Emmanuel Clase had such an amazing season in 2024 that he was a finalist for the American League Cy Young. How he got there though is a great story.
At 17 years old, Clase was signed by the San Diego Padres for $125K, then traded three years later to the Rangers in the Brett Nicholas trade, after moving from a starter to a reliever role in his second professional season. Clase rose from High-A to open the 2019 season to debuting for Texas in August, and flashing a cutter with the highest average mph in MLB at just a hair under 100 mph, putting up a 2.