College Baseball Recruiting (if you care)...

[8dog]

Perfect Game came out with a ranking of the recruiting classes from this past fall (guys who will be freshmen in 09). They rank State's class 61st.

Georgia is number 2 and amazingly has signed 20 players. Even if the draft hits them hard, they are going to have to run off a lot of guys to get to the 35 roster cap.

Kentucky is at 14.

 

[JacksonDevilDog]

Judging by the ranking, I see Polk and Raffo are keeping up the good work at the camps. I don't see any reason why change would be needed. Christ.

 

[jwbigcreek]

but 61st? For what used to be one of the top 10-20 schools in the country? That is ridiculous.

 

[JacksonDevilDog]

If USC or LSU pulled in the 61st ranked football class in the nation, MAJOR questions would be asked and some heads might roll. Here at MSU, no questions are asked. Plus, with our program having the potential to recruit nationally and at a high level, just shows the incompetence of this coaching staff. Sorry LightninInside(I mean KB21).

 

[patdog]

pulling in a #61 ranked recruiting class might actually be a bit of an improvement over recent years.

 

[Todd4State]

I have never understood why we undersign so much. Polk doesn't/didn't take chances on anyone that he didn't think would come to MSU.

The fact is, with the changing culture of baseball and the draft, college teams now have a chance more than ever to land a high profile player more than ever- see Ole Miss with Lance Lynn. High school players are starting to use college as leverage for signing bonuses, and they're coming out ahead, which is different because used to if you turned down the money, the thought was that you probably wouldn't get it the second time around. Don't get me wrong, it's still a gamble, you could get hurt, etc., but at least you can get a degree and get in the workforce.

Plus, playing in the SEC is really no worse than playing at high A ball anyway.

But anyway, the 61 ranking is actually way down, because just a couple of years ago, we were 21 or 22. But Raffo is a great recruiter, and bear in mind those recruits all signed before Polk resigned, so that had no bearing on our class being ranked so low. And the other thing is we were coming off of a CWS appearance to. Just piss poor.

 

[8dog]

most teams are signing fewer players b/c of the new roster cap which is why Georgia's number is so surprising. But 6 players is ridiculous...and its b/c Polk simply doesn't want to run anyone off.

 

[The Lord Humongous]

He offers more on fewer players. Wasn't there a thread on here (or one from elsewhere referenced here) about UM taking advantage of private scholly money that Polk wouldn't that would somehow help even things out when compared to states with Hope Scholarships?...giving UM money to offer over and above baseball money?...somehow a way that Lance Lynn is at or near 100% but probably only 60%+ from baseball?...and yet Polk offers Matt Lea 80% baseball when UM only offers 40% baseball plus a bit more but that's what he had to offer but by spending so much on him it hurts the rest of the class.

He's not playing the game the right way anymore...not creative enough...and in a sport where the NCAA really almost welcomes the creativity w/o much scrutiny at that. As much as I can't stand IndyBowljerkoff, I've seen him post comments that are dead on the money about this subject.

This problem with Polk likely gets rectified in a big way over the next couple of years though I suspect there's a bit too much money invested in some signees coming next year that will have to be dealt with over the next 3-4 years.

 

[Todd4State]

most teams are signing fewer players b/c of the new roster cap which is why Georgia's number is so surprising. But 6 players is ridiculous...and its b/c Polk simply doesn't want to run anyone off.

we've been doing this for years.

I think UGA might be onto something, though. Sign as many good players as you can get, knowing that some will get drafted. What are the odds of all 20 going to the Big Leagues? Hope that you land a few of the really good players, make sure that they are on track to graduate in three years, and then you probably will have a pretty good team. I'd say most teams probably lose a player or two in the fall as well, like we did with Logan Moro.

It seems like our philosphy is to rely heavily on walk-ons. Sure, you may get a Grant Hogue or a Brooks Bryan, but we're playing with fire that the players we turn down will be wiling to go to a JUCO for two years and then come. An example might be Logan Power at Ole Miss. He was offered a scholarship from them, and not from us, and I can't blame him for going there, as opposed to Hinds for a couple of years and then try to walk-on. (Maybe he didn't really want to go to State, I don't know). Usually what happens is those players go to other schools and end up beating you.</p>