I'm Pretty Disgusted With the Entire Baseball Program

[Todd4State]

This for me as an alumni is probably the most embarrassed I have ever been at MSU baseball. It's second to Renardo fighting Elgin Bailey but at the same time it's a very distant second.

I am ashamed of what our baseball program has become. Now we have a coach that just got caught cheating on his wife and has been fired for it. Unfortunately, as much as I liked Cann this is the right decision. Had we kept Cann it would have hurt us in recruiting- more on that in a minute- but even worse than that I think it would have caused the players to lose respect for Cann and could have possibly made our well known off the field issues even worse. That's why Cohen had to fire him. And that's where we are right now.

I think Gary Henderson will probably do a good job for us. I'm not going to judge him one way or the other. Maybe this team will turn it around and use this to challenge themselves and they make another SR and we're all laughing about melting down USM weekend. And maybe not- maybe we go into a tailspin and it's a horrible season and it is what it is. Maybe it will be somewhere in the middle. I don't know. It doesn't really matter because our program is in desperate need of a reboot.

How did we get where we are now? I think ultimately we've been trying so hard to win a National Title that we've ended up cutting corners at times and sometimes it has worked out great and sometimes it has really blown up in our face. For example- Wes Johnson. I think we went too fast with his program and a lot of guys ended up getting hurt and Johnson was gone at the end of the year. It's still affecting us now. I think a lot of the JUCO recruiting has been cutting corners.

But at the end of this season we need to start completely over. And I'm not saying we should cut players. I'm saying we need to establish a new standard and if that means that we have to rebuild a year or two- so be it. That may be what is best for the program.

If I was Gary Henderson the FIRST thing I would do right now is start random drug tests every week. And if someone fails a test- they're gone. And it doesn't matter if it's Jake Mangum, Konnor Pilkington, or Will Clark. The suspensions aren't working. It's time to get that cleaned up before the new coach comes in.

Now, as far as the recruiting goes- it's past time to stop cutting corners and start going after players that:

1. Want to win a Championship at MSU. And are so focused on that they will do whatever it takes to improve their game that they will do anything to win that championship. It's not- "Well, I'm going pro after three years" or "I'm just here to smoke pot and get girls". Ultracompetitive players is what LSU has had in the past and why they have championships and why we have squat. I mean- they were willing to cut years off of their lifespan and shrink their balls to win championships in the 90's. Maybe we can draw the line there- but ultracompetitive nonetheless.

2. We need pitchers that attack the strike zone and light up radar guns. Don't let Wes Johnson scare you. Florida has the hardest throwing staff and a lot of people think Arkansas has the best team in the league and they throw the ball pretty hard I'm sure. We need elite pitchers to win a championship and we've shown that we can attract some of them. Let's get at least two if not three on our weekend staff and start dominating people. Add in some guys in the bullpen that are badass and attack people.

3. We need guys that can hit for power. We need to find those projectable power hitters like Rooker and Renfroe and coach them into 5 tool Triple Crown winners and get about four of them on the team instead of one Rooker and three JUCO guys hoping they don't get benched or think it's cool that the media likes their walk-up song.

4. Surround those power hitters with guys that hit for a high average and steal bases and create havoc on the bases.

5. Get catchers that can lead and defend and hit a little bit.

6. WE need to be known as the best fielding team in the league and set the standard there.

Also as far as recruiting we need someone that can identify high end guys that we can get to school. I'm fine with a few draft risks- but for every draft risk have a contingency plan in place. If we get surprised- then the contingency plan guy can be moved to another position or DH and then we're strong there. And we need to have enough balance in our classes that we don't have to start 4-5 freshmen every game. I mean a class essentially without high school pitchers? Really?

We have the resources, we have the money, we have everything else. But what we need is a coach that will set the standard that reaches our ceiling. And I don't know who that is. I suspect and hope we will have a completely new staff next year. Based on what Cohen has hired before as assistants, and Cann, and Moorhead I think he will do a great job.

Better days ahead! Hail State!