My pal the HC

Looks like this is the Fall pick up of the Summer Series on this topic.

I have one question:  Is Fall Ball worth the risk of damaging your son's relationship with this man?  If the coach has a mean streak:  He could bust your son's chops every day in the spring.  It will suck the air out of baseball for him.  

Have you heard about the fumes of being 16 ending any number of baseball careers early?  They are perfume and car fumes. 

Chasing Mary Jones in the family Chevy is a lot more fun than taking Coach Smith's crap in practice every day by a mile.  It doesn't take much for that to become the top priority and it can happen any day.  If both parents work you may find Junior much rather be at home alone with Mary between 3 and 6 than at the ball field taking a bunch of stuff off the coach.  

Better know your man and if you have any chance of creating blowback on your son.  If you think there is then IMO you should let sleeping dogs lie and not lock horns.   

Just to clarify...this guy has zero to do with my son's HS team. 

And as I told my son, just go play. Adding this kid does nothing to his position on team. What it does is impact a couple of boys who are always there, giving 100%. They may not be the most talented kids in the world, but it's a fall ball team, they've played well the last couple of months during regular season and now they will apparently sit the bench during the playoffs. I'll have my say when I see him, but he's as thick as a brick so I'm sure it will just be me talking. 

See my post on "ringers" from a few months ago.  Some coaches see a "team" as group of interchangeable parts to be "discarded" when someone "better" shows up during the season.  Other's employ more of a team commitment mentality.  Good luck   

Tough situation all around.

my two cents-if your son is 15 he needs to be playing on the most competitive team he can make. You stated a few of his teamates were  not the most talented players but good kids. Personally I don't care for Fall ball, esp if a team has played ALL Summer, and that could be after a HS season. Take some time off, esp pitchers then work w a hitting guy, or pitching coach as needed. Get ready for winter conditioning.

I hear what you are saying and you are in a tough spot.  Not supporting it, but I have seen National Top 10 teams do the same thing, so it isn't surprising.

That is why it is good to get out of Daddy Ball in HS. Get on a reputable team. 

I have mixed feelings on this topic, but unless the HC is bringing in multiple "Ringers", who really cares?  Playing time with the rest of the team should not be affected much.  A good friend of mine had a very competitive 16u team (including 15u eligible players) and was invited to play in a local ABD 18u Tourney a few years ago.  My son was asked to play in the tournament and accepted, as he wanted to help my buddy out.  He was already committed to college and thought playing with the younger guys would be fun.  He played CF, batted third in their lineup, and pitched in the semi-final game to get them to the championship.  They lost to ABD in the Final, but finished the tournament 4-1.  After all was said and done, it appeared that the team enjoyed having him play with them for the weekend, and my son did indeed have fun....Win-Win for everybody.  Who Knows?  That could happen for your team with the boy man!?

I would look at this differently.  In your case a "younger" team was invited to play up in a tourney.   Picking up players in that case is a lot different than picking up kids to try to win a fall league

Played all summer with a reputable club team. Fall is pretty casual around here, so this was a place for him to play with some of the (older) boys he used to play with as a kid. He goes to a different HS, and plays with some of them on a Summer Legion team as well. 

Thanks.

I would agree Buckeye 2015, but understood it to be the playoffs/tournament for the Fall in a 18u league?  Now, if soulslam55 is correct, and players will end up riding the bench because of the addition of one player, I'd be dead-set against it as well.  I just feel that one player shouldn't hurt the rotation.  Also, these end of the year tournaments are usually played in a double elimination format, so who knows, the college player may help them get an additional win, which means another 7-9 innings of playing time for others.