Six days in Long Beach, five days of games, one day of BP and infield/outfield, a smattering of athletic testing, and somewhere north of 1,500 people packed onto the stands. Scouts, analysts, R&D types, cross-checkers, scouting directors, entire amateur acquisition departments flown out west. For me, Area Code Games is the event of the summer, and it delivered once again this year.
This is where extended looks happen. This is where 2027 draft boards start to take shape, where "pref" lists get rearranged, where an area scout decides exactly where he/she is spending their spring.
As I reflect on the names and talent I was able to take in this past week, one thing struck me. Tools. This class has it. While many of them are raw, unpolished and not yet transferring to the field, it's fair to get excited about the ceiling for some of these players with another …