Brian Crawford, Author at Baseball Essential

Blue Jays’ Prospect Tim Locastro Getting Acclimated to Second Base

Jun 22, 2015

Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball, Toronto Blue Jays

A common transition you see in professional baseball is teams converting young shortstops into a second baseman. With many youth coaches developing their players with higher ceilings at shortstop due to the dem...

Blue Jays’ Prospect Chris Carlson is a Complete Outfielder

Brian Crawford

May 21, 2015

Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball, Toronto Blue Jays

After finding success drafting a Division II player in Kevin Pillar four years ago, Alex Anthopoulos's staff used the same approach in the later rounds of the 2014 MLB draft. While many organizations are kickin...

Top Prospect Derek Hill Working Hard to be the Tigers Center Fielder of the Future

Brian Crawford

May 8, 2015

Detroit Tigers, Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball

Focused on developing a center fielder of the future, the Detroit Tigers entered the 2014 draft with that position at the top of their board. Making sure not to waste time at picking a player that could one day...

Prospect Justin Shafer Rising through the Blue Jays’ System

Brian Crawford

May 4, 2015

Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball, Toronto Blue Jays

Continuing their tradition of developing talented young pitchers within their minor league system, the Toronto Blue Jays organization has seen some promising arms coming through their ranks in recent years and ...

Prospect Danny Jansen Working Hard to Be Blue Jays’ Catcher of the Future

Brian Crawford

May 2, 2015

Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball, Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays locked up their catching position for five seasons by signing Russell Martin last November. While it feels good knowing the organization filled a position of need on their big league roster, fans ...

San Diego Padres’ Michael Gettys Working Hard to Achieve his Dream

Brian Crawford

Apr 24, 2015

Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball, San Diego Padres

Baseball fans really look forward to the month of April. Not just because the weather is starting to get better, but more for the opportunity to see their favorite players and teams take the field to begin a si...

Cleveland Indians’ Bobby Bradley Developing Into a Complete First Baseman

Brian Crawford

Apr 12, 2015

Cleveland Indians, Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball

The Cleveland Indians' minor league system has started to take some positive steps forward in recent years. This upswing is largely in part to excellent drafting and development of talented young prospects who ...

Names to Watch in 2015: Toronto Blue Jays’ Francisco Gracesqui

Brian Crawford

Mar 31, 2015

Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball, Toronto Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays minor league system is loaded with young talent. While certain prospects receive a lot of attention from fans, some very good players fly under-the-radar every season. That was just the ca...

Toronto Blue Jays’ L.B. Dantzler Developing Well at First Base

Brian Crawford

Mar 28, 2015

Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball, Toronto Blue Jays

Addressing the first base position was an area the Toronto Blue Jays wanted to focus on during the 2013 draft. They did just that when they selected L.B. Dantzler, who at the time was a little known prospect th...

Toronto Blue Jays’ Prospect Chaz Frank is an Excellent Role Player

Brian Crawford

Mar 27, 2015

Features, Interviews, Minor League Baseball, Toronto Blue Jays

Every baseball team has role players; guys who can come in and fill numerous roles adequately. Outfielder Chaz Frank definitely prides himself on being just that kind of guy. While mastering the lost arts of bu...

Author Brian Crawford