I knew that subject line would get your attention.
In a summer college league, do coaches play to win or are they more concerned about getting everyone so playing time and playing everyone rather than riding their best players?
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Depends on team. Some play to win and others play to get everybody seen. Just like travel ball.
Related question: how often do you pay to play on a summer college team? On my son's team, it's invite only. But, everyone has to pay a team fee. Some of that goes to uniforms and I assume the rest goes towards other expenses. But, I think there's pressure to get everyone playing time if everyone is paying.
With the prominent leagues, there is definitely a balance. Players are largely placed via dialog and/or relationship between the college coach and the Summer League organization so there is a general agreement or expectation of reasonable playing time for those players. So, the summer league coach must try to balance pleasing the organization by winning and pleasing the college coach by fulfilling that playing time expectation.
Of course, with some of the mid to lower level leagues that charge player fees, there is generally an expectation to play because the player is paying.
So, in general, is there a customary way to handle it? Say a team plays 5 or 6 games a week and is three deep at a position. Should a player expect to sit 4 games a week? Or, do they typically rotate guys within a game?
A catcher should expect to alternate games and maybe DH some.
Francis;
The Successful Summer teams depends on "winning games" to "draw" the attendance necessary to survive.
It is a business like Pro Baseball.
The Front office, Coaches, grounds crew are paid employees. Travel to away games is costly. A college player need the top league to improve his talent and tools.
Bob
Depends on the league. They are always trying to win, of course
The ones we've experienced (we didn't pay much in the way of fees) are businesses with paying customers. They want to get customers in the seats, so they want to put on a good product. They are playing to win, in the sense that they make lineups the way any team would, and use fielders and pitchers in the way that makes sense in a game (starters, relievers, closers, etc.). I did not see them rotate players within a game in the way you mean.
The college coaches have expectations of playing time for their players, managers have to play the players from the bigger-time programs if they want the school to send them more the next year. We also saw them play local players, which was good for attendance. But having said that, players come in with pitch limits, some come late and leave early, there are injuries, in an intense schedule players have days off, etc. So there were certainly opportunities for more playing time if a player helped the team win.
Some leagues guarantee equal playing time. It doesn’t end up being totally equal, of course, but at least every position player starts in half the games. These usually are newer or lower level leagues that feature a majority of D3 & D2 players…
The coaches are still playing to win though. Worst hitters hit at the bottom of the order and might get pinch hit for late in games. Best players still might DH on their “days off” or pinch hit/pinch run late in games
The upper leagues will not have 3 players per position. Maybe 2 at the most. The lower level leagues are more like jv mindset in college and the more they bring in to play the more money the organization gets. Don't take that the wrong way but JV college teams are money makers just like the lower level travel ball teams help fund the top teams. The more players, the more money. Just economics.
Additional question for experienced summer league parents: How would you rank the leagues. I know the Cape is top but its just seems there are SO many leagues now.
@Master P posted:Additional question for experienced summer league parents: How would you rank the leagues. I know the Cape is top but its just seems there are SO many leagues now.
I'm not experienced. But, I think you can kind of tell by looking at the rosters and seeing what schools the kids are coming from.
Francis;
Have you contacted "Hokieone"? He is President of a team in the Virginia Valley League. <www.strasburgexpress.com>
You may consider the average attendance per game and the experience of the Coaches. One team that I was aware of included 5 future MLB players and the Manager played 9 years in the MLB.
Bob
@Master P posted:Additional question for experienced summer league parents: How would you rank the leagues. I know the Cape is top but its just seems there are SO many leagues now.
This is one sources opinion. I couldn’t find any data. Maybe its input once rosters are set.
Francis, I assume your son is playing in one of the east coast leagues below the Cape or NECBL....It's a free for all, you just have to roll with it, or more precisely your your son has to roll with it. If he does well he may get an offer at the end of the summer for the NECBL if they need to back fill.
Local league looks nothing like a competitive high level league. Two different planets.