Jupiter Event - Pros and Cons

What position?  Here in the Midwest it's not such a huge hassle/expense for kids to get to Jupiter.  If he's a pitcher and will see a couple innings I don't think it would be worth it....especially with everything you mentioned.   A position player that will see top quality pitching and get a lot more playing time.....maybe I'd go ahead and let him go.

He doesn’t need an October tournament to move up on the draft board. He has the spring season. Is he high enough on the draft board with slot money where he would consider signing? Has he been playing? When was the last time he pitched? Is his arm in mid season form?

*Following*.  This will be my sons first time playing at the Jupiter tournament.  I’m excited to see what all the hoopla is about.  I saw on the PG site that one can rent a golf cart for $650 for the tournament.  I was joking to my son that I should obtain one to “look cool”.  But if the pictures and descriptions I’ve heard are correct, I’m curious how difficult it is for parents to find an area to view the games?  Or is all the craziness reserved for only the top teams?  I also heard that obtaining a night game is highly coveted as only a section of the fields have lights, and so scouts seem to congregate on the lighted fields.    

If $$ is not an issue I would certainly recommend it. It was probably my favorite tournament. If you didn't attend any other event where you could have gained a MLB following (PG National, Area Code Games, etc.) then this is your opportunity. Many new MLB team questionnaires are sent after this event.

Take it from one of those parents who always wondered whether any of these things were worth the $$--after it is over you will wish you had done more!

As far as scout attendance: I don't believe there are any games that are not well-attended by MLB scout/front-office folks. Every team there has top prospects so all are "top teams".

Roger Dean has a pretty good setup to where a parent should have no problem watching a game. Parking will be an issue, but finding a place to sit shouldn't be.

@knownothingdad posted:

My son (2022, committed to P5 D1) has decided to go to the Jupiter event in a few weeks.  My wife and I are reluctantly allowing it.  

I was hoping to get some perspective from the folks who have gone.

Cons - We are from the west coast, so we are looking at 7+ hour travel time each way, two missed days of school right before final exams, and $1k in travel expense.  

Pros - A chance to face and learn from the best competition, potential draft look, potential glory to his travel team.

Am I missing anything?

if he is a committed P5 the exams have limited to no real importance. The cost is relative to your income or means of which i have know knowledge so i have no comment...nor should others but they probably will.

If he has the opportunity to go it would be a ton of fun and potentially have upside, have a blast it is once in a lifetime.

knownothingdad,

I'm in total agreement with your pros and cons.  You nailed it.

My son was 100% committed to college, and professional baseball was never really an option for him.   He knew it.  I knew it.  He knew his place in the baseball universe before we went to Jupiter....this was more like the "moth to the flame" situation....he had to see the best of the best for his age.   He did.

He promised his travel coach he would attend with his team (all D1 commits) and everybody kept their  word despite all the college commitments.  We are east coast based, and we had friends in the Jupiter area where we could stay.  He was glad he went, and was amazed at the talent level.   I was amazed at the talent level and number of professional baseball people in attendance.   It was a spectacle.

Good luck!

My committed 2023 son decided to take the fall off to work on getting bigger and stronger, so in turn is skipping Jupiter. He went last year, so had some experience already. He is got some grief about not going with his organization, but ultimately we all decided there is nothing to gain from it right now except a big credit card bill. Spoke with the dad of a kid who was a 1st round pick last year. He said his son only ever once went to Jupiter. Said if you have your school already settled, and already on the scouts radars, that there is no absolute need to go. Was glad we heard that from him as it reinforced our decision for the fall/winter.

Was it fun last year (even though in Ft Myers)? Yea, no doubt it was fun. But I didn't think the bang for the buck was all there for what the bill ended up being after the trip was over.

@ARCEKU21 posted:

My committed 2023 son decided to take the fall off to work on getting bigger and stronger, so in turn is skipping Jupiter. He went last year, so had some experience already. He is got some grief about not going with his organization, but ultimately we all decided there is nothing to gain from it right now except a big credit card bill. Spoke with the dad of a kid who was a 1st round pick last year. He said his son only ever once went to Jupiter. Said if you have your school already settled, and already on the scouts radars, that there is no absolute need to go. Was glad we heard that from him as it reinforced our decision for the fall/winter.

Was it fun last year (even though in Ft Myers)? Yea, no doubt it was fun. But I didn't think the bang for the buck was all there for what the bill ended up being after the trip was over.

How’s the bigger and stronger part going. My 2023 did the same thing. He gained 6 lbs but nothing significant. Finally started to eat like an athlete after a nutritionist was brutally honest with him. Up 5+ in the past week alone since the diet change. Go figure.

Son is a pitcher and went with the Blue Jays scout team. Pitched the last inning of a game behind a solid start from Mike Soroka against the EvoShield Canes. I think Evo won it all that year. In retrospect, we probably would not have done it but at the time he had never played in any showcases or larger out-of-town tourneys.

The one cool thing was seeing where he was on the boards of velocity, FB and CB spin rate and combos of both compared the top pitchers there that year. He did okay and that was neat to see as Trackman was an emerging technology back then and not deployed in most of his games.

We drove both ways from Atlanta and left immediately after his outing. Good time with him on the trip and copped some Jays swag which I couldn't tell you where it is today.

We were told that if you were tracking where you wanted to be, it could hurt more than help. Unless you have something to prove, it’s probably not necessary.