Oakland Ballers Sign Myles Jefferson

The Oakland Ballers have signed infielder Myles Jefferson to make his professional debut as a member of the B's in 2024. The 23-year-old attended Sam Houston State and over two seasons batted a combined .298 with a .385 OBP, eight home runs, and 18 stolen bases. He had previously played at a Junior College in Odessa. 

Jefferson's strikeout rate sat at 19.5% last season, which could be a little high considering his power numbers, but he also hit for a high average on got on base at a high clip, so it could just be nitpicking. 

According to his Baseball-Reference page, Jefferson stands 5-foot-11 and swings it from the right side. 

In addition to the Ballers signing, there was also another new Pioneer League team that was announced on Tuesday, the Yolo High Wheelers, who will be based in Yolo County and play their games at the University of California Davis. 

What is interesting about this announcement is that the co-founders of the B's, Bryan Carmel and Paul Freedman, are also the co-founders of the High Wheelers. When a league expands, you need two teams to enter at a time, and with their focus on landing a team in Oakland in the timeframe that they wanted, they also needed to adopt a second club to make it happen. 

We'll have more on the Pioneer League's latest team in the coming days, but they figure to be the Ballers' natural rival with 30 games scheduled between the two clubs next season. 

The Ballers will be holding open tryouts in Florida, Arizona, and one locally. The tryout in Davenport, Florida will be held from February 9-11, while the one in Scottsdale, Arizona will be from April 16-18. The local tryout will have more details at a later date.

The B's also have gear available at Oaklandish, with t-shirts and hoodies in black and green. Green snapback hats back in stock, and there is a new crop of black snapbacks currently available as well. Oaklandish expects to have fitted hats at some point soon.