Like many Triple-A teams, the St. Paul Saints have had plenty of players pass through this year. However, Payton Eeles has surprised fans, the front office, and coaches because he wasn’t even in professional baseball when their 2024 season started.
Eeles began his 2024 season in the Atlantic League with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. Nearly four months later, he’s become a favorite under-the-radar guy for prospect gurus watching the Twins and across the country.
“It was definitely unexpected at the start of this year going into Indy ball,” Eeles said about his brief tenure with the Twins organization. “I didn’t expect to be here, but I wouldn’t say it’s surprising for me. I knew that once I was able to get a shot, I could prove I belonged.”
In 88 games between Low-A, High-A, and Triple-A this season, the 24-year-old infielder has proven he belongs. Over 363 plate appearances, Eeles has complied a .315/.441/.486 triple slash, .927 OPS, seven home runs, 41 RBI, and 32 stolen bases. The numbers will flash off any prospect stat page at any level in only 88 games for the year. But for a ‘rookie’ in pro ball, Eeles is making a name for himself.
“I don’t try to do too much each game,” Eeles said. “I just kind of play my game. When opportunities present themselves, I just try to go out there and do my best.”
While Eeles only joined the Twins organization on May 7, he’s been on their radar since last summer when he joined the Chicago Dogs in the independent American Association. His manager for the 2023 Dogs, Butch Hobson, played eight seasons in the majors from 1975 to 1982 with the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, and New York Yankees. Early on, Hobson had a keen eye for the talent Eeles possessed.
“I think for breakfast he eats baseballs and eggs, I think for lunch he eats baseballs and a piece of chicken, and I’m sure for the pre and post-game meals, whatever he eats he has baseballs with it,” Hobson said about Eeles passion for the game. “He just loves it. He completely turned us around. After the first night, I looked at my pitching coach, and I said, ‘That’s one of my favorite players right there.’ And I think after the second night, he became a fan favorite.”
Eeles joined the Dogs thanks to Matt Deggs, a former player under Hobson’s management with the 1995 Mobile Baysharks. Deggs coaches at the University of Louisiana Lafayette in the Sun Belt Conference, the same conference as Coastal Carolina, Eeles’ alma mater.
Deggs calls Hobson each year after the draft to give him a heads-up on undrafted players he coached for or against. Eeles was just one of the players Hobson said Degges needed him to know about, and the results spoke for themselves once Hobson saw him in person.
“He’s Pete Rose. I mean, that’s the way he plays,” Hobson said. “Growing up, I was a Pete Rose fan and I got to play against him some in Spring Training. I always wanted to pattern myself by the way I played the game, and I definitely was not the type of player he was, but I believed I played hard like he did, and that’s what Payton Eeles does.”
Hobson understands the gravity of comparing Eeles to Rose. He knows that any other player alive today aside from Ichiro Suzuki couldn’t match the number of hits Rose had in professional baseball. Still, Hobson compares Eeles to Rose because he puts forth the effort each day he shows up to the ballpark, which has helped him get as far as he has in professional baseball.
“He’s just very disciplined,” said Hobson. “He doesn’t let failure bother him, which there are a lot of failures involved in baseball. But what he has done to get signed, and I called Billy Milos during the season and said, ‘I have a second baseman here you have to come see. You’ve got to come see this kid. Somebody has to sign him.’ Immediately, he said the same thing.”
Milos was a scout for the Twins for 29 seasons before joining the Colorado Rockies this past off-season. Last summer, when Milos saw Eeles on the field for the first time, he all but knew the 5’6” infielder lived up to Hobson’s description.
“I roam out in Chicago one day and see him and go ‘Who is this guy?’ Milos recalled. “I call up Butch, and he tells me ‘he’s just like Pete Rose.’ I had everything. I watched a little video of him, and this was one of the most complete makeups I had on a player after scouting three times when I presented him to the Twins. By the time I gave his reel to the Twins, it was everything. There was nothing else left to do but sign him.”
The report Milos submitted had everything a scout needed to bring to a team. It would still be months before the Twins made an offer to Eeles, even though the 2024 season was starting soon at all levels of baseball.
“I remember being down by the cage and watching batting practice, and Payton hit about three homers to left field during that batting practice,” said Keith Noonan, play-by-play broadcaster for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. “We had just met the day before, but Stan (Cliburn, Blue Crabs manager) and I looked at each other, and both of us shook our heads, saying this guy will be one of our best players.”
Eeles was one of Southern Maryland’s best players for six games to start the season, going 7-for-24 with three home runs before the Twins officially signed him on May 7.
Those who scouted, coached, and called Eeles’s games on broadcasts before he joined the Twins organization see him as a modern-day Charlie Hustle. He may carry a quieter demeanor around him, but no matter the clubhouse he’s in, Eeles inspires himself and others to play better every day.
Hobson saw it in him when he joined the Chicago Dogs after he went undrafted in 2023 after his senior year at Coastal Carolina and helped carry the team further in the American Association playoffs than they expected.
“Payton just has that fire about him that rubs off,” said Hobson. “He really does. He turned our team around, and we got to play for the championship. Even as a rookie in independent ball, he made everybody around him better. I really believe that he made everybody around him better.”
Eeles attributes his Charlie Hustle style of play to how many doors have been shut in my face, something he often talks about with his dad when reflecting on his baseball journey.
“Once I was able to get through that, they couldn’t keep me out,” he said. “I just keep that same mentality. I don’t try to make things bigger than they are; it’s still the same game I was playing when I was younger. But at the end of the day, I’ve just been really fortunate to have the opportunities I’ve been given to get here.”
As the 2024 season concludes, Eeles and many of his fans are surprised by how far he’s gotten to this point. He’s close to reaching the Major Leagues. It isn’t out of the question that if he doesn’t make his MLB debut this season, it’s more than likely he could in 2025.
