New York Yankees’ Ben Rice to Highlight 2025 Hot Stove & HOF Induction

2025 FUTURES LEAGUE HOT STOVE: REGISTER HERE!

ROCKLAND, Mass. 一 On the heels of celebrating its 15th anniversary over the summer, the Futures League is set to host its first-ever league-wide Hot Stove on Saturday, November 8 at Rivier University in Nashua, N.H. 

The night will feature the induction of the league's third-ever Hall of Fame class which is headlined by current New York Yankees catcher/first baseman Ben Rice, who earned 2020 Futures League Most Valuable Player honors as a member of the Worcester Bravehearts. Click here for full biographies on all of the Hall of Fame inductees. 

Prior to the Hall of Fame portion of the program, there will be a moderated panel discussion on college recruiting featuring top New England baseball and softball coaches beginning at 5 p.m. in Sylvia Trottier Hall. The panel includes four head coaches of prominent New England baseball and softball programs, including Northeastern's Mike Glavine, Babson's Matt Noone, Eastern Connecticut State's Mike Odenwaelder (a Futures League Hall of Famer himself) and Rivier softball's Noelle Sass. Worcester Bravehearts Director of Player Personnel Alex Dion will serve as the moderator.

The Hall of Fame induction and panel is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Dion Center, where a cocktail reception will be held from 5-8 p.m.

Registration for both events is now available by clicking here. The cost is $45 for the recruiting panel, $105 for the Hall of Fame induction, and $125 for both events. The price of the Hall of Fame event includes a buffet menu.

Leading off the Hall of Fame Class of 2025, Rice hit .369 with 16 home runs — which are tied for the fifth-most in league history — and 51 RBI across 73 career games for the Bravehearts en route to consecutive first-team All-Futures League honors in 2019 and 2020. His 13 RBI in postseason contests rank second all-time in the league. With his career at Dartmouth College cut to only 30 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rice's performance in the Futures League proved to be a launching pad in his career and led to the Yankees drafting him in the 12th round in 2021. 

Rice initially joined Worcester in the midst of a 2019 championship run the summer after his freshman year at Dartmouth, posting a team-best .392 average in 27 games before hitting a clutch three-run homer in the deciding title game against the Bristol Blues. The Cohasset, Mass., native was the standout among standouts during the league's talent-rich COVID summer of 2020, hitting .398 with a league-leading 11 homers, 84 total bases and .683 slugging percentage. He led the regular-season champion Bravehearts with 27 RBI and 43 total hits.

The remaining Hall of Famers and college coaches participating in the recruiting panel will be announced in the coming weeks.

For the latest Futures League news and information throughout the year, visit thefuturesleague.com and follow the league's Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram pages.