This is my first year as a GM in the Valley Baseball League (www.strasburgexpress.com) and it is certainly interesting to be on this side of things. While our Head Coach and Director of Player Personnel do all the recruiting of players, it is somewhat amazing how early all of this happens. Our league limit is 28 players and the veterans tell me that most recruit at least 30-35 as some always fall out due to grades, girl friends, draft, summer school, etc. (Being new at all this, we're not signing more than the limit and in fact are deliberately leaving 3-4 spots open for "late bloomers" in the spring.)
We already have approximately 20 oral commitments, and in talking with a couple other teams, they've got that many or more committed. Some are already pretty much full.
Some college coaches are reluctant to make recommendations until they see more of younger guys in fall practice, and practically all colleges like to send players to the same team in groups of 2 or 3 if possible. Being offered a proven "stud" together with a promising newcomer is fairly common. Some college coaches are very proactive in getting their players on summer teams, and others, not so much. Every summer team is always looking for good pitching, and for our league's 44 game schedule, most teams will carry 12-14 pitchers.
For what it's worth to all those prospective summer college players out there, now really is the time to be lining up your summer plans.
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