@Showball$ posted:None of this matters. Disappearing scholarships, returning and transferring players, ability to compete for a roster spot,.....none of it matters. So quit arguing over it and just use the portal to figure out which colleges should be avoided at all costs. That's the only real benefit to the data knowledge.
And even that data knowledge is useless. 900 on the portal will swell by late summer. There is not enough spots anywhere because its most all over recruited and over promised to begin with. The over recruiting and buddy ball atmosphere is all coming to a head. It was coming anyway shortly, the current virus just accelerated the timeframe forward a few years.
You aren't guaranteed to play much at a Juco without connections no matter the talent you have. D1 dropdowns, pro prospects, local favorited and connected, etc.
D2 is a roster cesspool. Forget that. You're going to have 24 and 25 year old college year six seniors and juco transfers clogging up all playing time for everyone (40+ roster spots deep style clogged up) in the program.
D3 may be possible for a top notch academic player to get in 30 games a season. IF D3 doesn't cancel the program and make it a club team.
D1 is going to be littered with disgruntled redshirt freshmen and sophs and prior redshirts who thought they had served their time. Only to find out 6 seniors starters return and are handed the position again.
Want to guarantee you are going to see significant field time as a college baseball player? Better get out the checkbook and donate some big $, better call in some connected favors, better be connected to a mover and shaker, better be a legacy son of a major leaguer, etc.
This isn't football or basketball where you can physically earn your spot by banging your competition in the ground one on one. This is subjective baseball where not much individual physical competition matters.
It really shouldn't be this way. And I hate it for the current players, incoming players, and even the returning seniors. But what we all will witness and our favorite player will experience in the coming months is the result of the bullsh*t baseball system that money has built while the academies and showcases and travel ball and college recruiters have sold the soul of the game itself out over the last 6 years.
Tell us how you really feel.
IMHO, you've summed it up pretty nicely.
I'm going to have to save this comment.
I think I can turn this into 1 or 2 analytics.
I just need to think of a name for this report.
Good stuff.