Baseball Recruiting....

[MsStateBaseball]

I hope we have some secret commits. We are going to need some difference makers on both sides. Pitching and hitting. It is rather obvious right now Cohen missed on some big ones. We have enough tradition and facilities to have gotten a few by now.

[preachermatt83]

our next class will be tiny. This last class was supposed to be the hoss.

[Goat Holder]

OK.....for ONCE in my internet posting career I was going to try and post a little differently after bannination. Usually I just consider the moderator stupid and keep going. But I was going to at least attempt to be nice and respectful (somewhat) of others' opinions. And then damnit, here's comes another RETARDED freaking post by a wannabe blogger. You sound so damn stupid right now I'd really think you were trolling if I hadn't seen you post here before.

I mean, where to start. How could any sane person think talent and recruiting is the problem? You bag on the last class, but have you seen GAVIN COLLINS??? REID HUMPHREYS??? Swinarski should be a Sr. in HS right now, give him a break OK? He'll start in RF next season. What about Sexton, Hudson, Tatum? Surely you weren't expecting them to be studs immediately, no freshman pitcher ever really is. But I'm sure you'll find the damn exception to the rule and use that to back up your argument.

Not to mention that the guys we have now aren't bad. They've had their heads up their asses for the most part. Again, most sane reasonable people get that. Garner and Brown are freshmen. We have a lot of redshirted guys. Are players not allowed a few years to develop anymore? They suck if they don't hit .350 with 10 bombs as a freshman?? What about all the pitchers coming back from injury? I guess somehow you will blame this on Butch, although any baseball educated person knows that lollypop travel ball coaches are likely to blame for all the Tommy John stuff (which is also an epidemic in the MLB by the way).

Look I hate to be condescending to you, but I just don't understand how you and others who feel similarly form your opinions. Help me understand what appears to be extremely shallow tunnel thinking. Just with the players we have now, we'll be able to be a nationally contending team if not next year, certainly in 2016. That's not counting 2014 signees or the 2015 class which again, appears to be loaded. Luke Alexander will start at SS as a freshman in 2016.

[Todd4State]

I think Holland and Daniel Brown are both solid spring time commits that can come in and help right away- not to mention the possibility that Paul Young will be able to contribute next season. Brown will still have three years of eligibility left and I think I can safely assume that Young will get a medical redshirt and still have three years of eligibility left as well.

I'm not so sure we "need" a lot of secret commits or JUCO guys to fill gaps. At the very least I want to see how the season finishes out.

I think that there is a very good chance that we are going to get some guys back that many thought were automatically gone as juniors. So, we probably need to be careful with how we many guys we add.

At pitcher Ross will be a senior. Woodruff, Fitts, Holder, and possibly even Lindgren could be back next year with Lindgren the most likely to leave out of that group. Not to mention Preston Brown and Myles Gentry coming back along with our big three freshmen in Dakota Hudson, Austin Sexton, Vance Tatum and then you add in Zac Houston, Daniel Brown and maybe Paul Young.

We don't need to add a catcher. Gavin Collins will be better next year- and Chase Vallot is likely better than any recruit we can get on the market. Walker and Randolph are depth guys.

Rea could very well be back at first, and then we have Humphreys and Britton at third base.

We lose Pirtle on the middle infield, but Holland should be able to move Heck to second base, which is a more natural position for him. If not, Heck has proven that he can handle SS. Dale Burdick could also surprise and play some as a true freshman.

We lose CT and Armstrong, but return Vickerson, probably Demarcus, and Cody Brown. And then we have Swinarski, Rooker, and Cole Gordon seeing their first action.

We lose Detz, but that will open the door for Garner.

I could see:

SP- Ross
SP- Woodruff
SP- Fitts/Preston

C- Collins/Vallot

1B- Rea and if he leaves Rooker/Garner/Humphreys. This would be a good spot for a secret commit, but we need to make sure that Rea leaves otherwise it will be a waste.
2B- Heck
3B- Humphreys after Britton starts the year.
SS- Holland
LF- Vickerson
CF- Cody Brown
RF- Demarcus
DH- Garner

I can live with that lineup.

[Todd4State]

our next class will be tiny. This last class was supposed to be the hoss.

I don't know about that. I think we will sign at least 12-15 in our next class at least.

[Homedawg]

Hanging onto burdick is big in my eyes. Vallot is a pipe dream. The 15 class is unreal good. But of course we can lose some. 14 McCord and the guy from Cali have both impressed the scouts. Think we are ok at this point.

[Homedawg]

Todd, come on, lindgren back? No chance. Holder isn't going to be a great draft but he's gone too. Woody, will get drafted as well but it's whether he panics and signs or not. He has the stuff. I feel for him really.

[Todd4State]

Todd, come on, lindgren back? No chance. Holder isn't going to be a great draft but he's gone too. Woody, will get drafted as well but it's whether he panics and signs or not. He has the stuff. I feel for him really.

He has good velocity and he is left handed.

The cons are he is only 6'0" tall and at this point is a relief pitcher. Both of those are knocks are against him that will drop his stock.

He will get drafted- but it's up to him as to what he wants to do. If he can come back and prove that he can at least start, he could reach his draft potential.

[Todd4State]

Hanging onto burdick is big in my eyes. Vallot is a pipe dream. The 15 class is unreal good. But of course we can lose some. 14 McCord and the guy from Cali have both impressed the scouts. Think we are ok at this point.

There are some good catchers in this years MLB draft that are coming out of high school. MLB.com doesn't rate Vallot as one of their top 100 prospects- so getting Vallot may not be as big of a pipe dream as you might think.

Aaron Dominguez has had a really good senior year. Good find by our staff. McCord is a SEC weekend starter. Last I saw, Burdick has 12 home runs already.

[Saltydog]

nt

[Goat Holder]

Lindgren is history, dude. That's coming from scouts. And it's one reason why I wish we'd go on and start him, let's try and get some mileage out of him before we lose him.

Holder and Woodruff, who knows. Guess it depends on how bad they want some money.

[shoeless joe]

I hope we have some secret commits. We are going to need some difference makers on both sides. Pitching and hitting. It is rather obvious right now Cohen missed on some big ones. We have enough tradition and facilities to have gotten a few by now.

Lost a lot of credibility just now

[It_Could_Happen]

Isn't our 2015 class the one that is supposed to blow everyone away? Austin Riley and Luke Alexander are both supposed to be top 50 guys in the country.

[Homedawg]

He has good velocity and he is left handed.

The cons are he is only 6'0" tall and at this point is a relief pitcher. Both of those are knocks are against him that will drop his stock.

He will get drafted- but it's up to him as to what he wants to do. If he can come back and prove that he can at least start, he could reach his draft potential.

Yea, and a filthy slider. He will get drafted? You make it sound like he's a tweener. Stop even trying to act like he's coming back, he's long gone. Only chance he has to return is to hire Scott boras as his "advisor".Then he'll fall like a ton of rocks

[Five-tool Poster]

I think Holland and Daniel Brown are both solid spring time commits that can come in and help right away- not to mention the possibility that Paul Young will be able to contribute next season. Brown will still have three years of eligibility left and I think I can safely assume that Young will get a medical redshirt and still have three years of eligibility left as well.

I'm not so sure we "need" a lot of secret commits or JUCO guys to fill gaps. At the very least I want to see how the season finishes out.

I think that there is a very good chance that we are going to get some guys back that many thought were automatically gone as juniors. So, we probably need to be careful with how we many guys we add.

At pitcher Ross will be a senior. Woodruff, Fitts, Holder, and possibly even Lindgren could be back next year with Lindgren the most likely to leave out of that group. Not to mention Preston Brown and Myles Gentry coming back along with our big three freshmen in Dakota Hudson, Austin Sexton, Vance Tatum and then you add in Zac Houston, Daniel Brown and maybe Paul Young.

We don't need to add a catcher. Gavin Collins will be better next year- and Chase Vallot is likely better than any recruit we can get on the market. Walker and Randolph are depth guys.

Rea could very well be back at first, and then we have Humphreys and Britton at third base.

We lose Pirtle on the middle infield, but Holland should be able to move Heck to second base, which is a more natural position for him. If not, Heck has proven that he can handle SS. Dale Burdick could also surprise and play some as a true freshman.

We lose CT and Armstrong, but return Vickerson, probably Demarcus, and Cody Brown. And then we have Swinarski, Rooker, and Cole Gordon seeing their first action.

We lose Detz, but that will open the door for Garner.

I could see:

SP- Ross
SP- Woodruff
SP- Fitts/Preston

C- Collins/Vallot

1B- Rea and if he leaves Rooker/Garner/Humphreys. This would be a good spot for a secret commit, but we need to make sure that Rea leaves otherwise it will be a waste.
2B- Heck
3B- Humphreys after Britton starts the year.
SS- Holland
LF- Vickerson
CF- Cody Brown
RF- Demarcus
DH- Garner

I can live with that lineup.

We are losing way more pitchers then you think.

Someone who is never mentioned is Ross. I would be shocked if Ross comes back. He was a draft eligible All American last year that did not get drafted. If he gets drafted even in a late round this year he has nothing more to prove and has no leverage to return.

[RAYn_Man]

We are losing way more pitchers then you think.

Someone who is never mentioned is Ross. I would be shocked if Ross comes back. He was a draft eligible All American last year that did not get drafted. If he gets drafted even in a late round this year he has nothing more to prove and has no leverage to return.

This guy gets it. Lingo is top 10 rounds, will sign 100%. Woody and Holder may have dropped some but they will still get drafted fairly high and will sign. I wouldn't be surprised if someone takes Ross late. He'll probably take whatever he gets and give it a try in the minors. You forget that these guys come here as a stepping stone to professional baseball. They aren't just going to pass up a chance. Plus, if you're a senior, you don't get hardly any money, regardless of round. Girodo and Kendall got a plane ticket and a steak dinner pretty much.

[AlSwearengen]

Todd, I believe Demarcus is a senior so he will be gone as well. I really hope that Swinarski lives up to the hype and gets a lot of pt next season.

[CadaverDawg]

Lost a lot of credibility just now

^^This^^

You are more knowledgeable than this, MsState.

[Todd4State]

Yea, and a filthy slider. He will get drafted? You make it sound like he's a tweener. Stop even trying to act like he's coming back, he's long gone. Only chance he has to return is to hire Scott boras as his "advisor".Then he'll fall like a ton of rocks

I didn't intend for it to sound like he's a "tweener". I said it as in "of course he will get drafted". I just put his pros and cons as a player out there.

I said he "possibly even" could come back. That's hardly "he's coming back next year". More than likely he is a top five round pick. But as of now, no one- including you- knows where he will get drafted in June.

[Todd4State]

We are losing way more pitchers then you think.

Someone who is never mentioned is Ross. I would be shocked if Ross comes back. He was a draft eligible All American last year that did not get drafted. If he gets drafted even in a late round this year he has nothing more to prove and has no leverage to return.

Ross throws 82-84 MPH. He's coming back. He's a heck of a pitcher and I love how he plays, but he's going to be back next year.

As far as us losing more pitchers than I think- meh. Not really. Worst case scenario is we lose Lindgren, Holder, and Woodruff. The way I see it, if any of those guys come back- it's great. If not- it's not unexpected.

That still leaves us with Ross, Fitts, and Preston- with some talented sophomores who could very easily step up and take the spots of Lindgren, Woodruff, and Holder in the form of Dakota Hudson, Austin Sexton, and Vance Tatum.

[Todd4State]

Todd, I believe Demarcus is a senior so he will be gone as well. I really hope that Swinarski lives up to the hype and gets a lot of pt next season.

Demarcus could get a medical redshirt and come back for his fifth year. It's sort of like those pitchers- if he comes back it's great because he is a veteran with speed. If he doesn't come back, then we maybe move Humphreys to the outfield with Britton at third or we play Swinarski and Rooker and trade experience for power.

[preachermatt83]

i think you guys may be misreading what MSstateBaseball was trying to say. I don't think it was meant to be a shot at our Freshmen as much as it is that he is not hearing very much out of the next signing class. Give him a chance to respond before you guys just jump all over him.

[preachermatt83]

and when he mentioned Cohen missing one some I think he is referring to over his entire tenure, not this past year alone.

[Will James]

Lindgren would be crazy to turn down 1st round $$$

[MsStateBaseball]

Guys, I have seen msu Baseball for over 30 years, I know what I'm talking about, we should be better than we are right now. We should have a 1sr rounder pitcher and hitter every year! Don't you get that! We have too many busts when it comes to hitters on this years team. Way too many. We need to be able to win 10-7 if we have to and we can't. God himself intervened on Saturday! We were very close to being swept by ole ms on our biggest weekend! Why? We can't hit.

We have 6 hr, six. Last in sec. We should hit more second half but I don't think so. I am disappointed in this years team.

I don't see any real big recruit wanting to come here in the next two classes. Are we not a huge Baseball school? Is Baseball our best sport? We should get a Hunter Renfroe every year. Don't you think?

I predict the rest of the season to have a major impact on the program. Coaching staff on down. This is serious. We are supposed to be improving each year in the quality of our players-talent-so we better be recruiting the big guys.

Watch and see, if we don't improve dramatically by years end, Cohen will have a fire sale on coaches and roster.

[MsStateBaseball]

Cohen will tell Rea, etc to go pro, sign free agent contract. Got to change, no doubt about that.

[MsStateBaseball]

I keep an excel spreadsheet on each player since Cohen took over. Zero big hitters before Renfroe. We need the Jr and sr class to be good hitters and we don't.

[Five-tool Poster]

Ross throws 82-84 MPH. He's coming back. He's a heck of a pitcher and I love how he plays, but he's going to be back next year.

As far as us losing more pitchers than I think- meh. Not really. Worst case scenario is we lose Lindgren, Holder, and Woodruff. The way I see it, if any of those guys come back- it's great. If not- it's not unexpected.

That still leaves us with Ross, Fitts, and Preston- with some talented sophomores who could very easily step up and take the spots of Lindgren, Woodruff, and Holder in the form of Dakota Hudson, Austin Sexton, and Vance Tatum.

So he throws 82-84 now. Does that mean he'll come back and throw 89-91 next season?

I agree that is the worst case scenario but also the most realistic. Also agree its not unexpected, which is why I disagreed with your first post.

[MsStateBaseball]

Who on this board looks at Baseball recruiting? On perfect game site or other site? Who? We should have the roster filled w future pro players. Hitters is what I'm most concerned about.

[Five-tool Poster]

Guys, I have seen msu Baseball for over 30 years, I know what I'm talking about, we should be better than we are right now. We should have a 1sr rounder pitcher and hitter every year! Don't you get that! We have too many busts when it comes to hitters on this years team. Way too many. We need to be able to win 10-7 if we have to and we can't. God himself intervened on Saturday! We were very close to being swept by ole ms on our biggest weekend! Why? We can't hit.

We have 6 hr, six. Last in sec. We should hit more second half but I don't think so. I am disappointed in this years team.

I don't see any real big recruit wanting to come here in the next two classes. Are we not a huge Baseball school? Is Baseball our best sport? We should get a Hunter Renfroe every year. Don't you think?

I predict the rest of the season to have a major impact on the program. Coaching staff on down. This is serious. We are supposed to be improving each year in the quality of our players-talent-so we better be recruiting the big guys.

Watch and see, if we don't improve dramatically by years end, Cohen will have a fire sale on coaches and roster.

Oh my gosh.

[War Machine Dawg]

He has good velocity and he is left handed.

The cons are he is only 6'0" tall and at this point is a relief pitcher. Both of those are knocks are against him that will drop his stock.

He will get drafted- but it's up to him as to what he wants to do. If he can come back and prove that he can at least start, he could reach his draft potential.

C'mon, Todd. You know as well as I do that him being a hard throwing lefty is all MLB needs to know about him. Hell, if you can throw the ball lefty in general, MLB will give you about 18 million chances. How many craptastic lefties keep hanging around and getting chances? JoJo Reyes immediately comes to mind.

[War Machine Dawg]

Guys, I have seen msu Baseball for over 30 years, I know what I'm talking about, we should be better than we are right now. We should have a 1sr rounder pitcher and hitter every year! Don't you get that! We have too many busts when it comes to hitters on this years team. Way too many. We need to be able to win 10-7 if we have to and we can't. God himself intervened on Saturday! We were very close to being swept by ole ms on our biggest weekend! Why? We can't hit.

We have 6 hr, six. Last in sec. We should hit more second half but I don't think so. I am disappointed in this years team.

I don't see any real big recruit wanting to come here in the next two classes. Are we not a huge Baseball school? Is Baseball our best sport? We should get a Hunter Renfroe every year. Don't you think?

I predict the rest of the season to have a major impact on the program. Coaching staff on down. This is serious. We are supposed to be improving each year in the quality of our players-talent-so we better be recruiting the big guys.

Watch and see, if we don't improve dramatically by years end, Cohen will have a fire sale on coaches and roster.

http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae73/MSUDawgBurke/ImpliedFacepalm2_zpsb1e5da2d.jpg (http://s959.photobucket.com/user/MSUDawgBurke/media/ImpliedFacepalm2_zpsb1e5da2d.jpg.html)

[Todd4State]

Guys, I have seen msu Baseball for over 30 years, I know what I'm talking about, we should be better than we are right now. We should have a 1sr rounder pitcher and hitter every year! Don't you get that! We have too many busts when it comes to hitters on this years team. Way too many. We need to be able to win 10-7 if we have to and we can't. God himself intervened on Saturday! We were very close to being swept by ole ms on our biggest weekend! Why? We can't hit.

We have 6 hr, six. Last in sec. We should hit more second half but I don't think so. I am disappointed in this years team.

I don't see any real big recruit wanting to come here in the next two classes. Are we not a huge Baseball school? Is Baseball our best sport? We should get a Hunter Renfroe every year. Don't you think?

I predict the rest of the season to have a major impact on the program. Coaching staff on down. This is serious. We are supposed to be improving each year in the quality of our players-talent-so we better be recruiting the big guys.

Watch and see, if we don't improve dramatically by years end, Cohen will have a fire sale on coaches and roster.

Why are you panicking?

No recruit is going to base their decision on the second half of our SEC season. We have three very talented commitments in our current class in Chase Vallot, Cole Gordon, and Dale Burdick. Not to mention Austin Riley already committed in the second class. We currently have Gavin Collins, Reid Humphreys, and Joey Swinarski that are in Starkville right now.

The guys that are on the team now are simply the bridge to the future- which is quite bright if you ask me.

Time will tell, but like I said I really believe that our struggles have more to do with our success and Cohen going easy on them because it worked last year. We'll find out soon enough.

[MsStateBaseball]

I have people that don't like me or believe me, fine, no one is perfect. I am tired of being second place, a has been program. 1989, last year to win the SEC. We go to regionals, sometime to Omaha, then flounder except last year. We can do better overall, why can't we? Why can't we consistenly get big recruits? Someone answer that?

[Todd4State]

So he throws 82-84 now. Does that mean he'll come back and throw 89-91 next season?I agree that is the worst case scenario but also the most realistic. Also agree its not unexpected, which is why I disagreed with your first post.


What?

No- it means he's going to probably throw 82-84 next season and be the badass Ross that he always is.

I don't know- I would be willing to bet at least one of those pitchers comes back. That is actually the typical most realistic situation. We'll just wait and see who that is later on.

[Todd4State]

C'mon, Todd. You know as well as I do that him being a hard throwing lefty is all MLB needs to know about him. Hell, if you can throw the ball lefty in general, MLB will give you about 18 million chances. How many craptastic lefties keep hanging around and getting chances? JoJo Reyes immediately comes to mind.

Yes, being a hard throwing LH pitcher is definitely in his corner.

[Todd4State]

I have people that don't like me or believe me, fine, no one is perfect. I am tired of being second place, a has been program. 1989, last year to win the SEC. We go to regionals, sometime to Omaha, then flounder except last year. We can do better overall, why can't we? Why can't we consistenly get big recruits? Someone answer that?

Because Ron Polk decided to stop trying to be elite as a program in 1992 and LT didn't do anything about it for 20 years other than cater to Ron Polk?

When you are not going 100% for the National Title, eventually the bottom will fall out. It finally happened in 2008.

Conversely, we have only been really competing for the National Title for 6 years now. Everyone else in the SEC never stopped. It takes time to build up to an elite national level. Cohen has us there now- and did it in five years. The past three years, Cohen has accomplished just as much as Polk II and Bianco in his entire 13 year career. The elite level recruits for 2015 are JUST NOW seeing what we are all about. And they will come. Some have already committed.

We are simply in the midst of the "season after" a great season and our players and coaches are learning how to deal with the success and the challenges that come with that. Once they learn how to deal with that success it will be much easier to handle it going forward. Unfortunately to learn those lessons, you have to lose a lot of times. Yesterday was LSU and other than Saturday Ole Miss's day. We will have our day very soon.

As it is, I think with everything that has happened and in light of what appears to be a renewed focus on the team, I think we should wait until we go completely overboard about the baseball team and see how everything plays out.

And as far as recruits- we are not going to get everyone. That's just not realistic. I don't care if we break USC's record for National Titles and are brining in 15 K for a midweek game against Alcorn. Regardless, again I don't see any reason to worry about it since we just had the number 2 ranked recruiting class in the country and this class coming up in July is going to be the first that is truly fully impacted by our CWS appearance. And that class is off to a great start anyway- we have already cleaned out Mississippi as far as 2015 goes. Now we are going to add in some more regional and national recruits.

[Eric Nies Grind Time]

Because Ron Polk decided to stop trying to be elite as a program in 1992 and LT didn't do anything about it for 20 years other than cater to Ron Polk?

When you are not going 100% for the National Title, eventually the bottom will fall out. It finally happened in 2008.

Conversely, we have only been really competing for the National Title for 6 years now. Everyone else in the SEC never stopped. It takes time to build up to an elite national level. Cohen has us there now- and did it in five years. The past three years, Cohen has accomplished just as much as Polk II and Bianco in his entire 13 year career. The elite level recruits for 2015 are JUST NOW seeing what we are all about. And they will come. Some have already committed.

We are simply in the midst of the "season after" a great season and our players and coaches are learning how to deal with the success and the challenges that come with that. Once they learn how to deal with that success it will be much easier to handle it going forward. Unfortunately to learn those lessons, you have to lose a lot of times. Yesterday was LSU and other than Saturday Ole Miss's day. We will have our day very soon.

As it is, I think with everything that has happened and in light of what appears to be a renewed focus on the team, I think we should wait until we go completely overboard about the baseball team and see how everything plays out.

And as far as recruits- we are not going to get everyone. That's just not realistic. I don't care if we break USC's record for National Titles and are brining in 15 K for a midweek game against Alcorn. Regardless, again I don't see any reason to worry about it since we just had the number 2 ranked recruiting class in the country and this class coming up in July is going to be the first that is truly fully impacted by our CWS appearance. And that class is off to a great start anyway- we have already cleaned out Mississippi as far as 2015 goes. Now we are going to add in some more regional and national recruits.

So is Vallot the only guy we need to be keeping an eye on during the MLB draft? I mean as far as prospects go.

[smootness]

Sometimes, in the process of building a program, you have a season here and there where the record is not good, you seemingly take a step back, etc. We saw it last year in football, too. That doesn't mean it's time to panic or that what you're doing is no longer working.

I feel like sometime in the last decade or so, fans suddenly came to the determination that when building a program, you must continually improve every single year or else the whole thing will implode. But that isn't true at all. In 2010 and 2011, LSU went a combined 27-33 in the SEC and missed a regional in 2011. That came directly after winning the national title with 56 wins in 2009. Were they imploding or regressing? No, they just had a down period, and now they're back to being LSU.

We absolutely have some great recruits lined up, and we just brought in the #2 recruiting class in the country. Under Cohen, we're not going to get a bunch of commits from top 50-100 guys in the country, and that's actually a good strategy in college baseball because you won't end up with most of them.

I respect your knowledge in baseball, MsStateBaseball, but man, I'm not sure where this is coming from. No Hunter Renfroe's? Surely, with your knowledge of State baseball, you understand that were Hunter Renfroe in the 2014 class, you would consider him a recruit that wasn't that great, and certainly after his first two years, you'd be talking about him being a bust. He was nowhere near anyone's 'top HS players in the country' list.

[Homedawg]

No. We are very concerned about burdick. He appears to be signable for the rounds that he is projected to go. It's not a slam dunk that he signs, but plenty of reason for concern on our part.

[smootness]

So is Vallot the only guy we need to be keeping an eye on during the MLB draft? I mean as far as prospects go.

No, Burdick is absolutely a draft prospect as well. And you never know with some of these kids - I'm sure several will be drafted, it just depends on where and how much they're offered. I don't think many saw us losing DuPont a couple years ago, but he signed.

[BrunswickDawg]

Sometimes, in the process of building a program, you have a season here and there where the record is not good, you seemingly take a step back, etc. We saw it last year in football, too. That doesn't mean it's time to panic or that what you're doing is no longer working.

I feel like sometime in the last decade or so, fans suddenly came to the determination that when building a program, you must continually improve every single year or else the whole thing will implode. But that isn't true at all. In 2010 and 2011, LSU went a combined 27-33 in the SEC and missed a regional in 2011. That came directly after winning the national title with 56 wins in 2009. Were they imploding or regressing? No, they just had a down period, and now they're back to being LSU.

We absolutely have some great recruits lined up, and we just brought in the #2 recruiting class in the country. Under Cohen, we're not going to get a bunch of commits from top 50-100 guys in the country, and that's actually a good strategy in college baseball because you won't end up with most of them.

I respect your knowledge in baseball, MsStateBaseball, but man, I'm not sure where this is coming from. No Hunter Renfroe's? Surely, with your knowledge of State baseball, you understand that were Hunter Renfroe in the 2014 class, you would consider him a recruit that wasn't that great, and certainly after his first two years, you'd be talking about him being a bust. He was nowhere near anyone's 'top HS players in the country' list.

Smoot hits the nail on the head. While we all want to be "back", it takes time to really get there consistently, especially when it has been 20+ years since you were a real power program. This feels like last November and the Dan/Hud crap all over again. Just get over it and support the program.

[Todd4State]

So is Vallot the only guy we need to be keeping an eye on during the MLB draft? I mean as far as prospects go.

Vallot and Burdick. And then distantly Cole Gordon, Jesse McCord, and Aaron Dominguez.

[BankerDog]

Well DuPoint hasn't really tore up minor league hitting.

I expect Hump to move to 1st. Doesn't have lateral quickness to play 3rd. That may mean Rooker to a corner spot. There will be a battle between Joey, Rooker, Robson, Vick, and Brown. Add in the incoming guys like Stafford(A Bradford clone except he has power) we're set there.

Our big thing is striking out on guys. How can you not evaluate a Britton who can't hit? Why would you change the swing of a Robson to where he is a slap hitter now? We are lucky we got Renfroe. We almost didn't take him because of guys we thought were higher-Norris, Bradford. It took Corey Dickerson signing pro for Cohen to sign Renfroe.

[smootness]

Well DuPoint hasn't really tore up minor league hitting.

? I wasn't saying he's a stud, just saying you never know when we could lose a HS signee to the draft.