JUCO and NCAA Baseball... does it affect any guys of ours?

[Tater]

Figured I'd start the thread because JUCO w/ baseball is going to be a game changer. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/43131557/ncaa-division-board-grants-waiver-former-juco-players-appealing-diego-pavia-injunction

[Todd4State]

As far as baseball I can't imagine anyone like Kevin Mannell not going pro because of his age.

I guess you might see Jackson Owen around for awhile as a veteran back up catcher.

[Tripp McNeely]

Off topic, but I heard Owen was destroying the ball during the fall...any truth to that rumor?

[Todd4State]

Yeah. Owen hit well this fall. We'll see if it carries over to the spring. I'm not confident it will but maybe I'm wrong.

[Tater]

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/43107847/baseball-2024-junior-college-eligbility-ruling-diego-pavia-mlb-draft-shake-up

Better article. This scenario could become very common actually and would be what I would advise a middling but not star player to potentially do to maximize money:


High school (age 18): The player turns down a low-six-figure signing bonus in the draft out of high school.

College Year 1 (age 19): The player doesn't have a starting spot at the Power 4 school he committed to in high school and, instead of playing part time, asks for a redshirt to preserve his eligibility. (This player is also draft-eligible every year of this scenario except this one.)

College Year 2 (age 20): The player moves to a junior college, where he starts and makes progress as a prospect with regular reps.

College Year 3 (age 21): The player's progression continues, and he commits to a mid-major college during his second junior college year.

College Year 4 (age 22): The player is a redshirt freshman and has a great year at a mid-major school.

College Year 5 (age 23: The player transfers to an SEC school as a sophomore and gets a $100,000+ NIL package.

College Year 6 (age 24): Returns/transfers to SEC school as a junior.

College Year 7 (age 25): Returns/transfers to SEC school as a senior.

[Coach34]

All it will effect is having a glue guy that is a solid player. Any good player will get a shot at the minors

Or placing a guy in juco for a year to prove himself

[Todd4State]

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/43107847/baseball-2024-junior-college-eligbility-ruling-diego-pavia-mlb-draft-shake-up

Better article. This scenario could become very common actually and would be what I would advise a middling but not star player to potentially do to maximize money:


High school (age 18): The player turns down a low-six-figure signing bonus in the draft out of high school.

College Year 1 (age 19): The player doesn't have a starting spot at the Power 4 school he committed to in high school and, instead of playing part time, asks for a redshirt to preserve his eligibility. (This player is also draft-eligible every year of this scenario except this one.)

College Year 2 (age 20): The player moves to a junior college, where he starts and makes progress as a prospect with regular reps.

College Year 3 (age 21): The player's progression continues, and he commits to a mid-major college during his second junior college year.

College Year 4 (age 22): The player is a redshirt freshman and has a great year at a mid-major school.

College Year 5 (age 23: The player transfers to an SEC school as a sophomore and gets a $100,000+ NIL package.

College Year 6 (age 24): Returns/transfers to SEC school as a junior.

College Year 7 (age 25): Returns/transfers to SEC school as a senior.

I could see that scenario working more for a football player IMO compared to a baseball player for a couple of reasons.

Most baseball players want to play in MLB. And the best way to get a shot at that is to go to college and then go pro at age 21 statistically speaking. Unless it's a situation where you have a guy that is really enamored about playing for a certain college team- MSU, LSU, and Arkansas are the most likely find a player like that- and the player is freakishly good to the point where he could go almost straight from college to MLB I don't see that happening for baseball. Even then at 25 they're going to be pretty leery about signing you. Most baseball players peak age is 21-36 in general. After that there is usually a decline unless they're using steroids. So at 25 teams aren't going to want a prospect that they are only potentially going to keep for 11 years and players are going to lose money so it's basically going to be unheard of.

With football I could see it for a couple of reasons. One is because of specialization with players. For example, let's say Vanderbilt hires Jeff Monken and starts running the triple option like Army. A QB for that system is probably not going to make it in the NFL but they can make some good money in college. Probably better than they would on a NFL scout team or something. So in that case it may make sense for that player. And the shelf life for football players is really short. A lot of them are out by age 25-30 unless you are a QB, a kicker, or a superstar. Also there is no minor league for football really so those guys are going to basically go straight to the NFL no matter what even if it's pre-season only and they get cut.

[Tater]

The guys I'm looking at top out in A/AA. They aren't getting more than a low 6 figure contract once from the majors.

Why do that and ride the bus around in the minors rather than go set yourself up for some fun college years + play in quality ballparks.

I think it shifts the delta a bit and could kill minors even more than Manfred ever dreamed of.

[Todd4State]

The guys I'm looking at top out in A/AA. They aren't getting more than a low 6 figure contract once from the majors.

Why do that and ride the bus around in the minors rather than go set yourself up for some fun college years + play in quality ballparks.

I think it shifts the delta a bit and could kill minors even more than Manfred ever dreamed of.

That would actually suit him fine. They're actively talking about contracting the minors even further.

When I watch minor league highlights there are hardly anyone on the stands it seems. College baseball in the SEC is already a superior product for the fan as it is.

[parabrave]

By 24 he getting at the start of old age as a MLb prospect.

[Tater]

That would actually suit him fine. They're actively talking about contracting the minors even further.

When I watch minor league highlights there are hardly anyone on the stands it seems. College baseball in the SEC is already a superior product for the fan as it is.

Yea. Rob is super happy with this. Overall this is a positive change for the quality of MSU baseball. But I'm curious to see what teams take full advantage of this setup the best. In 10 years you could have a lot of your best college teams being first 5 round draft picks and then full of 25+ year olds.

[BrunswickDawg]

By 24 he getting at the start of old age as a MLb prospect.

24 is the average age for players making their debut in MLB. So, no it's not necessarily the end all for a prospect.

If it can save MLB development dollars, they will figure out how to change the system and extend draft rights so that colleges are doing the work that MiLB traditionally has done. MLB can save money investing in CBB and even JUCO. It's only a matter of time because it's all about the bottom line for MLB.

[TALL DAWG]

Ok, if all this occurs when will college baseball move to wooden bats

[The Federalist Engineer]

All it will effect is having a glue guy that is a solid player. Any good player will get a shot at the minors

Or placing a guy in juco for a year to prove himself

MLB and age 21 are a thing.

But with NIL, MBA, and other reasons to stay in school, it would keep a Brett Pirtle, Chuck Holly, Gilbert Marshall or Houston Harding in Maroon, if they wanted to. These are huge, game changer players for baseball.

If a kid was chasing MLB dreams, the draftability is limit of most players.

[Johnson85]

All it will effect is having a glue guy that is a solid player. Any good player will get a shot at the minors

Or placing a guy in juco for a year to prove himself

I don't know. Seems like there should be a decent supply of good college players that spent time in JUCO because they didn't have the measurables, which would make the draft basically a no go anyway so might as well enjoy getting paid to play college ball and chase college tail. Maybe we're saying basically the same thing, but I would say the guys that are good college players but not great pro prospects because of measurables are more (or at least can be more) than glue guys. Certainly be a lot of glue guys also (I would assume you're about to see much better middle relievers and matchup guys and probably the typical "worst starter" is probably about to get upgraded in the SEC and at other schools that care about baseball), but I would also expect you will see some major pieces on good teams that are 23 and 23 and spent a year or two in JUCO or maybe even spent a year or two in JUCO and redshirted.

[Quaoarsking]

The timing on this is too bad. Amani Larry only had 3 years at the NCAA level, but he played professionally for 13 games in the Frontier League last August, so he wouldn't be eligible to return anyway. But if he'd known about this ruling, I bet we could have gotten him back for 1 more year.

[The Federalist Engineer]

The timing on this is too bad. Amani Larry only had 3 years at the NCAA level, but he played professionally for 13 games in the Frontier League last August, so he wouldn't be eligible to return anyway. But if he'd known about this ruling, I bet we could have gotten him back for 1 more year.

Just going to have fun with this...

So, Football QBs make a Million, they are college eligible and not "professional" football players. But we all know that without football, the kid would be a door dasher or cold-calling extended warranty plans.

The next shoe to drop is that eligibility is a joke. Just play as long as you want.

Also, Tanner Allen should just enroll and play again for MSU. Minor League Baseball is not any less pay-for-play than Basketball or Football. I think MsU has a dude with 4 colleges in 4 years, thats barely even pretending to be a student.

I'm cool with Amani playing college baseball but definitely not for MSU. Give Ole Miss a try, they could use a 250 hitting MIF with no power and marginal fielding.