My son is a 2020...early commitment has come up often. The trend I am seeing with pitchers is that the super duper OMG this 14 year old is throwing a million miles an hour...those guys are NOT committing early. The 14 year old throwing 85 miles an hour IS committing early.
Every now and then it is because it is a local school to them and where they feel comfortable playing. I really can't fault that decision, if that is where they and their parents were always hoping they would go then good for them, I hope it works out. However, if the 14 year old is already 6'4 and 200 pounds he really might not progress much more in which case he will be dropped, then it is heartbreak for all.
What most of us 2020 parents have talked about is being very afraid of coaching changes and our kids not progressing. The general take has been what's the harm in waiting until Junior year when the kid is currently showing skills, not projected skills, CURRENT skills that the coach wants for his team. Yes, most of the money will be gone, but if you are talking MAJOR D1 then they have kids that will go in the draft and then money will be free again.
For low D1, D2, D3, NAIA and Juco....why commit early if the kid could progress more and possibly get a higher level school to show interest, possibly a better offer? It also depends on the aspirations of the player. There are some kids that say they WILL be on a MLB field one day, and some kids that are using baseball for leverage to get into a better school and have no aspirations to play after college. What does your kid want out of baseball is the biggest question I would ask. Follow that up with a plan to give him the best chance to get there.