After Fall ball

From all the rules of MLB as I understand them, that player does not have a Spring Training option(I assume you are talking about Spring Training in a MLB/Milb situation.)
The player would need to be a free agent to be signed and be in Spring Training.
However, the player will not be a free agent able to negotiate unless and until the school year ends.
Even then, while MLB used to allow those who were were 5th year seniors to negotiate as a free agent when the school year ends and up to 1 week before the draft, that option has been removed by MLB.
Unless there is another rule that exists somewhere in that abyss, having the player leave school before the college season begins and have them drop out of school would not make them a free agent.
They would still need to wait for the June draft, even if they were a 5th year senior.

A player who is eligible to be selected and is passed over by every Club becomes a free agent and may sign with any Club until the player enters, or returns to, a four-year college full-time or enters, or returns to, a junior college.


In addition, college players can quit school officially. How that plays into the rules?? Maybe there is a clause similar to the appeal letter kids can write to MLB foregoing their amatuer status to become draft eligible before age 21 or before 3 years of college? Anyway, maybe he will make it difficult to be pulled from the lineup by producing better than the other guys

what if the kid has been a walk on and not on scholarship?

What does that have to do with this ? I don't believe it makes any difference.

In the broader spectrum, why do you think this player would be able to hook up with a MILB team if he is not starting for his college team. Even if it were possible and the player ended up in a camp during the first week of March, he could well be released by the end of Spring training and not have anything available to him except independent leagues.
Most professional teams have their rosters completely full for Spring Training by the end of December. They might not have every player in the organization assigned, but they have more players coming to Spring Training than they have spots to assign to players come April 1. There can be quite a number of players released in the first week in April. The level of competition in a Milb Spring Training camp is several time more intense than any college situation. There are more players, there are better players, and they are all battling for a limited number of roster spots. Many end up with no place to play once they are released around April 1.
To address your specific question, it would not make any difference under MLB rules whether you are a walk on vs scholarship. Those are NCAA issues and having nothing to do with MLB, the draft, and or free agency.

Not sure I get this, if a player will not be an everyday starter at school, what makes one think they can be s pro player?

Why would he want to leave school? Even if he was a FA, why, for a 1000 dollars and a plane ticket? College is his best option for future potential. Is htis your idea or his?

A friend of mine told me once he never looks at kids who quit school. It's either out of HS, or college.

IFD,
I didn't see your post, I guess we were both curious about the same thing.

I actually know a guy who did not start at D1 and did poorly as a JR. He left and went D11 had a great year there and a great year in MiLB last year. It can happen but it usually is about the player/coach relationship . Makes a long shot even longer.

This kid is a transfer at our son's D-1 school. He is actually a pitcher---and the coaches have had him everywhere BUT the mound. He has told our son that he has been looked at by pro teams in the past, but fears that he will fall off the radar if not in his normal position(on the mound). I have heard of that happening to other kids. He has had the option to do that brought up to him at his last college. I don't know what his relationship is with the coaches and what they are thinking as far as this young man is concerned. He seems to be a nice kid and a good athlete as far as our son has relayed to us but has been screwed over by other programs in the past and fears he has landed again in the "land of OZ". He keeps asking for advice from our son. I told him to wait until his talk with the coaches after FAll and see where they see him fitting. I did not see any other option right now...but I do feel for the young man. Our son has been in that "not knowing" position before and it can be brutal on a young athlete.

The guy I refer to is Ryan Schelect and for some reason our ex coach didn't see his potential. He transfered to Mount Olive a D11 college and went 13-0. My son said he was a great pitcher but for some reason the ex coach didn't give him much of a chance. He was 4-2 last season for a Clevelnad minor league cub.
Sometimes a coach can limit your success. Coaches even in college have their favorites. Also if he is hitting the stuffing out of the ball may be the problem.

The kid is a transfer... as a senior?
He transferred enough credits to be able to graduate in one more semester doing the work on line?
He has received professional interest in the past as a pitcher and the coaches at your son's school have him playing 1B, 3B and catcher?????
This all seems curious.

The kid transferred closer to home because dad is sick. Not the ideal situation for the kid academically--- but the ex-coach did not see his potential anyway and mom needed him closer to the family.As bobblehead said...the coach has his favorites and he doesn't think he is being given a chance to really show him what he can do. I think he is just a bit stressed with needing to help out at home but still wanting his dream to come true. He needs someone to talk to---and my son and him have connected. He wants to help but does not know all the answers himself to how the coaches think.

That is a tough situation; family is very important and trumps playing.

But if he wants to be closer to home, then why would he want to get into pro ball right at this time and have absolutely no control.

Hopefully he does not get cut, but why not just stick it out and take his chances in June or later as a free agent.

We don't really know the entire situation, so we, just bits and pieces.
Something that you have said, about the player being screwed over before. Perhaps this player really doesn't have the potential to start.
If player is a walk on senior, unless he can make a significant impact, the role will go to the younger scholarship players.

Coaches are usually pretty straight forward. If they need hitting and this guy is a hitter, that is what he will be doing. This is especially true if they have a reasonable P staf.
The problem is is that if he feels screwed over more than once maybe that is telling him something. Just because MLB scouts have talked to him doesn't mean a lot. My son has had scout talking to him since he was 16 and telling him he has ML talent but no one is drafting him etc.
I would suggest he focuses on putting in a solid year at college. Put in extra work on the mound and hit some MLB tryouts where possible. Under the circumstances he may even want to take a year off to work and save a year of elibibility if possible. Otherwise he shold try to perform as best he can under the circumstances.

Bob,

I'm going to speak to the situation as described in the original post, rather than the altered one described later. A pitcher who tranferred in as a senior is frankly not believable, considering it would violate NCAA D1 rules for him to compete this season.

So I'll flesh out some details of an imaginary player who fits the original post. Let's imagine a player who played two years in a strong JC program, and was among the top half-dozen hitters on the team. Let's further imagine that the JC went very far into the post season play-offs his sophomore year. The player got less interest from D1 schools than he expected, and transferred to a mid-major D1. During his junior year he was in the top 3 or 4 on the team in both average and slugging percentage. Yet, he only started about 40% of the games, and almost always as a DH. He was not drafted after his junior year, but did play in a collegiate summer league. Now as a senior, it looks like once again he will mostly DH, rather than play as a catcher or F3.

So, if this imaginary player were my son, what would I advise him to do?

First, I would point out that until next summer, his options are severely limited. In principle, he could transfer to another more favorable school in January, wait a year, and play his last season of competition there. Frankly, that seems difficult to arrange.

He's not allowed to sign with a pro team (because he enrolled in school this fall), and anyway there is little reason to expect a pro team to sign him at this time, since the teams all passed on him last summer. Pro scouts have certainly been evaluating him, especially because of his JC team's success.

Second, I would recommend that he work hard, both athletically and academically. Work hard on baseball, because he evidently needs improvement to have a chance at pro ball. Work hard on his studies, because the more likely outcome is that he won't get the opportunity to play MiLB.

Finally, I would suggest that while it may seem that his college coach is undervaluing him, he should go forwward with the attitude of doing everything he can to help the team. Given his limited options, to do anything else would just be counterproductive.

One more thing: Unless he really, really wants to play baseball beyond college, I'd recommend he not try the independent leagues. I think it just postpones the nearly inevitable.

3FG,
Thanks for pointing out even more inconsitencies than shown on the surface.

First the kids a killer hitter that plays catcher/1b, then he's a pitcher who can't get on the mound, then he's a transfer who doesn't sit a year, and now he's a freind with an ill family member.