Wild Things Ink OF Jeff Liquori to First Pro Contract
WASHINGTON, Pa. (March 12) – The Washington Wild Things have signed outfielder Jeff Liquori to the outfielder’s first pro contract, in a move made official today. Liquori, who spent last summer with the MLB Draft League’s West Virginia Black Bears, joins a growing group of Wild Things position players getting ready for spring training to start in just over a month for the 2025 season.
Liquori, who was born in Chicago and grew up in Lake Mary, Florida, clubbed seven home runs for the Black Bears in 2024 and drove in 49 runs with 22 doubles in 69 games. He scored 37 runs and posted 78 hits to go along with six stolen bases (6-for-6 in tries) and 17 walks. His slash line read .298/.344/.470.
He joins a growing list of former Black Bears to sign in Washington as well. Last year’s Frontier League MVP and returning Wild Thing Caleb McNeely played in 17 games with the Morgantown club in 2023. Blaze Brothers, who the team acquired from Cleburne but has thus far gone unsigned to a Frontier League deal, played for the Black Bears in 2022 along with Turner Hill, JC Santini and Ian McMahon. Hill just appeared in the San Francisco Giants big-league spring training game as a pinch runner Tuesday, March 11, after being with the Wild Things in 2023 prior to his contract getting purchased by the Giants during camp. Santini spent the last two seasons here and McMahon saw time on the mound for the club in 2023.
Prior to his time with the Black Bears last summer, Liquori spent the collegiate side of the 2024 season in his only year at Florida International University, where he slashed .296/.352/.465 with nine doubles, 10 homers and 47 RBI in 57 games. He scored 43 times and walked 14 times. He recorded 19 multi-hit efforts.
He spent the previous three seasons in college at Florida Southern, where he was NCBWA Preseason All-South First Team and a Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Player to Watch in 2023 after being selected as All-SSC First Team and Team MVP in 2022. Those honors supplemented selections as NCBWA All-South Honorable Mention (2022) and as SSC Player of the Week (3/13/23) during his time at Florida Southern. In the three seasons there, he combined to slash .332/.402/.590 with 24 home runs and 80 RBI. In 2022 he had 12 doubles, two triples and a career-high 14 home runs before hitting 10 with eight doubles and a triple in 2023.
A 2020 graduate of Lake Mary High School (Lake Mary, FL), he received the team’s Cy Young Award in 2019 and 2020, was named All-District in 2019 and hit .314 as a senior while posting a 0.88 ERA on the mound. He was a high school teammate of 2023 MLB 2nd overall pick Dylan Crews.
Liquori joins Wagner Lagrange and McNeely as outfielders currently signed to the roster. A full, up to date 2025 roster is available on the team website with those under contract for the season and active. Since the last full announcement, the team made seven transactions that were posted but not in a story. The Wild Things acquired OF Blaze Brothers from Cleburne, but he has not signed with the team yet. The club also placed C Jake Washer and IF Carson Clowers on the retired list as well as placed RHPs Gyeongju Kim, Hunter DuPuy, Aaron Forrest and LHP Luke Wagner on the inactive list for various, undisclosed reasons. As of now, none of those players are on the active roster or will be in camp.
The Wild Things open their season on the road Friday, May 9, and the home opener is scheduled for Tuesday, May 13 at 7:05 p.m. Season tickets, group packages and premium areas are available now by calling 866-456-WILD or by going to washingtonwildthings.com. Fans can also follow the team’s social media pages and site for news, including on X, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok and YouTube. Search @WashWildThings, go to youtube.com/@WashWildThings or go to facebook.com/washingtonwildthings.
