Baseball Factory try-outs worth attending?

Waste of money, waste of time.  PBR & Perfect Game are much better...

Thanks 3AND2FASTBALL. PBR is new here in Arizona but they sure are hitting the ground running! My son attended their inaugural showcase in the fall and is scheduled for the Open Games in June. Maybe we'll just stick with that :-)

I was looking for an event to see how my son would handle a showcase without it being a showcase and POOF $99 sounded like a great deal since it was 15 minutes from my house and so cheap.  Here is what happened:

1. He did the pitching which took about 45 minutes, and the OF drills took about an hour. There may have been hitting too, but there were maybe 30 kids there and this thing lasted FOREVER!

2. They said parents need to call this number no sooner than 10am this Tuesday...we were ALL calling, needless to say I think it was Thursday before I spoke to someone. 

3. They said "You're son is really advanced for his age (which was 14), he pitched around 68mph"...huh....he was pitching that when he was 11, are you sure you have his file, he was recorded more than 10 mph over that just last month.  "Oh, yeah, I think the gun may have been off that day, the kid that is usually sitting at 92 only hit 84, I'll have them check on that."  The boys weren't even shown their stats while there so kind of hard to tell if they were even talking about my son.  Then the critique on the outfield....your son used two hands, college coaches only want one hand.  Huh?  There had just been a topic about this on here so at that point I knew this was a total waste of time.

4. This is how the conversation went after that:

Him: Due to your son's EXCELLENT skills he's qualified for the blah blah blah event!  This is a great event and so many past players have gone on to play in college, it's the second week in August. 

Me: I'm sorry but he's already back in school then. 

Him: They aren't really learning much the first week of school, he can miss it right?

Me; No, no he can't.

Him: Okay, well he's also qualified for the blah blah event that is 3 weeks earlier.

Me: Sorry that's his dad's week.

Him: Oh, well what about this event....your son also has qualified for this event that takes place in...blah...blah...blah. 

Yeah, I was done at that point. 

I don't recommend it AT ALL!

3and2Fastball posted:

Waste of money, waste of time.  PBR & Perfect Game are much better...

What 3and2 said.  End of discussion.

BBMOMAZ, 

There is a lot of advise on this site about Baseball Factory. Do a search and you will come up with probably more information that you ever want. 

Most of it does boil down to 3AND2Fasball's advice. 

The only caveat I would add to PBR, is that each state is a franchise. Some Franchise owners are better than others. Many Franchise owners have more than one state. So I would see if the Franchise owner of PBR AZ,  Owns any other states and what PBR's rep is in those states. Also where is the PBR franchise owner based. If he is based in Tennessee and running AZ, how well does he know the Baseball scene in AZ. 

Thanks BISHOPLEFTIESDAD - good info!

My knowledge of Baseball Factory is now 8-10 years old. Back then it was a marketing driven money grab.

As if the name did not give it away....note to self, do not take any HSBBW posters with you to play in the escape room. 

CaCO3Girl posted:

I was looking for an event to see how my son would handle a showcase without it being a showcase and POOF $99 sounded like a great deal since it was 15 minutes from my house and so cheap.  Here is what happened:

1. He did the pitching which took about 45 minutes, and the OF drills took about an hour. There may have been hitting too, but there were maybe 30 kids there and this thing lasted FOREVER!

2. They said parents need to call this number no sooner than 10am this Tuesday...we were ALL calling, needless to say I think it was Thursday before I spoke to someone. 

3. They said "You're son is really advanced for his age (which was 14), he pitched around 68mph"...huh....he was pitching that when he was 11, are you sure you have his file, he was recorded more than 10 mph over that just last month.  "Oh, yeah, I think the gun may have been off that day, the kid that is usually sitting at 92 only hit 84, I'll have them check on that."  The boys weren't even shown their stats while there so kind of hard to tell if they were even talking about my son.  Then the critique on the outfield....your son used two hands, college coaches only want one hand.  Huh?  There had just been a topic about this on here so at that point I knew this was a total waste of time.

4. This is how the conversation went after that:

Him: Due to your son's EXCELLENT skills he's qualified for the blah blah blah event!  This is a great event and so many past players have gone on to play in college, it's the second week in August. 

Me: I'm sorry but he's already back in school then. 

Him: They aren't really learning much the first week of school, he can miss it right?

Me; No, no he can't.

Him: Okay, well he's also qualified for the blah blah event that is 3 weeks earlier.

Me: Sorry that's his dad's week.

Him: Oh, well what about this event....your son also has qualified for this event that takes place in...blah...blah...blah. 

Yeah, I was done at that point. 

I don't recommend it AT ALL!

You forgot the part that because he is so good and qualified for so many teams, it will only cost $3000 to attend one of the events...

FriarFred posted:

CaCO3Girl posted:

I was looking for an event to see how my son would handle a showcase without it being a showcase and POOF $99 sounded like a great deal since it was 15 minutes from my house and so cheap.  Here is what happened:

1. He did the pitching which took about 45 minutes, and the OF drills took about an hour. There may have been hitting too, but there were maybe 30 kids there and this thing lasted FOREVER!

2. They said parents need to call this number no sooner than 10am this Tuesday...we were ALL calling, needless to say I think it was Thursday before I spoke to someone. 

3. They said "You're son is really advanced for his age (which was 14), he pitched around 68mph"...huh....he was pitching that when he was 11, are you sure you have his file, he was recorded more than 10 mph over that just last month.  "Oh, yeah, I think the gun may have been off that day, the kid that is usually sitting at 92 only hit 84, I'll have them check on that."  The boys weren't even shown their stats while there so kind of hard to tell if they were even talking about my son.  Then the critique on the outfield....your son used two hands, college coaches only want one hand.  Huh?  There had just been a topic about this on here so at that point I knew this was a total waste of time.

4. This is how the conversation went after that:

Him: Due to your son's EXCELLENT skills he's qualified for the blah blah blah event!  This is a great event and so many past players have gone on to play in college, it's the second week in August. 

Me: I'm sorry but he's already back in school then. 

Him: They aren't really learning much the first week of school, he can miss it right?

Me; No, no he can't.

Him: Okay, well he's also qualified for the blah blah event that is 3 weeks earlier.

Me: Sorry that's his dad's week.

Him: Oh, well what about this event....your son also has qualified for this event that takes place in...blah...blah...blah. 

Yeah, I was done at that point. 

I don't recommend it AT ALL!

You forgot the part that because he is so good and qualified for so many teams, it will only cost $3000 to attend one of the events...

You are very right, I guess in my mind I didn't get that far since he "qualified" for every event they were doing that year, LOL!

$3,000?!? I could pay for the Stanford camp, summer club baseball (mostly local in Arizona since many big tournaments are hosted here) and a couple of college prospect camps for that amount of money! It's a no.

I will offer a counter argument since my son was similarly "discovered" by BF when he was a sophomore and he did participate with them through his HS years and had an overall very positive experience (including playing at their events with lots of D1 and MLB talent--one of his teammates from the sophomore event he attended was drafted by the Brewers last year and is playing in the minors now).  And my son is now playing college baseball, which was his goal, so it was definitely not a waste of money from our end.  He also did two PG showcases and other events like the AZ Fall Classic, which helped his recruiting as well. 

But the BF intro tryout offers the lowest cost option to get measurables, a web page link to send to coaches, and a really good video made (at additional cost) with ZERO further commitment to the organization.  $99 is hardly a money grab to get independent timing of his velocity, dash times, exit velocity and so on, and what you do with them after that is strictly optional.  My son's measurables on Pop time and velocity and exit velocity all synced up with PG and Headfirst tests, so they are objective. If you don't like the experience of the tryout, you can try one of the other organizations.  And his measurables will not show up if he does not send them out to schools and coaches, so for a first tryout, if he does poorly, no harm done.

The tryout is particularly good for a sophomore as a means for a kid to see where they are at in their development before they spend 6 times as much to attend a PG Showcase or a college camp.  I cannot speak to PBR since it is a big nothing in SoCal, whereas BF has several major travel team showcases in SoCal and has a lot of participation from top teams and talent.  Watch the Under Armour Showcase in Chicago (run by BF) each August and the game is filled with kids who were top MLB draft picks and high D1 talent, so they must be doing something right.  But your mileage may vary depending on where you live and what tryout you attend, and that may explain my son's different experience from the negative experience in this thread.  I would think Arizona would be comparable to SoCal with a similar level of really high quality baseball talent playing year-round baseball, but can't say from experience.

PM me if you would like more info and have not already decided against it.  And good luck on the journey that is starting for you and your son--it is trying but an incredible experience as most will attest here on this forum!

Backstop22 posted:

I will offer a counter argument since my son was similarly "discovered" by BF when he was a sophomore and he did participate with them through his HS years and had an overall very positive experience (including playing at their events with lots of D1 and MLB talent--one of his teammates from the sophomore event he attended was drafted by the Brewers last year and is playing in the minors now).  And my son is now playing college baseball, which was his goal, so it was definitely not a waste of money from our end.  He also did two PG showcases and other events like the AZ Fall Classic, which helped his recruiting as well. 

But the BF intro tryout offers the lowest cost option to get measurables, a web page link to send to coaches, and a really good video made (at additional cost) with ZERO further commitment to the organization.  $99 is hardly a money grab to get independent timing of his velocity, dash times, exit velocity and so on, and what you do with them after that is strictly optional.  My son's measurables on Pop time and velocity and exit velocity all synced up with PG and Headfirst tests, so they are objective. If you don't like the experience of the tryout, you can try one of the other organizations.  And his measurables will not show up if he does not send them out to schools and coaches, so for a first tryout, if he does poorly, no harm done.

The tryout is particularly good for a sophomore as a means for a kid to see where they are at in their development before they spend 6 times as much to attend a PG Showcase or a college camp.  I cannot speak to PBR since it is a big nothing in SoCal, whereas BF has several major travel team showcases in SoCal and has a lot of participation from top teams and talent.  Watch the Under Armour Showcase in Chicago (run by BF) each August and the game is filled with kids who were top MLB draft picks and high D1 talent, so they must be doing something right.  But your mileage may vary depending on where you live and what tryout you attend, and that may explain my son's different experience from the negative experience in this thread.  I would think Arizona would be comparable to SoCal with a similar level of really high quality baseball talent playing year-round baseball, but can't say from experience.

PM me if you would like more info and have not already decided against it.  And good luck on the journey that is starting for you and your son--it is trying but an incredible experience as most will attest here on this forum!

Wow, what a different experience.  We received no link to send to coaches and this was about 20 minutes from East Cobb Baseball in GA...not short on talent here.  I feel like saying “Will the real Baseball Factory please stand up!”

Thanks BACKSTOP22 - I appreciate your perspective! I may PM you since this is a bit of a bewildering process :-)

OK. Next time we are in the west coast, I am putting my kid in BF.

"The client is the parent, always.

The parents have money stashed away for Johnnie to BE SEEN, and We're gonna get it. 

Someone's gonna get it, so we go after it first . 

As long as we pump our client with feel good info, they'll like what they here and will be willing to pay to hear more.

Now make those calls and sell-sell-sell. Remember this is a Factory not a day camp."

Choose wisely, and don't get caught up in the excitement of a sales pitch. 

Glad to see the other side of BF which often isn't presented here (thanks Backstop & Baseball Mom). Son has similar experiences and I agree that the $99 for initial measurables is really worth the cost. Maybe we went to a subsequent event that was pricey (but son really got to face good  competition) and a Trip to AZ in January father and son was priceless. BF allowed son to stop by future events at no cost to "update his numbers". They were also the first "third party service" willing to time son's HTF time which was critical in his recruitment to playing college baseball.

Thanks BASEBALL MOM2020 - that's really good info!

Thanks RIPKEN FAN. I'm glad that your son had a good experience. My son could use some updated measurables before summer tournaments so that may make sense.

It comes down to the same thing it always does. Evaluate your son/daughter. Can they play at the highest level? The baseball factory puts on some showcases that are well attended by scouts and colleges. However only the best get invited to that. The others are funneled through lesser more expensive showcases. This is how they help finance the big one. 

Yes the price for the first one is worth the price of admission. But be sure if you move further that you are very wary on what you are paying for. Is your son truly that stud that will be invited to the big showcase? Or is he a good baseball player destined for D3, or lesser known D1/D2. 

I'll add a couple of observations.

All heard thus far is very fair and matches my experience.  Meaning, yes, you can get metrics and a web link to them for $99, and yes, you can also get good video to have on that same page to send to colleges, but that will cost you $499 (last I checked).

What I don't like:

1. You only have BF's assessment and cannot compare your son to others at the same event or around the country. You can, however, see the very top metrics in the country.  Not that easy to find though...

2. Velo is accomplished by throwing into a pop-up net, a run and gun if you will.  So you get one number regardless of position (C, OF, IF, etc.)  There is a reason OF velo is higher than IF velo which is higher than CIF velo which is higher (usually) than C velo. At BF it is all the same!  That being said, a position player does throw from their position and is assessed accordingly.  Just no radar on those throws.  Just not my cup of tea.  I want to see an OF throw line drives to 3B AND throw 90+!  Not throw 90+ into a net and 75 from RF so he can guarantee his throw is accurate for that BF assessment.

3. Let's say you pay that $499 for the video. Sure it's cheaper than PG's $695.  But at PG you also play two games! So no, PG is not 6 times higher, it is ~$200 more expensive but you get the things I pointed out above in addition to the two games.  Of course not every PG showcase is the same (such as indoor events) but very close. Do your homework and look at previous years (schedule, roster, results, etc.) for the PG event you are interested in. Oh, did I mention that all of that is available on PG?  BF has none of this.

My personal preferences for the well-known showcases:

1. PG

2. PBR (good value, metrics and video posted, no games, varies by state)

3. BF