The Arizona Fall League is an off-season league owned and operated by Major League Baseball which operates during the fall in Arizona, United States, at five spring training complexes. The Arizona Fall League attracts many of the top prospects in minor league baseball.

Each August, Major League Baseball clubs hold a position draft to determine the players who will go to Arizona. Most are Double-A and Triple-A Minor League players. Each club can opt to send two players below Double-A. Foreign players are allowed, as long as the player is not on his native country's primary protected player list. The league is designed for these prospects to refine their skills and perform in game settings in front of major and minor league baseball scouts and team executives, who are in attendance at almost every game. Play begins shortly after the end of MLB's regular season in early October, and ends in mid-November.

The Arizona Fall League teams are not exclusive affiliates of any one team; instead, each Major League team provides seven players who team up to fill the 35-man roster of each team. Additionally, teams may elect to send Taxi Squad players who are only eligible on Wednesdays and Saturdays. MLB teams also provide managers, coaches, and trainers.

Arizona (ⁱ/ɛrɪˈzoʊnə/; /ærɪˈzoʊnə/) (Navajo: Hoozdo Hahoodzo; O'odham: Alĭ ṣonak) is a state of the United States, located in the southwestern region of the country. Arizona is also part of the Western United States and of the Mountain West states. Arizona is the sixth most extensive and the 16th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in population by eight cities of the Phoenix metropolitan area: Mesa, Chandler, Glendale, Scottsdale, Gilbert, Tempe, Peoria, and Surprise.

Arizona is the 48th state and last of the contiguous states to be admitted to the Union, and it achieved statehood on February 14, 1912. Arizona is noted for its desert climate in its southern half, where there are very hot summers and quite mild winters. The northern half of Arizona also features forests of pine, Douglas fir, and spruce trees, a very large, high plateau (the Colorado Plateau) and some mountain ranges—such as the San Francisco Mountains—as well as large, deep canyons, where there is much more moderate weather for three seasons of the year, plus significant snowfalls. There are ski resorts in the areas of Flagstaff and Alpine.

Byron Buxton (born December 18, 1993) is a high school baseball outfielder. He attends Appling County High School in Baxley, Georgia. He is considered the most talented player available in the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft.

Buxton started playing baseball when he was 6 years old. He also played basketball and American football, as a quarterback and wide receiver. He stopped playing basketball during his sophomore year in high school, but played football through his senior season. In addition to playing the outfield, Buxton also serves as a pitcher for Appling County.

Buxton was noticed by scouts at the age of 15, and was recruited to play on a traveling summer team. He appeared in baseball showcases, including the East Coast Pro Showcase and Under Armour Baseball All-America Game.

Buxton is considered a five-tool player.MLB.com rated Buxton the best prospect available in the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft.

Michael Nelson Trout (born August 7, 1991 in Millville, New Jersey) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Major League Baseball. He debuted with the Angels in 2011.

Trout was considered to be one of the top prospects in all of baseball and was named the second best overall prospect by Baseball America, during their midseason update in July 2010. Prior to the 2011 season, Trout was ranked #1 by ESPN's Keith Law in his 2011 top 100 prospects list. MLB's Jonathan Mayo also named Trout the #1 prospect in all of baseball during MLB Network's airing of MLB's Top 50 Prospects.

Trout's father, Jeff Trout, was a fifth round draft pick by the Minnesota Twins in 1983. Trout began playing baseball in Little League.

Trout attended Millville Senior High School in Millville, New Jersey. Initially a shortstop, Trout shifted to the outfield during his senior year. That year, he hit 18 home runs, a New Jersey high school record.

Trout committed to attend East Carolina University on a baseball scholarship. Though scouted by MLB teams, Trout was passed over by teams in the draft as players from New Jersey typically do not play baseball throughout the year, as they do in warmer states such as California, Texas, and Florida.

Bryce Aron Max Harper (born October 16, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder with the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball. Harper was selected by the Nationals with the first overall pick in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft. He stands at 6 feet 3 inches and weighs 225 lbs.

Harper won the 2010 Golden Spikes Award, awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player. Going into the 2012 season, baseball prospect-watchers, including Baseball America, MLB.com, and Baseball Prospectus routinely ranked Harper as a top #3 prospect. He made his MLB debut with the Nationals on April 28, 2012.

Harper earned his General Educational Development after his sophomore year at Las Vegas High School in December 2009, making him eligible for the June 2010 amateur draft in order to begin his professional baseball career earlier. For the 2010 college season, 17-year-old Harper enrolled at the College of Southern Nevada of the Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) in National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). An advantage for Harper in his eventual transition to his professional career was that the SWAC, like MLB, uses wooden bats in conference play. In 66 games, he hit 31 home runs, 98 RBI, hitting .443/.526/.987 (AVG/OBP/SLG). His 31 home runs shattered the school's previous record of 12. He was named the 2010 SWAC Player of the Year. The next day, in a doubleheader, he went 2-for-5 with a three-run double in the first game, and in the second game went 6-for-6 with 4 home runs, a triple, and a double.