The Pac-12 you grew up with is gone. What's left won't be mistaken for the Conference of Champions on anybody's preseason board. It feels like a conference a leftovers. Perhaps more fitting, it's blue-collar programs opposing the blueblood nature of collegiate athletics in 2026.
This new series isn't about highlighting the obvious draft prospects. It's hardly about highlighting the top shelf conferences either. Its aim is not to continue to elevate names scouts already have pages of notes on. It's one name per baseball program that most boards/scouts haven't gotten to yet. Every player on this list will need to breakout to earn professional consideration in the 2027 Draft, but we think they have at least a couple of tools that fit in that conversation.
Jacob Hayes, 1B — Washington State
• 2026 (Azusa Pacific, D-II): 56 G, .283/.365/.557, 62 H, 13 2B, 1 3B, 15 HR, 44 RBI, 50 …