@TerribleBPthrower posted:Would it make sense to shorten the summer season a bit? Or perhaps have a few players start early and leave and have a few that arrive late and finish the season? They could have a week or two of overlap in the middle to give a couple kids a couple days off.
Yes, I agree. I understand the schedule in comparison to trying to mimic a minor league schedule, but we are painting a wide brush with a lot of these young men and times have changed. We talk a lot about kids going into the transfer portal and the summer is a hot time for them in regards to recruiting so they are now trying to play baseball in a new town with new teammates and living with strangers while trying to find a new home to play in the fall (some by choice, some by no choice of their own.) They are trying to find time to visit a new school, meet with a new coach, and eventually make a new commitment. This wasn't as big of an issue a few years ago because the transfer portal wasn't as crazy as it has been the last couple of years so these boys just played all summer and then went back to where they were. There are boys playing up until just days before they need to move into a new school and some are thousands of miles away from home yet!
My son's teammate was an outfielder who was in this exact same situation. He finally committed to a new school, needed to start a class for admission and find housing for the fall so was given permission to leave early. He was called back to play because he was told that the team was short players (complete lie, they actually had extra kids sitting on the bench) but he was a great outfielder and hitter and the coaches wanted to win in games that meant nothing. In his first game back he slid into 3rd and tore his ACL..DONE for the season at his brand new school! To say that him, his parents, and his new college coach are extremely angry is putting it mildly. I can't blame them.
I love the summer leagues for these boys for so many reasons and love the community involvement that rallies around these programs, but if the transfer situation doesn't change then maybe it does need to be looked at for shortening these summer seasons. Because as others have said multiple times on this site, are we looking for a 4-year or 40-year plan??