New Program?

it's really simple.... play on the team that

a.) has the best talent

b.) plays the best talent

c.) plays the major events

2018 jumped from Evoshield Canes National right after he pitched for them in the final game at Jupiter in 2016 as a sophomore to Team Elite National and ended up the 3rd pitcher for TE behind Hankins and Rocker.  Best move he ever made.  

What does your son want to do?

As a P5 commit he’s still in the process. The process now is getting in front of pro scouts. 

bacdorslider posted:

it's really simple.... play on the team that

a.) has the best talent

b.) plays the best talent

c.) plays the major events

2018 jumped from Evoshield Canes National right after he pitched for them in the final game at Jupiter in 2016 as a sophomore to Team Elite National and ended up the 3rd pitcher for TE behind Hankins and Rocker.  Best move he ever made.  

+1

Steve A. posted:

What does your son want to do?

Agree with this completely. He is already committed to P5 so college is taken care of. Assuming he has pro talent, pro scouts will find him no matter what. That is their job. So it really comes down to what he wants to do. Sounds like you are in a great position to relax and enjoy the ride!

"The coach of his team is the one who organized his contact and helped get him committed at the P5"

Not sure I could walk away from this coach in good conscience....

You do know that the new team will do zero to help him develop?  They will act like it though by plastering his name up on their alumni list beside all of the other superstars they lucked into.  You will be making them.  Not the other way around.

rinse, repeat..

it's really simple.... play on the team that

a.) has the best talent

b.) plays the best talent

c.) plays the major events

You are not helping your son's future by staying on a sub par team.  The first team may have helped him out some with the P5 team... but the reality is , and should be that your son's talent, work and dedication is why he is committed to the P5 team. 

This is no time to relax and enjoy the ride... I mean you can ... I have seen this approach... stay with the team that is not a top 10 travel team and be comfortable and safe. If he is good the scouts will find him worked 20 years ago. 

Now with budgets, saber metrics,  scouts having much larger area's to cover they will not get to every player.  And if your on a losing team , they will not go.  They will however go to a game where all the other scouts are at.

He needs to be with the best program he can be with so you are making sure he gets in front of pro scouts.  Honestly, 91-92 even 93 is not going to wow anyone anymore... so if  a scout hear's of a kid throwing 91-92 , on a bad team he might make it, he might not.  But if he can go see 10-12 prospects on one team he will make that his first stop.

He needs to be tested mentally and physically every day he steps on the field.   Honestly it's great that he's committed to a P5 , but really that's only the first step.  

Assuming this is all about the draft, since there is already a P5 commitment . . .

For a RHP, IMO Bacdoorslider is right that "91-92, even 93 is not going to wow anyone." Unfortunately that is true, even if there are 15 scouts there to watch other players on his team. OTOH, I see shorter 2018 high school RHPs on this list of the top ninety 2018 prospects (essentially top three rounds) who didn't play a bunch of events with a top team last summer: www.fangraphs.com/blogs/mlb-dr...-2018-2019-and-2020/  (see Sharts and Vodnik) But they are 95-ish velo

It depends on what your son wants. For example, if he is looking for first to third round, the most important thing will be throwing 95 or 96 -- in which case they will find him. If he is 91-92 as a 6'1" RHP he could be on the absolute top team in the country with dozens of scouts in the stands and that wouldn't get him to the top three rounds, absent something unusual like a plus plus curveball. 

Now, if your son is OK with rounds 4 and later, yes, get in front of scouts even at 91-92. Of course, this is JMO. 

Just wanted to give an update. 

We ended up switching organizations. Went from struggling to string together a few wins and making the playoffs, to him getting the ball in the WWBA quarterfinals in front of 30+ scouts in prime time at Lake Point. While the previous organization was fine, it was safe. There were very few opportunities to get better and that's not what anybody wants.

Somebody above mentioned that the new team might not develop the kids and just plaster their name on their site and all the advertisements. This might be true, it might not be, depends on the organization. But the reality of the situation is when you're in the dugout and there is an SEC commit to your right and an ACC commit to your left, you have to go out there and prove why you not only belong, but deserve innings/playing time over these kids. Playing on a team loaded with D1 and draft talent you have to prove yourself everyday. Even if the organization is doing nothing to develop you as a player, you will get better earning your spot on a team like this. 

The former team went 3-2-2. A fine tournament, but two very very different experiences as unfortunately not all teams are treated equally. If you have the opportunity to join stronger team that gets some of the perks (write ups, field pref, recognition) I highly suggest you take advantage of it. 

Thanks much for following up and congrats on what sounds like a solid showing. If interested, careto share how your son approached the former coach/organization and their reaction?

Sounds like the decision definitely met your goals pitching in front of 30+ scouts. Hard to second guess I know but are you confident that the exposure for him would not have been there had he stayed with the team that went 3-2-2?

Good luck rest of the way!

Interesting story about "transferring" between travel teams during recruitment.  I'm sure that was a very difficult decision with many pros and cons depending on what your son's end goal was.  Thanks for sharing and best of luck to your son.

Congrats on a successful decision and results. As I read through this I came to the conclusion that there is no "correct" generic answer.  Depends on what the individual or parent wants to get out of it.  Looking back at my son, he wanted to play on his travel/club team where he spent the last 4-5 years with.  He was one of the better players in the area and had many higher competitive teams to choose from.  Baseball is a funny game, you really don't know how long you can play it.  Others determine what position, how, when, where you get to play.  IF YOU ARE fortunate enough you will continue beyond high school and play competitively for many years.  Jr/Sr high years are really the last chance you get to play baseball like a kid, for fun.  Not saying college and pro ball is not fun, just now it is a job, you must produce to continue playing.  Did my kid lose out on not being In front of many scouts or getting more accolades?  Yes he did, but baseball has a way to even out the good and bad situations.  If you son has the talent, gifts, and luck to propel him to the next level  it will happen.  Backdoorslider brought up many valuable points above, and I agree wholeheartedly with every one of them.  Just depends on which direction you hope baseball will take you.

Bball34 posted:

Thanks much for following up and congrats on what sounds like a solid showing. If interested, careto share how your son approached the former coach/organization and their reaction?

Sounds like the decision definitely met your goals pitching in front of 30+ scouts. Hard to second guess I know but are you confident that the exposure for him would not have been there had he stayed with the team that went 3-2-2?

Good luck rest of the way!

The new team has 3 commits from his class on the team already. Basically told them that he wanted to get ahead and start playing with his future teammates. The news was not taken well but they are still open to having him guest play with them when needed in the summer and on a full time basis in the fall, which works for us as it's a local organization (20 minutes from home field). 

As for the second part, yes without a doubt. If he stays with the former team he is not taking the mound at Lake Point in the quarters in front of a crowd. We are most likely on a flight back home at that point.

Truth is very few know his former team. I'm not trying to completely discredit them as they are still a good program with a few committed players. But, a scout/coach is not going to show up at one of their games 55 minutes away at 8 am and hope they see something they like (they played 1 game a LP).  They will show up to a top organizations game off site because they know that every single rostered player is talented. Odds are that even if they go to see Player A and aren't interested, there is still a dugout full of talent that they can stick around for. 

Thanks much. Good luck