for this weekend's games against the Citadel, per source. The next step would be clearance to play the field.

Bell was 27th on my most recent draft rankings www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...

06.03.2026 00:13 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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2026 fantasy baseball picks: MLB rookie, prospect rankings Kiley McDaniel provides his rankings of rookie-eligible players for their potential fantasy contributions during the 2026 baseball season.

I wrote a deep breakdown of every relevant rookie through a fantasy lens www.espn.com/fantasy/base...

05.03.2026 17:05 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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2026 WBC: Contreras, McLean among MLB prospects to watch The 2026 World Baseball Classic is loaded with household names, but also some MLB stars of tomorrow.

There are a ton of prospects on WBC rosters, including a slew of players on my recent top 100, a possible first round pick in July, and a number of posting/FA targets. I break them all down: www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...

26.02.2026 18:36 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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2026 MLB draft rankings 1.0: Top NCAA, high school prospects We rank the top draft candidates now that a new college baseball season is underway.

Every year I do a draft top 50 rankings after the opening weekend of college baseball.

Today, I did a top 64 rankings for some reason, with a full rundown of what scouts think about this draft class and key prospects www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...

20.02.2026 16:38 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

you have created my favorite use of AI: more baseball stats and graphics!

19.02.2026 20:27 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

As others have reported, California prep LHP Jared Grindlinger reclassified from the 2027 draft class into the 2026 draft class today. This comes over a month after the deadline, but Grindlinger got a waiver from MLB.

My draft rankings are going up tomorrow; more on him to come.

19.02.2026 17:44 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Coastal Carolina RHP Cameron Flukey will not make his scheduled start this weekend, per sources. It is a precautionary measure and the issue is not with his arm.

Flukey is a projected top 10 overall pick for the 2026 MLB Draft.

19.02.2026 03:44 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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College baseball 2026: Top storylines, POY picks and MCWS predictions Our college baseball experts break down the upcoming season and what they're most excited about.

Forgot to post this, but on Friday before the season started, our college baseball crew teamed up for this roundtable season preview www.espn.com/college-spor...

17.02.2026 20:58 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Kentucky SS Tyler Bell injured his left shoulder last night diving for a ball on defense. He’s out indefinitely, per source.

Bell is a projected 2026 first round pick. He went unsigned out of high school as the 66th overall pick in the 2024 draft by the Rays.

14.02.2026 16:09 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 4

They’ll be hearing from his father

07.02.2026 02:14 πŸ‘ 3152 πŸ” 347 πŸ’¬ 32 πŸ“Œ 4

yes and also his underlying numbers are stronger than his surface stats.

he's also at a part of the list where you could argue for a lot of players, so your point is also generally correct.

04.02.2026 17:58 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

South Carolina LHP Jake McCoy underwent successful Tommy John surgery yesterday in New York City with Dr. Christopher Ahmad, per source.

Last season, McCoy struck out 77 batters in 60 innings over 14 starts as a sophomore. He was up to 97 mph last season and hit 98 in the fall.

04.02.2026 16:58 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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2026 top 10 prospect rankings for all 30 MLB teams Who is rising in every major league farm system? Kiley McDaniel digs in.

Top 10 prospects for each of the 30 teams is up and that concludes the winter prospect suite of content! www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...

04.02.2026 16:53 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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2026 season predictions for MLB's top prospects Which young players will do big things on the diamond in the year ahead? Our experts weigh in.

Today my colleagues joined me in making bold prospect-related predictions for 2026.

Team Top 10s are filed and coming tomorrow! www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...

03.02.2026 17:32 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

right-handed hitting 1B with 35- or 40-grade bat to ball, a fine but not great approach, and good but not great raw power.

03.02.2026 17:32 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

and here's my ranking of each farm system 1 through 30 with dollar values so you can see how quickly your team can rise www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...

29.01.2026 16:52 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 2

And today, prospects ranked 101-200, with superlatives from this group in lieu of 100 more scouting reports. Tomorrow: farm rankings! www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...

28.01.2026 19:06 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 3

more coming over the next week:

- prospects 101-200 with superlatives
- farm rankings
- top 10 prospects by team
- bold predictions

27.01.2026 16:44 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Top 100 MLB prospects for 2026: Griffin, McGonigle, more Where do stars of tomorrow such as Konnor Griffin and Kevin McGonigle land as we rank baseball's best young players?

It's Top 100 Day!

The article is stuffed with 25,000 words of tool grades, scouting reports, and notes on the metas that teams are using to find value in scouting and development www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...

27.01.2026 16:41 πŸ‘ 16 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 6

Over 25,000 words in the form of this year's Top 100 prospect list have been handed to the editors.

26.01.2026 18:13 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I'm sure Mets fans don't care much about this right now, but...

I'm finalizing the Top 100 and farm rankings and it works out that, by a tiny margin (i.e. subject to change), this trade takes the Mets farm system from #1 ranked to #6...and also moves the Brewers from #6 to #1.

22.01.2026 02:52 πŸ‘ 33 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

The Rockies hired Chad MacDonald as Special Assistant/Senior Director of Player Personnel, per source.

He ran draft rooms that selected Trea Turner, Max Fried, Brandon Nimmo, Zach Eflin, Seth Lugo, Hunter Renfroe & Michael Fulmer and has worked with Paul DePodesta & Josh Byrnes.

16.01.2026 22:45 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

IF Andy Ibanez has agreed to terms on a one-year big league deal with the Dodgers pending physical, per source.

Ibanez, 32, was non-tendered by the Tigers in November.

09.01.2026 19:59 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 3
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Who are MLB's top young stars? Ranking baseball's best players at every age from 16 to 25 Julio Rodriguez or Bobby Witt Jr.? Roman Anthony or Jackson Chourio? We rank baseball's best by birth year.

One of my favorite articles of the year: ranking the top players by birth year!

Also a stealth preview of the upcoming draft (and the two after it) along with the upcoming int'l signing period (and next year's). www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...

07.01.2026 16:58 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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A 12-player blockbuster? Cy Young signings? Ranking the biggest MLB Christmas week moves Who says the baseball offseason slows down for the holidays? Let's remember some free agent signings and trades.

Will we see the hot stove heat up this week? I ranked the top 10 moves from the week of Christmas since 1990. A great way to remember some guys, like Ryan Klesko! www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...

23.12.2025 17:00 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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Updated contract projections for the top four free agent hitters Pete Alonso and Kyle Schwarber got big bucks for their ability to hit big flies. Here's why it could bring bigger paydays to other available hitters.

Jesse Rogers covered the shifting top of the position player market; I weighed in with updated contract projections www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...

16.12.2025 16:05 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Forgot to post this: we did a roundtable in the wake of the Diaz/Alonso FA losses for the Mets. What is ahead? Why did this happen? www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...

12.12.2025 19:02 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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White Sox win 2026 MLB draft lottery! Here's a mini-mock draft predicting the top 5 picks With Chicago landing the No. 1 overall pick for next summer, let's see how the start of the first round could go down.

A five pick mock for the 2026 MLB Draft right after the draft lottery ended! A strong draft that’s rich with position players at the top www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...

09.12.2025 23:45 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

and yes, I fell for one of this years reliever-to-starter conversion candidates.

04.12.2025 16:47 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Three MLB free agents to invest in -- and three to avoid A bargain starting pitcher? Steer clear of Eugenio Suarez? Here are this winter's players to target and to be wary of, given their projected contracts.

Now for three years in a row, I have given you three free agents I'd sign and three I wouldn't, given what I projected their contracts to be. This year I gave you two bonus players! www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...

04.12.2025 16:47 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1