Fungo,
Too often TPM spurts off on stuff she does not know. She needed to be put in her place. The majority of the advice she gives other parents is bad - based on her reputation as a busy-body baseball mother. So maybe I was harsh, but I have a source that she was the type of parent who calls the coach every other day. That is not the advice I'd give any parent.
To me most of the pressure to sign early is coming from the college coaches. Of course there is the peer pressure (Smith just signed and you weill miss the boat), but even that is set up by the college coaches (as you have so noted in your post).
I do not agree with committing as a 2010 at this point. That is three years away and is too long a period. The coach might not even make it that far - then what.