Travel Team Exposure vs Playing Time

You cannot be seen if your not playing. Look for a team that travels to good tourn. In your area if that's the schools son wants to attend. Many teams go to PG tourn in either GA or FL. Go to a PG  showcase to get numbers and see how you stand against others your age. Start email communication w schools interested in. See if they will be around when your playing tourn. Does no good for scouts to come see your teammates when u are sitting on bench. 

Most teams with rosters of 18-20 have 11-12 guys who hit and the rest are "pitcher onlys". 

Where people get confused is, you can have guys who are 2-ways on their HS teams, but pitcher onlys on their travel teams.  This is normal because many guys are good enough to hit for their HS teams but not good enough to be recruited to a college, or perhaps they could hit at some level but not at the level their pitching will carry them to.

I really don't know of any travel teams that have so many offensive guys that PT is a big issue.  Not even at the highest levels.  I mean, we play the Canes a lot, they are regarded as one of the top if not the top program in the US, and you don't see guys riding the pine over in their dugout.

As for pitchers, you only need a few innings per event to get your work done.  There is no #1, #2, etc.  Everyone gets their work.  Quite often, who pitches when is more a matter of when certain college coaches are coming to see certain guys, as opposed to trying to line up your top arms against your top opponents.

All of which is to say, I think you've set up a false choice for yourself by perhaps not correctly perceiving what some of the teams you're considering are doing.

As a general rule, it has been my experience that each individual player benefits the most when he is on the most talent-laden team that will have him.  You want to benefit from having teammates who draw eyes to watch.  And when that happens, you don't have to sweat whether your son got 3 innings or 5, or whether he got 3 AB's or 5 in any particular game. 

All this also assumes we're talking about what's best for college recruitment.  If you don't care about college and you just want to play for the fun of it, stay home and play Legion ball.

For programs that run multiple teams, often the player has to start with a local/regional squad, and he gets to the A team -- the one that does things like go to Jupiter -- only if his performance earns that berth.  Conversely, a spot with that stud team has to be earned every day or you can lose out to someone else.  You know, just like in every other competitive situation in the world.

But my point is, you don't necessarily get to choose.  You get an opportunity, then it's up to you as to whether you take solid advantage of it.

Of course, there are teams who only run one squad, and that would resolve any concerns about whether someone is shining you on when they recruit you.

But I would also add, some of what you might consider "lower" teams see plenty of guys recruited to D1 schools.  Others don't, it's true.  It varies from program to program.  Hence, it's a fair question to ask when you're weighing options.  Be alert to evasive answers.

This has been our experience so far.  My son's best exposure and interest has been generated by a one inning relief appearance at a large PG event following one of our other pitchers that is ranked in the top 100 or so in his class.

My son didn't care why the 40 or so college coaches were there he just knew that 20 or so stuck around to watch him throw. 

On this team my son is probably the 5th best pitcher.  Two are currently committed and one has an offer and likely will be by next summer.  I have no concerns that my son and the other pitcher will get plenty of innings when it matters.  After all it benefits our travel team to place as many kids as they can.  It makes business sense for them. 

In my area this is true. It was actually much more likely to end up sitting on a lower level team, because of over recruiting for money purposes.

The higher level teams at the 16u, 17u, and 18u, only recruited a player that they thought could play and start for them. When watching these teams I rarely saw a kid that did not get playing time. 

I heard more complaints from parents of 15 year olds. Their major complaint is that there sons had played with the organization since 9u, and they did not make the 15U team. I have noticed a lot of turn over at 15u in this area. Some of it is that some organizations only field a team through 14U, So that increases the number of kids looking for teams.   

This is a fit issue.  The club team must be a good fit for him.  You must consider playing time, schedule, cost, exposure, coaching, etc.  If it is not a good fit, it is up to the parent to help the kid find a best fit situation.  It takes work but in the long run it benefits your son.

Play for the best.  If a kid can't seal a starting spot with the best, how is playing for lesser competition going to change that?  It won't.  Compete with the best and win the job.

"I heard more complaints from parents of 15 year olds. Their major complaint is that there sons had played with the organization since 9u, and they did not make the 15U team. I have noticed a lot of turn over at 15u in this area. Some of it is that some organizations only field a team through 14U, So that increases the number of kids looking for teams."

This matches my experience also.

15u is a big shakeout year.  It's when youth travel ball transitions into recruiting-oriented teams.  The local travel team falls apart as the higher caliber players move to the most successful exposure-oriented teams.  Teams built around birth dates and age groupings lose players who seek to shift to the recruiting class year focus.  The more average players sometimes quit as they see that even making their HS teams may be a challenge, to say nothing of the dream of playing in college. 

And the whining from the helicopter parents can be heard for miles.  The big complaint is that having paid a lot of money over a lot of years, they have an expectation that the program will have loyalty to their son all the way to the end.  But a key distinction between a youth team, which emphasizes participation and skill development, and an exposure team, which emphasizes recruiting, is that you can't just buy your way aboard an exposure team.  Either you're good enough or you aren't.  And that's often a tough pill for many to swallow.

(As a footnote, I'd add that there are actually plenty of teams who will take anyone who will pay.  These are "fool and his money" situations and the resulting team-family relationships often end badly.)

As the trend towards earlier and earlier recruiting and commitments continues, I see that 15u shakeout increasing if not accelerating to start affecting 14u teams.

I can't speak from first-hand experience, but I have heard that some of the top programs will also host college coaches at their own intrasquad games, and even travel to college campuses as a unit to workout in front of the coaching staffs.  In other words, the limited reps these kids get at the big events is not the only valuable exposure that some of these programs are generating.

Appreciate the input on this. Agree that second teams in an organization are a mixed bag. Agree that there can be a recruiting stigma for those teams and players but they also can be good platforms. It's all situational and ultimately real talent will advance from any level. Midlo hits it on the head for our specific situation. Will be a more competitive challenge to earn innings AND ABs... and that's a good thing. I think I just need to get my head around the different landscape... fewer total IP for son than past summers, but higher value innings in terms of both exposure and competitive level. I'm seeing that more clearly as a positive now. In past seasons I focused on maximum PT/reps opportunities, which was maybe a good call developmentally. Different scenario now.

 SDlefty is correct, its always about finding the right fit. Wins and losses don't matter anymore, what is important is that your son is on the field when a certain recruiter is there to see him. Our club has a scout day where a couple of pro scouts give their 2 cents worth, and we had 18 schools there to see HS ballplayers in one location 2 D1, NAIA, and a bunch of JC. This is a free perk several kid's made nice contacts, and 3 have signed. We play showcases all summer and then hit a couple of tournaments just to have fun and compete, sometimes the kid's really like the intensity in a win or go home environment. Our top team has a couple big arm's on the staff, and all the kids benefit from the attention they get.

The right scenario is ...

... Getting on the field  

... In the right tournaments

... Playing for coaches with contacts and credibility with college coaches.

I've always believed a player ought to find the best team on which he will actually be in the lineup most of the time. Nobody ever got better on the bench or got recruited while sitting on the bench. And hardly anyone is happy on the bench. Best of luck.

Not to repeat myself, but in my experience I have seen many players follow this path. I have hardly ever seen it work out. If your son is a good player, his chances of getting the kind of attention that results in a college opportunity are better on the field with a lower profile team than earning opportunities with the team with more overall talent. The pressure can be immense and unreasonable when summer opportunities are limited. 

The best answer to your question would come from those college coaches you can imagine your son playing for.  Have you been to any Camps on campus?  Have you heard any of the coaches talk about their recruiting process?  It's something my son and I have done frequently.  For 2 of the biggest schools in our area we heard the same thing...."doesn't matter who you play for, just play".  One coach said , "I don't care if you play under (insert very well known showcase coach's name here) or (insert unknown coach's name here) I'm not going to rely on your coach to bring me talent, that's my job."  The showcase seen is so watered down right now coaches are relying heavily on recruiting camps to see talent.  Instead of worrying about whether you will be "seen" on the field, take charge of the situation and put yourself in front of those coaches.  Reps from actually playing will pay off when you do get in front of them.

In my experience, it has more to do with the target college.  If the target school is a top baseball college,  then attending top showcases with elite travel teams is important.  In addition, if the recruit has no idea what his target school is then seeking the highest profile showcase/travel team makes sense to see where he fits into the talent hierarchy.   With lesser baseball colleges it is not as important to attend top showcases and play for top travel teams.