CBI
great list. Maybe you add.
1. Develop a friendship with a pro scout and listen carefully
2. Watch the College Coach his team and interview his players and their parents.
Bob
@Consultant posted:CBI
great list. Maybe you add.
1. Develop a friendship with a pro scout and listen carefully2. Watch the College Coach his team and interview his players and their parents.
Bob
#2 is important. I thought of this the other day when the thread about coach personalities changing from recruit to player. On my son’s visits we got to see how coaches responded when a kid wasn’t doing a drill right in practice, when a kid didn’t get a bunt down in the scrimmage, and talk to a handful of parents about their experiences. It was interesting comparing notes with my son from our experience outside the fence to his inside the fence. A lot of the issues being posted lately can easily be discovered through this process.
Feel free to DM me. My son played in the MAC and is from NW Ohio. We had great results with attending PBR events. I guess here's my question and I apologize if I missed it.....what did he do last summer? Travel ball? What level? What events? Ultimately based on the leagues you mentioned that you were targeting the coaches he is trying to contact would be a lot easier to be in front of if he was playing in some of the better events here in the Midwest. My son ultimately accepted an offer from a school 45 minutes away from home....the coach said he had seen him in 2 different weekend tournaments and we had never even seen the coach there.....even though in most cases, at least at the level of events were were at, a lot of the coaches were wearing their school gear.
I sat in the stands with parents supporting the team my son might be interested. I asked three questions ...
1) How did your son chose this school? 2) What were his other options? 3) Does he like it here?
Most parents love to talk about their kids. Typically, you will get a lot more information than you asked for with these questions.
It is interesting doing that podcast with my son. We interview UT baseball players and ask pretty much the same questions each week. Each of their recruiting stories is different. The most unique part for me that I would not have guessed is after interviewing 11 players we are 9 players who grew up NOT UT fans and only 2 so far that grew up UT fans. But now they are sold now. I wish someone at every school would do a podcast like we are doing because it would greatly help the recruiting process for you to be able to listen to players and parents talk about the coaches, process, and experiences. If you are interested in the changes from HS to college in P5, take a listen to the podcast Stache Talk. We are not making any money off of it, YET, probably never but it is fun and a great experience for son and his teammates. Dad enjoys doing it too.
@RJM posted:I sat in the stands with parents supporting the team my son might be interested. I asked three questions ...
1) How did your son chose this school? 2) What were his other options? 3) Does he like it here?
Most parents love to talk about their kids. Typically, you will get a lot more information than you asked for with these questions.
These are the questions we asked as well. It was interesting when they finally started to share their gripes. Some were just kids not as good as the parents thought and others were legitimate red flags.
I realize I am late here to the OP question(s). Walter Beede tweeted out an excellent review of the current recruiting landscape this week, I suggest taking a look. I don't know him from Adam but it dovetails exactly w what I am seeing with the three D1 players from my son's '22 HS class (my son included). I agree tracking/viewing PG commits in your school list is helpful but clearly does not represent the whole story. My experience with the '22 group is that they saw 5-10 transfers in addition to the HS recruits listed in PG and Twitter for their recruiting class. '23 class seems to be even less HS recruits with nearly half the incoming classes being transfers. Interestingly, it's important to look at grad school offerings at the school of interest as those offerings will drive transfer traffic -- easier/more offerings the bigger net the school will wield in the portal. The reality is that the transfers (mostly 5th yrs) have a resume of success and are 4-5 yrs older than incoming freshman so its natural that coaches look there first. Mid-majors are the biggest winners here IMO given P5 drop downs focus there before moving to D2, etc. Some of this pressure will go away when covid extra eligibility runs its course but a lot will remain as P5 drop downs will continue to populate mid-major rosters IMO. I know the large software/recruiting services used by colleges have re-tooled to reflect the new recruiting process which reflects the demand from coaches. Not ideal for HS recruits. It's a new world.
@GIANTS_FAN posted:I realize I am late here to the OP question(s). Walter Beede tweeted out an excellent review of the current recruiting landscape this week, I suggest taking a look. I don't know him from Adam but it dovetails exactly w what I am seeing with the three D1 players from my son's '22 HS class (my son included). I agree tracking/viewing PG commits in your school list is helpful but clearly does not represent the whole story. My experience with the '22 group is that they saw 5-10 transfers in addition to the HS recruits listed in PG and Twitter for their recruiting class. '23 class seems to be even less HS recruits with nearly half the incoming classes being transfers. Interestingly, it's important to look at grad school offerings at the school of interest as those offerings will drive transfer traffic -- easier/more offerings the bigger net the school will wield in the portal. The reality is that the transfers (mostly 5th yrs) have a resume of success and are 4-5 yrs older than incoming freshman so its natural that coaches look there first. Mid-majors are the biggest winners here IMO given P5 drop downs focus there before moving to D2, etc. Some of this pressure will go away when covid extra eligibility runs its course but a lot will remain as P5 drop downs will continue to populate mid-major rosters IMO. I know the large software/recruiting services used by colleges have re-tooled to reflect the new recruiting process which reflects the demand from coaches. Not ideal for HS recruits. It's a new world.
I too read Walter's thoughts the other day. When reviewing commitments I also noticed what you mentioned with the '22 and '23 classes. I was just saying in a PM the other day that mid majors have definitely had a timeline shift in recruiting because of the transfer portal and the covid jam probably more so than other levels. It's definitely made colleges prioritize taking players that are ready now. The frustration as a high school player parent is the lack of opportunity for my son to demonstrate his level of readiness with other college players. He was fortunate to play with a fall team who played games against college teams and he put up some great stats. It really proved to me he could play at the next level. I'm sure someone would argue his stats wouldn't be as good if he had a longer season. How many plate appearances against college arms does one need before you'd be convinced of their hitting ability at the college level? I've read that some college leagues allow committed HS players to play the summer after they graduate and I've read that some do not. Could a not yet graduated HS kid play in a league with college players? If there's such an opportunity I'd love to hear about it.
@GIANTS_FAN posted:I realize I am late here to the OP question(s). Walter Beede tweeted out an excellent review of the current recruiting landscape this week, I suggest taking a look. I don't know him from Adam but it dovetails exactly w what I am seeing with the three D1 players from my son's '22 HS class (my son included). I agree tracking/viewing PG commits in your school list is helpful but clearly does not represent the whole story. My experience with the '22 group is that they saw 5-10 transfers in addition to the HS recruits listed in PG and Twitter for their recruiting class. '23 class seems to be even less HS recruits with nearly half the incoming classes being transfers. Interestingly, it's important to look at grad school offerings at the school of interest as those offerings will drive transfer traffic -- easier/more offerings the bigger net the school will wield in the portal. The reality is that the transfers (mostly 5th yrs) have a resume of success and are 4-5 yrs older than incoming freshman so its natural that coaches look there first. Mid-majors are the biggest winners here IMO given P5 drop downs focus there before moving to D2, etc. Some of this pressure will go away when covid extra eligibility runs its course but a lot will remain as P5 drop downs will continue to populate mid-major rosters IMO. I know the large software/recruiting services used by colleges have re-tooled to reflect the new recruiting process which reflects the demand from coaches. Not ideal for HS recruits. It's a new world.
We've been collaborating with Mr. Beede on what was projected to happen this fall.
Upon publishing the 2022 fall rosters (shown as 2023), roster management decisions are case by case.
St. Louis
Florida State - mostly freshman
Note, insights are based on what is actually communicated by schools, vs transfer portal and showcase db (PG, PBR, etc)
Attachments
Images (4)
That twitter thread is here:
@Momball11 posted:He was fortunate to play with a fall team who played games against college teams and he put up some great stats. It really proved to me he could play at the next level. I'm sure someone would argue his stats wouldn't be as good if he had a longer season.
I've never, ever heard a coach or scout ask about stats. One of my son's HS teammates played in the CWS last year. He was offered after going 0-4 with 3 punchouts at the NPI at Lakepoint. The best feedback my son received last summer was after, in his eyes, an awful outing.
Be careful putting too much weight in "stats" when it comes to high school recruiting and development.
Stats are not reliable because everyone is inconsistent. I judge hits and errors that benefit pitchers because I think balls should be caught. Can’t stand when they say it was a hit because it was hit hard. In D1 baseball or professionals, I don’t care if it was launched out of a cannon, if it hit your glove it should be caught. Others say it required above average effort so it was a hit.
The coaches my son talked with didn't seem to care about stats. The only stat that caught their attention was 1 BB in 19+ innings. They all knew how hard he throws and have seen his movement. They even saw him have great control in showcases. The summer stats showed them he can sustain the control in a game. They didn't care about K's, H's, or ERA.
@Master P posted:I've never, ever heard a coach or scout ask about stats. One of my son's HS teammates played in the CWS last year. He was offered after going 0-4 with 3 punchouts at the NPI at Lakepoint. The best feedback my son received last summer was after, in his eyes, an awful outing.
Be careful putting too much weight in "stats" when it comes to high school recruiting and development.
Yeah, I try not to put too much value on the stats because I know it would all depend on the level of competition he was facing. I've also seen where book keepers are generous to some individuals. But it's also a means of quantifying ones performance.
In this situation he was facing college programs (Juco/D2). I guess maybe some might view that level not good enough? I've seen plenty of posts about not having eyes for D1 only because pitching is just at good at D2/D3/Juco. Maybe one could argue the stats were in favor of the hitter and were marked as hits when they should have been reach on an error? That's why I take video and have it posted for coaches to view if they so choose. The way my son hits it's pretty obvious it's a hit or not though. I was trying to find video of some close calls to get a home to first time...but he didn't have any. He just hits the gaps. We saw a social media posting from a pitcher about his number of strike outs at a game. It was all a lie. For that game, my husband was keeping the book and he thought he had screwed up. Pulled up the video and watched it...not a single strike out. Now we know that the kid is dishonest and his parents support his dishonesty because they "liked" it and were retweeting it. It's a shame that's what people are doing these days.
@anotherparent posted:That twitter thread is here:
After the 2022 draft, we did a study of the mlb draft. Here is the results that we posted on twitter in August.
This got the buzz of many.
Note, the goal is to look back at 2019 through 2021 to show the trend but had to delay until other more pressing projects are completed.
Attachments
Images (3)
BaseballInsights;
Outstanding analysis!!! It is obvious that the strong College programs have "filled" the role of the lower minor leagues. The draft # for Division 1 are consistent for Rounds 1-20.
The # of Free Agents, maybe 4th and 5th year Seniors?
*if I am a ML organization, I would send my scouts to Division 1 games and my Associate Scouts to the select JC games and tournaments.
Scout "gossip" will direct Area Scouts to Division 2 and HS games.
Special Summer Wood bat Leagues will now become a stronger venue for the pro scout. Their cars will log 80,000 miles this year.
Bob
@CollegebaseballInsights posted:After the 2022 draft, we did a study of the mlb draft. Here is the results that we posted on twitter in August.
This got the buzz of many.
Note, the goal is to look back at 2019 through 2021 to show the trend but had to delay until other more pressing projects are completed.
These are great. It would be interesting to see it further broken down into position players and pitchers.
Here is a link to how how stakeholders should look at the college baseball transfer process.
KISS Method.
@Momball11 posted:These are great. It would be interesting to see it further broken down into position players and pitchers.
From a CBI cost/benefit perspective, is not feasible.
We provide an overview, then you can look at the specific target schools
Attachments
Images (1)
@Momball11 posted:These are great. It would be interesting to see it further broken down into position players and pitchers.
You can DIY ... I did it for LHP/RHP drafted 2019-2022.
A little spreadsheet magic ... and a few too many beers while ESPN+ is playing on the other screen.
The Division/JUCO segmentation requires an additional lookup table (that I did not have or care to build).
https://www.mlb.com/draft/tracker/2022/all/
https://www.mlb.com/draft/tracker/2021/all/
https://www.mlb.com/draft/tracker/2020/all/
https://www.mlb.com/draft/tracker/2019/all/
IMO, regardless of level of play, parents need to be "quietly obsessed" off the field & behind the scenes to help your player manage expectations and to avoid wasting precious time during the college recruiting process.
Finding the "right fit" for both the 4 AND 40 is a dynamic mashup of needle in the haystack and chutes and ladders. It is quite difficult to support "keep the dream alive" and also be practical about the education that best enables the next five decades.
@mjd-dad posted:You can DIY ... I did it for LHP/RHP drafted 2019-2022.
A little spreadsheet magic ... and a few too many beers while ESPN+ is playing on the other screen.The Division/JUCO segmentation requires an additional lookup table (that I did not have or care to build).
https://www.mlb.com/draft/tracker/2022/all/
https://www.mlb.com/draft/tracker/2021/all/
https://www.mlb.com/draft/tracker/2020/all/
https://www.mlb.com/draft/tracker/2019/all/IMO, regardless of level of play, parents need to be "quietly obsessed" off the field & behind the scenes to help your player manage expectations and to avoid wasting precious time during the college recruiting process.
Finding the "right fit" for both the 4 AND 40 is a dynamic mashup of needle in the haystack and chutes and ladders. It is quite difficult to support "keep the dream alive" and also be practical about the education that best enables the next five decades.
Actually, I started working on a spreadsheet this afternoon to figure it out. Not sure I'll go back that many years though. That's dedication. Maybe I should look into a csv file of the data. It would be a time saver.
@Momball11 posted:Actually, I started working on a spreadsheet this afternoon to figure it out. Not sure I'll go back that many years though. That's dedication. Maybe I should look into a csv file of the data. It would be a time saver.
I am happy to share my Excel file with the RHP/LHP draft data ... just send me a direct message
... and, if you have not yet, do make a donation to http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/donate.htm
@mjd-dad posted:You can DIY ... I did it for LHP/RHP drafted 2019-2022.
A little spreadsheet magic ... and a few too many beers while ESPN+ is playing on the other screen.The Division/JUCO segmentation requires an additional lookup table (that I did not have or care to build).
https://www.mlb.com/draft/tracker/2022/all/
https://www.mlb.com/draft/tracker/2021/all/
https://www.mlb.com/draft/tracker/2020/all/
https://www.mlb.com/draft/tracker/2019/all/IMO, regardless of level of play, parents need to be "quietly obsessed" off the field & behind the scenes to help your player manage expectations and to avoid wasting precious time during the college recruiting process.
Finding the "right fit" for both the 4 AND 40 is a dynamic mashup of needle in the haystack and chutes and ladders. It is quite difficult to support "keep the dream alive" and also be practical about the education that best enables the next five decades.
If you look a little deeper at the JUCO Infograph, the draft ticker shows the school you are drafted from, it doesn't show players who might have started their career a JUCO.
Finding the "right fit" for both the 4 AND 40 is a dynamic mashup of needle in the haystack and chutes and ladders. It is quite difficult to support "keep the dream alive" and also be practical about the education that best enables the next five decades. mjd-dad
I think I will make this into a poster for the office - hang it right next to the teamwork one. The combination of needles in a haystack followed by chutes and ladders was pure poetry.
All these charts, graphs, files won't help unless your son is looking in the right place.
If it's a P5 check the 2024 commitments on PG. Mostly full with the 2024 top prospects in their region or beyond.
Perhaps your son needs to reevaluate the the process and target new programs, perhaps, mid D1, D2, Juco.
If he isn't getting the right exposure through his travel team, maybe that needs to be reevaluated as well.
JMO
I told my sons it is 4 vs 30...the goal is to retire at 55!!
In that thread that was posted yesterday I thought there was a pretty good quote (maybe from someone here?). Something along the lines of "maybe now you need to think about the next 2 years....then the next 40 after that" Not the exact quote.
@TPM posted:All these charts, graphs, files won't help unless your son is looking in the right place.
If it's a P5 check the 2024 commitments on PG. Mostly full with the 2024 top prospects in their region or beyond.
Perhaps your son needs to reevaluate the the process and target new programs, perhaps, mid D1, D2, Juco.
If he isn't getting the right exposure through his travel team, maybe that needs to be reevaluated as well.
JMO
Here is the simple answer, how do you determine the right place?
"Finding the right place is a very easy catch phrase to say until it has to be implemented"
You can spend 7.5k to 10k per year or 50k, just to find that you don't know what you don't know.
One component to find the right place is determined by research and investigation.
Note, you can go to the school website to understand what they are may be looking, but will you understand.
As for travel team, what is the right travel team, the travel ball circuit has been water down, and you are dealing with the FOMO effect.
Here is the other little secret, although some thinks have change (not that much), the travel ball model tends to eliminate those with limited resources ($$$). That is the elephant in the room, that many tend to gloss over.
Note, with respect to PG, it is a $$$ maker, how many teams are at Georgia annually?
Secondly, P5 have changed their recruiting strategy, so from a PG perspective and trying to get to a P5, in the future (P3) due to CFP, you are already have blinders of what is about to happen.
Charts and graph are visual representation of what has occurred and what will potentially occur.
It is becoming more informed about the process.
In 4 years of HS baseball I've never seen a good player not play because they couldn't afford it. I've seen some average player families make a decision to give up travel ball, but never a player that I'd consider a college prospect. I've also seen a ton of families of average to above average players incur a ton of credit debt to chase the dream. There are always teams willing to let a difference making player play for free.
@TPM posted:All these charts, graphs, files won't help unless your son is looking in the right place.
If it's a P5 check the 2024 commitments on PG. Mostly full with the 2024 top prospects in their region or beyond.
Perhaps your son needs to reevaluate the the process and target new programs, perhaps, mid D1, D2, Juco.
If he isn't getting the right exposure through his travel team, maybe that needs to be reevaluated as well.
JMO
Question, what does a PG commitment mean? Is it binding? Who updates the information? Does it guarantee you a spot on the spring roster?
It seems the blinders are "transfer portal and Juco transfers"
Should high school student athletes know if a school is getting heavy going after transfer portal guys? How does NIL impact transfers? JUCO pipelines are very strong, does PG provide that view?
Remember there are 4 sources of players
4 yr Transfers
2 yr Transfers
Post Grads (increasing footprint)
High School.
So unless the High School Athlete has the physical maturity, they may be for a rude awakening.
So again, spending 7.5k to 10k+ is something many parents are weighing, but again FOMO.
@TerribleBPthrower posted:In 4 years of HS baseball I've never seen a good player not play because they couldn't afford it. I've seen some average player families make a decision to give up travel ball, but never a player that I'd consider a college prospect. I've also seen a ton of families of average to above average players incur a ton of credit debt to chase the dream. There are always teams willing to let a difference making player play for free.
So here is the interesting thing, is it free or do they have 8u to 13u teams to absorb the cost a couple of players.
Who defines average?
Remember, the exponential growth of travel baseball is about many players being average, but they are required in order to feed the beast.
Again, how many teams go to Georgia Annually, north of 350?
Let's multiply by 20 players per team, 7k players,
PG is mostly about the pitcher (pied piper effect) vs position players.
Here is a simple number by 2027, youth sports will be a 77 billion dollar industry. Probably more now.
Sometimes I feel like we're the only sane family when it comes to what we're willing to invest in baseball. Either the other families involved with baseball are better off financially or they're making sacrifices to sustain the cost of baseball. I love my son, but I've got two girls who are also athletes, so as a parent we want them to feel that their sport is just as important. I also always tell them I'm not sacrificing my retirement because in the end I don't think they're going to want to have to support me when I'm an old fart. I also scare them by reminding them that more than likely based on family history...I'm going to be around for a very long time. Lol!
@CollegebaseballInsights posted:So here is the interesting thing, is it free or do they have 8u to 13u teams to absorb the cost a couple of players.
Who defines average?
Remember, the exponential growth of travel baseball is about many players being average, but they are required in order to feed the beast.
Again, how many teams go to Georgia Annually, north of 350?
Let's multiply by 20 players per team, 7k players,
PG is mostly about the pitcher (pied piper effect) vs position players.
Here is a simple number by 2027, youth sports will be a 77 billion dollar industry. Probably more now.
You said Here is the other little secret, although some thinks have change (not that much), the travel ball model tends to eliminate those with limited resources ($$$). That is the elephant in the room, that many tend to gloss over.
What does any of your last post have to do with this. You implied low income families are being pushed out. My point is that if you are good enough there is always someone willing to pick up the tab. Heck, I know some “owners” who actually pay kids to play. Some teams cover the cost by charging others more, some are just wealthy and want the best team they can buy.
@TerribleBPthrower posted:You said Here is the other little secret, although some thinks have change (not that much), the travel ball model tends to eliminate those with limited resources ($$$). That is the elephant in the room, that many tend to gloss over.
What does any of your last post have to do with this. You implied low income families are being pushed out. My point is that if you are good enough there is always someone willing to pick up the tab. Heck, I know some “owners” who actually pay kids to play. Some teams cover the cost by charging others more, some are just wealthy and want the best team they can buy.
You know some owners, but is that the majority.
Let's keep it simple, travel baseball and the showcase circuit is a business.
Academies are a business that requires funding, who pays most of the cost, the owner or the consumer?
Are the consumer's parents of elite players or a combination of elite, average , etc.
Academy's normally have 2 business entities, profit and non-profit, we can get into a particulars of this, but there is no reason.
The model is very simple to understand, it has not changed.
@CollegebaseballInsights posted:You know some owners, but is that the majority.
Let's keep it simple, travel baseball and the showcase circuit is a business.
Academies are a business that requires funding, who pays most of the cost, the owner or the consumer?
Are the consumer's parents of elite players or a combination of elite, average , etc.
Academy's normally have 2 business entities, profit and non-profit, we can get into a particulars of this, but there is no reason.
The model is very simple to understand, it has not changed.
I bet I can find more owners and academies willing to pick up the tab for a good player than you can find good players pushed out because they can't afford it.
The model is simple, you are just making up assumptions that have no way to be proven. I'm sure 20 years ago this was happening but it isn't today. There are tons of programs available for kids to keep playing. There is a relatively lower-income community in the next county over. They always had a scrappy travel team that was our rival and beat us most of the time. They all opted to play Legion ball for their summers because it was either very cheap or free. Those kids are still being recruited and a few of them were even scooped up by a couple national clubs to play in Jupiter this year. If the family of a good player today can't figure out a way for their kid to keep playing travel baseball they aren't trying very hard.
This sport can be very expensive and suck the money right out of you. It doesn't have to be though. Just in the past couple of days I've seen prime examples posted here of parents wasting their money on things that likely won't yield results.
I've said this before and I will say it again. If you are spending more than $2,000 a year on baseball teams/coaches/lessons/equipment to try to get a college scholarship you are wasting your money. If you are a top D1/P5 legit player, someone will let you play for free at the PG and PBR tournaments. If you are not top D1/P5 legit player, you don't need to go to those places. If you are wanting to play D2/D3/NAIA/Juco then you don't need to go to the expensive tournaments/showcases to get there. Invest your money in TRYING to get bigger/faster/stronger and play locally where you can be seen by the D2/D3/NAIA/Juco teams. Go to their camps/showcases and get in their ears.
I know I just opened myself up to a thrashing but after being in this recruiting game for 20 years as a baseball and a softball varsity HC, parent of 3 guys who went through it, friends with a multitude of baseball and softball HC's at all levels, doing lessons for 15 years, and watching 100's if not a 1,000 guys and their families go through it, this is my conclusion right or wrong and I can almost prove it 90% of the time it is right.
My son's 17u team had twenty-two players. When they had week long PG tournaments they picked up three to five pitchers free of charge.
Yes, pitchingfan is correct. When PG was just starting out they asked the top HS guys to attend showcases. It brought the scouts, top college coaches, agents, not to mention everyone else.
Also note that if you are good and will help your team to win but can't afford to pay travel ball fees, coaches will not turn you away.
College is very expensive, don't sacrifice your investments for a 25% scholarship.
JMO
PitchingFan I've heard of these wonderful free opportunities. I know of one player for our area that took advantage of this sort of opportunity this past summer. My son's not top D1/P5, so there's that. The issue is getting discovered for that sort of opportunity. I think one, it has to be early enough to generate talk and two, there also needs to be an opportunity to perform in front of such an organization. My son has never played in a PBR or PG event. To keep costs down we also refrained from being on a travel team that competed far enough to require lodging. This past summer as a 16yo was the first time we had to utilize lodging. To follow tournament rules I would make the required reservation, then right before the tournament I'd cancel the reservation and stay at the cheapest most ghetto place one could find because the rule only stated reservations had to be made through a particular agency, there was no mention of actually staying at the reserved hotel. For us with a player that's not top D1/P5 we unfortunately have expenses. We save where we can, like continuing to use the same $60 glove for five years, or graciously accepting gear to borrow from friends and coaches. Packing meals instead of eating out. Even after all the cost cutting maneuvers we are not under $2k. Guess I'm getting hosed then?
I've wanted to post in this thread 100 times and held off. A feeble attempt at saying something that maybe can help...
Frustration. This is caused by knowing something that you think is important (e.g., am I missing out on some hypothetical timeline) that has little relevance to you. I've always felt there can be harm with the way information may be used/received here at the hsbbweb. The idea of a timeline has always baffled (frustrated) me. God made each of us completely different. He blesses each one of us with different gifts and at different "times." Some kids may be college ready (baseball wise) in 8th grade. Should one be concerned about their timeline? Other kids may not be college ready (baseball wise) until years after high school. The funny thing is, those late bloomers may turn out to be better players in the long run than someone who seemed to be a sure bet at a much younger age. None of us know the future - even the shrewdest baseball professionals.
There are scouts at every game. Many people don't realize this. Coaches, players, parents, grandparents, spectators, umpires, and so forth. Don't go so much by what the people on your sidelines say. What is the reaction of the non-interested observer? Do opposing coaches make comments to your son after the game? Do opposing parents come over to your side and mention what they noticed? Do opposing players notice? In a fall ball league we played in Sandusky, Ohio this fall, one of the umpires was a scout for several D1 and D2 teams in Michigan. He made it clear which players he noticed and asked for their information.
Stats. Yes, the better players tend to have the best stats. They are highly misleading at the youth level. There are some kids who go 4-4 whenever they face slower/mediocre pitching, for example. When the talent level goes up - with higher velocity and breaking balls, some of these same kids seem clueless. Yet, when you average it all up, their "numbers" look good. Other kids wilt in big moments of a game. The kids who are noticed usually have something to do with the outcome of a game - offensively, defensively, baserunning, hustle, baseball IQ, and so forth. Maybe your guy was 0-3 on a given day but he made defensive plays that affected the outcome of the game.
I love kids who at the end of a game, their uniform is dirty. That type of information tells me something about a player.
Making the high school team and helping them win. I've read thousands of posts here where parents tell how their travel team blows away the high school team. Maybe so. But the high school team is the hand you are dealt so it presents an opportunity. One player can make a difference on a high school team. I still believe it just as important as summer travel baseball for different reasons.
About 10% of all high school players go on to play college or professional baseball. My contention has been - and I will never back down from this - if you are a decent player (not overwhelming talent but decent talent), there is a place for you somewhere at the next level be it D1, D2, D3, JUCO, NAIA, or pro. Do I need to get frustrated if I do not know "today" what level or team my son will play at? No. We need to be grateful for the blessings and opportunities of today. God willing, tomorrow will take care of itself.