PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — On Dec. 7, 2022, Mississippi State baseball legend Jake Mangum was traded from the New York Mets – the team that drafted him – to the Miami Marlins.
The change of scenery seemed like a positive one for the outfielder, who played his entire 2023 season with the Marlins’ Triple-A affiliate, Jacksonville. Mangum excelled, hitting .298/.346/.425 in 119 games, numbers that typically portend a big-league callup or at least an invite to major-league camp for Spring Training. And then, like so many things in Mangum’s young professional career, everything changed.
One year and one day after being traded to the Marlins, Mangum was announced as the player-to-be-named-later in a trade between Miami and the Tampa Bay Rays, his third MLB organization in three years.
“It’s always sudden,” Mangum said. “Trades happen out of nowhere. … Back-to-back years, as soon as the Rule 5 Draft ended, I got a call from the Mets and the Marlins, ‘Hey, you’re the player-to-be-named-later in a trade,’ and that was it.”
Despite the unexpected move, Mangum feels like he’s found a home with the Rays.
“I’ve been in camp for about three weeks now,” Mangum said. “I had some January camps with the Rays. They have been fantastic. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with all of them. “Everyone’s been super nice, coaches and players. … I’m getting the chance to pick the brains of a ton of different dudes that have been around professional baseball for a long time.”
Another reason Mangum feels so comfortable in the organization is because he’s one of five former Bulldogs in the organization. Joining him in big-league camp are a pair of teammates from his time in Starkville: Zac Houston and Colby White.
But Mangum and Houston aren’t just sharing a uniform, they’re sharing a residence in the Port Charlotte area.
“I’m living with Zac for Spring Training, which is awesome,” Mangum said. “We were teammates in 2016. He’s great. … Being able to live with Zac, have a familiar teammate with me through this has been fantastic.”
Beyond the familiarity, Mangum landing with Tampa Bay might be a best-case-scenario for his career. No MLB organization uses more players than the Rays, who seem to use their Triple-A roster as an extension of their major league roster. In fact, over the past three seasons, the Rays have used an average of 60 different players per season.
Tampa Bay is so transaction-happy that MLB had to impose new rules for how many times players could shuttle back and forth to the majors after the Rays optioned former reliever Louis Head 12 times between the big leagues and Triple-A Durham during the 2021 season.
“The Rays have been very vocal about how they use the farm system,” Mangum said. “They rely on their full system to win baseball games. It gives you hope as a minor leaguer.”
‘It’s like a brotherhood’
While Mangum’s professional path has been winding, one thing has remained consistent: His love for the Diamond Dawgs.
Mangum remains as involved with and invested in MSU as ever – he lives in Starkville during the offseason – and his connections with coaches past and present remain strong.
“Jake was a tremendous defensive player, a great package of offensive skills,” former Mississippi State head coach Gary Henderson said. “I think as important as anything was his ability to influence his teammates from a leadership position with how he went about his business.”
Henderson was Mississippi State’s pitching coach during Mangum’s first three seasons with the Bulldogs, and served as interim head coach in 2018 as the Bulldogs went on a Cinderella run to the College World Series.
Now the head baseball coach at the University of Utah, Henderson enjoys keeping up with as many of his former players as he can.
“You get kids at a different time of life,” Henderson said. “You have different relationships with them. To watch guys go from 18, 19 years old to them playing professionally, those are cool moments. Getting time to visit with them, that’s a special part of the job.”
For Henderson, that includes staying in touch with Mangum.
“The connection with Jake is a little different than most, but they’re pretty similar,” Henderson said. “You stay out of the kid’s way, you send them a text message, call them whenever is appropriate. You let them know you’re paying attention to them, you’re proud of them and proud of being a small part of their development.”
Beyond just keeping in touch with former coaches, Mangum also keeps tabs on the Bulldogs.
Having some teammates to talk Bulldog baseball with doesn’t hurt, either.
“We always check and see how the Dawgs are doing,” Mangum said. “It’s a close alumni. If you played at Mississippi State, it’s like a brotherhood. We keep up with it. We’re checking the scores every night and all that stuff.”
While his hopes for Mississippi State remain high, his expectations for himself are even higher; Mangum wants to earn his first big league shot.
He’s put himself in a good position to break through so far this spring, hitting .429/.529/.786 in nine games with a homer and two RBIs for Tampa Bay through March 11.
He’s made it through the first two rounds of cuts in big league camp as well, as the Rays are down to 58 players, including two on the 60-day injured list.
Mangum started in center field on Tuesday as Tampa Bay took on the Baltimore Orioles in Sarasota and played the full nine innings, going 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. A typical Jake Mangum stat line in what – to this point in his career, now in his fourth spring training with his third team – has been an atypical path for a prospect of his caliber. But, with the Rays, he finally feels like things are falling into place.
“We only talk about how I can be a better baseball player,” Mangum said. “As far as the plan, I’m going to show up to the ballpark tomorrow, try to play my best baseball and let the rest take care of itself. … I’m hoping to be a big leaguer. I really hope I can be part of the Tampa Bay Rays.”
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
