Next Level Baseball

@martinnwf Not enough data and analytics for the office dudes that are actually making the pics. Also a reason why they want to eliminate the need to evaluate high school players.

I’m hearing Only 1 player from Florida JUCO Baseball drafted this year? Wow have times changed.

Auggy Davila (2027-Key West HS-SS-P) will represent Florida at the 2D Sports Southeast Cup. Davila is one of the best uncommitted players in the country. Auggy is what future All Americans and professional players look like in high school and travel ball. Winning makeup and from a baseball family.

Recruit NLB. Switch hitting elite athlete that can catch and play center field. Dad played football at Florida State. Has a brother in the San Francisco Giants organization and another brother that plays football and baseball at the Citadel.

Recruit NLB. Pick to click. Jackson is projectable and athletic. Fundamental delivery with a quick arm. Easy athletic actions. Priority juco sign. Jarquez will represent Florida at the 2D Sports Southeast Cup.

Too many parents say they want their son to be drafted even if they know they will be going to college instead of signing. More about social status and vanity than substance.

MLB Draft. One of the things that makes the MLB draft so special. Great scouts don't care if you play D1, D2, D3, NAIA, a juco in the middle of nowhere or a high school in a town with one traffic light. If you're good enough. They're supposed to find you. Be good enough. Be physical enough. Dominate the competition.

You think it means something to this kid and his family? No doubt it does. I bet he runs through the wall for the Orioles.

Was talking to a parent of one of the best draft prospects in the country. He asked me how important tournament organization player rankings were in terms of the draft. They have absolutely no importance. MLB scouting departments have their own rankings, and they're compiled by the scouts they pay. MLB scouts have a running pref (preference) list that continually gets updated. Those pref lists will then be discussed, argued and integrated to compile the organizations draft board. Most organizations will have approximately 15 area scouts, 3-5 regional cross checkers and 2-3 national cross checkers, an assistant scouting director and scouting director. All of them will have running pref lists that will be integrated before the draft. Players will get moved around and even removed from the board based on medicals and signability. Outside rankings will never be mentioned in organizational or draft meetings and have absolutely no value or importance when it comes to the MLB draft.

Roster Update Team Florida has roster availability for a D1 caliber middle of the order hitter with physicality. Team Florida Roster Construction Southeast Cup July 30-August 2nd Lafayette, Louisiana 2027 and 2028 Graduates It's time to build another team that can compete with Team Louisiana, Team Arkansas, Team Tennessee, Team Mississippi, Team Alabama and Team Texas. If you're from Florida and want to represent the state, email rrobinson@nextlevelbb.com. Team Florida is looking for the best of the best with impressive high school and travel ball resumes. Physical players with tools that can perform vs great competition. The Florida team will be constructed with 5 infielders, 3 catchers, 4 outfielders and 9 pitchers. Represent Florida.

Campbell will be representing Florida at the 2D Sports Southeast Cup.

Jimmy knew that great leaders adapt and believe in people. "You treat a person as he is, he's gonna stay as he is. Treat a person as if he were what he could be and should be, and he will become what he could be and should be." Great teams believe in their culture and each other. They set high standards and live to them. He made this work because he made it personal. He didn't guess - he studied his teams. • What drives them. • What makes them tick. • What shuts them down. You can design the best culture on paper, but it always come down to the people and daily behaviors. 1. Eliminate the wrong people 2. Bring in the right people 3. Create an environment for people to thrive (The framework comes from his talk at the SMU Athletic Forum in 2013).

MLB Draft Prospects. Your agent works for you. You are the boss. You approve everything that is relayed to teams about your signability. Your agent shouldn't take a percentage of your NIL money if it is collective money from the school. If you are getting talked out of signing so a sleazy agent can get some of your NIL money you may need a new agent.

@RobOviatt1 @CovertheCorner @bernie_ple28263 @adamthebull Lack of accountability.

Another no hustle play by a millionaire player. Two outs, he’s the winning run if he gets on base. What the H gives. @nextlevelbb @CovertheCorner @bernie_ple28263 @adamthebull

The overwhelming majority of money picks in the MLB draft are complete weirdos. They are all in on being the very best they can be. They consider doing things the majority of players are unwilling to do fun. They enjoy the weight room They enjoy conditioning. They enjoy supplementation and caloric intake. They enjoy sacrificing to be the best. Their fun is the work associated with being the best they can be. They are obsessed with being a professional athlete and major league baseball player. A lot are misunderstood by their teammates because their teammates don't understand their maturity and focus.

@RobOviatt1 Very little accountability in the big leagues.

Want to know if a player is turned in to be drafted? Type his name into the search bar. Want to see how many players from a school are turned in to be drafted? Type the school name in the search bar. mlb.com/draft/tracker

Players chasing greatness and their parents want, seek and desire structure, discipline, unfiltered truth and expectations that most wouldn't understand. They want to be pushed to the limit. Players that aren't sacrificing to be great and their parents usually hate everything that the players legitimately chasing greatness appreciate. Players driven to be the best have tunnel vision with what they want and understand every day is a chance to transform into a better version of themselves.

THE SCOUTING CLASSROOM #53 THE SCOUT WHO CHANGED MY CAREER “ Every scout learns from someone before becoming someone others learn from.” ⸻ Tom Davis After 20 years in Major League Baseball scouting, people sometimes ask who had the greatest influence on my career. That answer has never been difficult. It was the late Tom Davis! When Tom recommended that the Angels hire me as their Four Corners Area Scout in December 1999, he was 63 years old and already one of the most respected evaluators in professional baseball. He became my first West Coast supervisor, but very quickly, he became much more than that. He became my Baseball Dad. A MASTER TEACHER Tom held a masters degree and was a HS Principal and decorated football/baseball coach. Tom retired from education in 1981 and immediately became a full-time area scout with the Phillies. Over the next four decades he worked for the Phillies, Cubs, Angels, Mariners, and Braves, earning the respect of everyone who crossed his path. In 2010, he was voted by his peers as the West Coast Scout of the Year, an honor that reflected the admiration scouts had for both the man and the evaluator. Tom also coached future Miracle Met and World Champion Tug McGraw in high school, but his greatest legacy wasn’t the players he coached. • It was the scouts he mentored. • Everything was a teaching moment. • He never told you what to think. • He taught you how to think. He challenged every report until your conviction matched your evaluation. THE COWBOY PHILOSOPHER Tom’s wisdom often arrived disguised as humor. • “I was born at night… but not last night.” • “It’s not my first rodeo.” • “Well, I’m on the right side of the grass, so that’s good.” • “That guy couldn’t scout… he couldn’t spot a cow in a Volkswagen.” • “See that player? WOW! That’s what I used to look like before the accident.” He delivered every line with that gravelly cowboy voice and a grin that could light up a scouting meeting. We all laughed. But we also listened. MORE THAN A SUPERVISOR Tom helped lay the scouting foundation that contributed to the Angels’ 2002 World Series Championship. Our scouting department consistently ranked among baseball’s best because men like Tom demanded preparation, integrity, and accountability. Although we officially worked together for only four years, he called me nearly every week or two for the next 25 years. Not to ask about reports. To ask about me. He had an incredible intuition for people. If he felt someone needed encouragement, he’d pick up the phone. In December 2014, after my wife Heidi unexpectedly stopped breathing following surgery, Tom called me several times each day to check on our family. Then, just minutes after Heidi passed away, the phone rang again. It was Tom. Before I could say the words, he quietly asked, “Heidi passed… didn’t she?” Barely able to answer, I whispered, “Yes.” He simply said, “I love you, son. I’ll see you in St. George. Hug those babies.” In that moment, he wasn’t my supervisor. He wasn’t my mentor. He was family! A LEGACY THAT LIVES ON Tom Davis passed away on November 27, 2025, at the age of 88, but his influence continues through every scout he mentored and every life he touched. He taught me that scouting isn’t just about evaluating players. It’s about serving people. It’s about leading with integrity. It’s about making others better because they knew you. Every scout needs someone who changes the way they see the game. I was blessed to have Tom Davis! I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to pass along what he so generously gave to me. I Love You Tom and I’m glad you knew that, because I told you that many times! @NorcalScouts #BehindTheRadarGun 🔎

MLB Draft. How many MLB impact players look like the guy we are considering drafting. A reasonable question and the draft room better have the answers.

Cadon Herring (2028-Taylor County HS-P) will represent Florida at the 2D Sports Southeast Cup. Athletic and projectable. Quick arm with a fundamental delivery and feel for spinning the breaking ball.