Question about PGCrosschecker.com ratings

quote:

The first time we saw Prince Fielder we gave him a 6.5

Dang!- my son(current 2009/just turned 17) got rated the same as Prince!

Mike, many players go D3 for many reasons. Son was rated 6.5 as a 16 y old LHP. We looked mainly D3 for many reasons, academics, playing time, etc.

If I was a coach of D3, I would be looking at the 6 and 7 ratings as many want to play and develop, and a strong D3 (or even not so strong) will afford them (especially pitchers) more opportunities to get innings.

I agree with his PG rating and if he reaches what are reachable goals, I would not be surprised at a late round draft pick for a LHP. But, I also wouldnt be surprised if he didnt get drafted.

At this point, all he can do is continue to grow, get an education, pitch, have fun, and develop.

PG quick question. Why do some ask to have the lower ratings removed? Seems to me that if a player is rated at a lower number at a showcase one year and then he goes the next and improves his rating, that would only help him. IE: shows that he is getting better as a player over time/experience,is there something I'm not understanding about the rating system?

Mike, my kid was originally graded a 6.5 by PG. That's "possible D1 prospect". Guess what? He's now D1. Oh, and he was drafted. That was not a "miss" by PG that was the truth at that time! I accepted it and my son kept plugging away to get a better ranking and improve his play.

You can try but you won't convince anyone on this board that PG is anything but reputable. Hopefully, you don't have an agenda, but if you do, you're spinning your wheels because the truth always wins out. And all you're doing is giving free advertising to PG because folks reading this are going to know how we feel about them.

If there is no agenda--again, I hope not--let us know what college you're recruiting for and we'll gladly send some players your way. I know a few 2's and 3's.

I know a player that got a 6.5 at his first PG showcase after his fresh year in hs going into his soph season. Later he was a 8.5. His last showcase he was a 9.5 and signed with LSU. I was at the showcase where he got the 6.5 and thought it was generous. Later I thought the 9.5 was about right.

It is based on potential. When you go to a PG showcase most if not all the players would be stars on their hs team. They are all very good players. People dont pay that kind of money and fly pay to travel to attend these types of events is their son is not good. Why would they?

I have always been very impressed with the way kids I know that attend end up getting rated. Its almost always right where I would rank them. Most of the time if I miss I would rank them a little lower than PG does.

Now if you want to see a bunch of low scores just hold these events for free and hold them all around the nation so everyone can attend. Pay all travel expenses and feed them for free. But I bet you would still have a hard time getting as many to these events as you do to the ones that are held now. Why? Because the kids that are good will do whatever they have to do to be seen and evaluated. The majority of the rest would have better things to do.

from my own experience,i've known many recruited d1 players that turned out to be nonqualifiers out of high school. but fit perfectly into most any d3 or jc program.

if i were a d3 coach i'd be looking at the 7's and 8's as well as the clearing house , sat scores. i think you'll find you'll be better off.

but that's me.

Let me just say this to prove my point. I hold many camps during the year. Most are free. Thats right free to anyone that wants to attend. I do this to see players , work with players and allow some guys to teach because thats a great way to learn as well. And just because I love being at the park and teaching the game. Sometimes I charge but its always a minimal fee and it goes towards paying my former players that are working the camps etc.

You want to know who shows up at these events? The top guys around. The better players on their hs teams. The last one day camp I held we had 65 players attend. They came from all over the state of NC , some from SC and VA. There was not one player that was not a very good hs player. Every kid that showed up was very solid. Some were absolute studs. Now why is this? The answer is obvious when you have been around the game as long as I have. These guys are the players they are becuase they cant wait for something like this. There is nothing they would rather do that go get some baseball. They take advantage of every opportunity they can to get better and work at the game and to enjoy the game and to be around other players.

Just coach a team from your community ONE year. The kids that want the extra bp most of the time are your better hitters. The kids that want more ground balls are usually your better fielders. The kids that love the game the most and want to work at the game the most are usually your better players. I wonder why?

There I go again PG. Sorry.

Mike - I hesitate to join in here because I am not a coach. However, I can tell you that after seeing several tournaments and events that what is being said about players self selecting is correct.

There are several very good players that never go to a PG showcase. However, very many of them go to at least 1 or 2 of the tournaments. Not going to a showcase can be indicative of a lot of things including choosing to pursue other showcases, lack of financial resources (it is expensive), lack of opportunity for other reasons, football or involvement in other sports, lack of interest, etc.

Still, I'm sure that you're good at spotting talent and potential since you're helping recruit. I've known several kids who know, and their parent know, that they will not play D1 ball. These kids will often still play on competitive summer teams but I've found that many of them choose to focus on smaller schools and target the coaches of the schools they want to attend. They are good players that have chosen not to put much more into getting noticed because they may not have much chance of appealing to schools outside of their region.

The kids I've seen that fit this mode would probably rank in the 5-7 range if they attended a PG showcase, in my estimate. There is usually something that they do or don't do or some physical stature that would eliminate them from playing at most D1 programs. Being 5 foot 6, running an 7.6 sixty as a middle infielder, or having less developed footwork or hitting mechanics, for instance.

I'm suggesting that a lot of the kids you may want to target would be those that PG has on file but that haven't been to a showcase. Some you will find on a state by state list of unranked players, for instance.

I agree with the earlier posts that stated you should go for the best players you can find. I know plenty of 7-8 rated players that have decided to play D3. If you contact kids and advertise you may be surprised at how many would consider travelling well outside of their region to attend your school.

It would be great if PG gave ratings to those that didn't attend a showcase. But in a sense they do that through their national and state rankings. You may get more out of looking there to start.

Good luck.

Well, Mike, they DON'T rank everyone high. I think that was sortof the point I was making. I know of at least one other poster whose son got a lower PG score and guess what--he's playing college ball at a top school.

Guess what, there are DIII players drafted every year and there are a lot of DI players that do not get drafted.....there is overlap.

It really sounds like you are either you have other motives or you are trying to have someone do all the work for you in your recruiting.

Since you are recruiting for a DIII program, I am sure you are aware that you will need to sell yourself much more that a DI, DII, or JC, since the tendency for the players to want to go to a higher level with the possibility of getting money or since many DIII are smaller schools with a higher cost of education without athletic grants.

Since you are a DIII recruiting coach you may need to know that the source you are looking for players gets more professional and DI prospects than anyone else in the business, in order for you to find someone who will do your work, you may want to contact another group which tends to charge a large amount (thousands of dollars) to play on their teams for a tournament and who’s niche is players at lower levels that will send you out recruiting information on those who sign up for their service, if you need their name I can provide that to you.

It would be interesting to know how many ratings PG gives out in a given class, say the class of 2009. From looking at the information that is available to me at my lower subscription level I would guess that there are less than 2000 kids that have attended a showcase and have received a rating. Can you answer this, PG? If this is anywhere close to correct it makes perfect sense that most most players have a 7 or better.

Don't go after the lower players??

Every player should strive to play the highest baseball possible.

Every Coach should strive to pick up the best talent available.

Mike, go after the best players you can get in your program.
Don't settle for anything less Thats your JOB, Be a Recruitor.

EH

quote:

Originally posted by mike.black66:
Are you trying to say that a 6.5 (possible DI prospect) is not a high ranking??? Do people here realize the difficulty of playing DI baseball? You assumed a 6.5 to be an insult, which in reality is a heck of a compliment

Yes, I'm saying a 6.5 is not a high ranking. And no, I am not assuming it to be an insult. Like I said, my own son got a 6.5 and I was not "insulted".

PG is grading players not just on present ability but on projection. All but a few of their showcases are for Juniors and lower, with most of them (I believe) to be for sophomores. So let's take a sophomore who gets a 6.5. This says he has the potential to go D1. A lot of high school players have the potential to go D1 if they work at their game! A lot don't but I've been to a lot of showcases and I don't see them there. Either they weren't invited or don't have the skill or desire to go to the next level.

So this 6.5 kid is "insulted", mopes around, plays video games instead of working on his game and his potential is squandered.

Or he can work his butt off and get a 9.5.

quote:

Originally posted by mike.black66:
Why not wait until Senior year to rank them? They all have potential.

Many of the guys who played on our travel team and high school team had committed to DI schools early their Junior year.

quote:

Originally posted by Bum:

quote:

Originally posted by mike.black66:
Are you trying to say that a 6.5 (possible DI prospect) is not a high ranking??? Do people here realize the difficulty of playing DI baseball? You assumed a 6.5 to be an insult, which in reality is a heck of a compliment

Yes, I'm saying a 6.5 is not a high ranking. And no, I am not assuming it to be an insult. Like I said, my own son got a 6.5 and I was not "insulted".

PG is grading players not just on present ability but on projection. All but a few of their showcases are for Juniors and lower, with most of them (I believe) to be for sophomores. So let's take a sophomore who gets a 6.5. This says he has the potential to go D1. A lot of high school players have the potential to go D1 if they work at their game! A lot don't but I've been to a lot of showcases and I don't see them there. Either they weren't invited or don't have the skill or desire to go to the next level.

So this 6.5 kid is "insulted", mopes around, plays video games instead of working on his game and his potential is squandered.

Or he can work his butt off and get a 9.5.

I agree with Bum. i know my son was not satisfied with a 6.5. But he chose to use it as a challenge to keep improving . -knowing that coaches look at these ratings he of course felt he was behind a lot of players out there. He wasnt insulted, but he wasnt happy either-

Oh brother

Mine was ranked 0.0 on the Blutarsky Scale

Mike,

You are becoming more and more obvious with each post. You are the very first college coach we've ever heard complain about this. Odd that you would show up on the LIST thread. Wouldn't be because you are associated with someone that thread pertains to... WOULD IT! Then you start this thread oddly enough! Your motive is clear.

You just keep banging away. Why would a college recruiter do that?

I will continue answering you when ever possible because I am stupid!

Mike, or whoever he is, certainly seems to have an agenda. Focusing on things that don't at all represent a recruiters mentality, asking a lot of questions and not answering any. A review of his recent and only posts tells a story.

quote:

Originally posted by PGStaff:


I will continue answering you when ever possible because I am stupid!

Does that mean I am stupid too?

_______________________________________________
Why am I being insulted for bringing up a topic that is extremely important to me and my job?
_______________________________________________

If it's so important to your job, you should have to see the kid play and make your own evalution anyway. As good as I think the PG organization is, I would not make a decision on a kid unless I saw him play myself and did other research.

236 to go!

kbat,

I have nothing against the way you look at this. I won't try to change your mind. Some of what you've stated I would agree with.

However, tomorrow if I can find the time at the office, I will list some, lower than 8 grade, players who just recently signed with some of what everyone here would say are Top Level DI college programs.