I don't think we get Jarrod Johnson on campus.......

[Liverpooldawg]

https://www.djournal.com/monroe/sports/smithville-s-johnson-drafted-by-the-atlanta-braves/article_5565c7c9-6497-5696-b1a2-ddfcf04aa22b.html?fbclid=IwAR0bGPWWrA7H4FHVPpuX8_P NABCVxBgcT0GN2qIfoPmCaRmLpWpZ2X-6sHU

[Rick Danko]

Good luck to the young man

[TNDawg35]

Never know. Lemonis is supposed to be one of the best if not the best recruiters in the nation. We shall see...

[The Federalist Engineer]

Good post, he's gone

[Todd4State]

Good luck to him but I think he is making a mistake. He could come to MSU and probably improve enough to get drafted in the top five rounds and make more than 500K and possibly enough to set him up for life. Especially with our track record with pitchers and Foxhall.

[AlSwearengen]

School probably isn’t that important to him which isn’t anything new for kids from rural MS. We have to find a way to attract the highly rated (top 10 round) kids that come from “well off” families. They can afford and value a college education.

Vanderbilt seems to have the market cornered on those types. I know they don’t have it cornered but they get more than their fair share.

[Cooterpoot]

This is part of why we offered late.

[Todd4State]

School probably isn’t that important to him which isn’t anything new for kids from rural MS. We have to find a way to attract the highly rated (top 10 round) kids that come from “well off” families. They can afford and value a college education.

Vanderbilt seems to have the market cornered on those types. I know they don’t have it cornered but they get more than their fair share.

You're exactly right. See LSU- Kramer Robertson and Alex Lange I believe it was came from a family of MD's. And for us- see Jake Mangum.


This is part of why we offered late.

We offered late because he was a late bloomer.

[viverlibre]

I spoke to a scout on Saturday. He said for some college pitchers it hurt them that they didn't get enough work in college (to prepare them for the long grind of MLB).

[Todd4State]

I spoke to a scout on Saturday. He said for some college pitchers it hurt them that they didn't get enough work in college (to prepare them for the long grind of MLB).

Well if they had a minor league system where those pitchers could develop.******

[msbulldog]

Hell, he might be the next Dizzy Dean!

[Gutter Cobreh]

School probably isn’t that important to him which isn’t anything new for kids from rural MS. We have to find a way to attract the highly rated (top 10 round) kids that come from “well off” families. They can afford and value a college education.

Vanderbilt seems to have the market cornered on those types. I know they don’t have it cornered but they get more than their fair share.

Good post. With all due respect, and not to demean mine or anyone else's MSU degree, we aren't on the same level academically as Vandy.

Also, you can tell based on the two articles posted here lately on this kid - he isn't turning down the status of being a professional. Not sure about this kid, but typically kids from a town his size haven't been exposed to much outside the county line. If you're offered a chance like he's been given, you take it. Hope he does well and wish him nothing but the best!

[Goldendawg]

You guys know more about this subject than me, but which odds are better for a "raw', late blooming pitcher making it to the bigs, 14th round pick straight to the minors or a couple of years in the college game? Don't some kids get college paid for in their contracts if they don't make the show?

[AlSwearengen]

I was talking with a guy (late 20’s) a couple months ago who pitched in juco. He made the statement that anyone who got drafted is crazy if they don’t sign (out of high school). We were talking about a kid that was drafted out of high school, after juco, and then was not drafted after his senior year of college. It struck me because I know of more than a couple of kids drafted in a late round and they were back home in less than a full season. Whereas, a kid drafted late that didn’t sign gets to play four years of college ball. Granted the guy that i was talking with has shown that his decision making skills are not very good, but that is another matter.

I understand that it is cool to be drafted but honestly, if you aren’t drafted in the top 10 rounds, you better hit the ground running or you won’t last that long. And the lives they have to live doesn’t sound fun at all to me.

[AlSwearengen]

You guys know more about this subject than me, but which odds are better for a "raw', late blooming pitcher making it to the bigs, 14th round pick straight to the minors or a couple of years in the college game? Don't some kids get college paid for in their contracts if they don't make the show?


If he came to State and if he is as raw as it sounds, he doesn’t pitch much his freshman year. Probably mid week relief. His second year is when he would start to pitch in more important roles. The risk that “raw” pitchers take by going to an SEC school, especially the upper echelon of the conference, is that they don’t get a lot of rope because you have to win. They have to perform or they can’t pitch. Brandon Woodruff is a good example but injuries hampered him. It is still a good example. You just cant afford to take losses while they try to sort things out. In the minors, they aren’t worried about winning, just getting reps.

[Todd4State]

I was talking with a guy (late 20’s) a couple months ago who pitched in juco. He made the statement that anyone who got drafted is crazy if they don’t sign (out of high school). We were talking about a kid that was drafted out of high school, after juco, and then was not drafted after his senior year of college. It struck me because I know of more than a couple of kids drafted in a late round and they were back home in less than a full season. Whereas, a kid drafted late that didn’t sign gets to play four years of college ball. Granted the guy that i was talking with has shown that his decision making skills are not very good, but that is another matter.

I understand that it is cool to be drafted but honestly, if you aren’t drafted in the top 10 rounds, you better hit the ground running or you won’t last that long. And the lives they have to live doesn’t sound fun at all to me.


As we know the statistics show the opposite if you want to make it to MLB.


If he came to State and if he is as raw as it sounds, he doesn’t pitch much his freshman year. Probably mid week relief. His second year is when he would start to pitch in more important roles. The risk that “raw” pitchers take by going to an SEC school, especially the upper echelon of the conference, is that they don’t get a lot of rope because you have to win. They have to perform or they can’t pitch. Brandon Woodruff is a good example but injuries hampered him. It is still a good example. You just cant afford to take losses while they try to sort things out. In the minors, they aren’t worried about winning, just getting reps.

I think had he come to MSU he would have likely taken a similar route to Dakota Hudson. Like you said- I would not have expected him to be in the rotation right off the bat but after three years I think he could have potentially been a SEC ace and potential first round pick. And I don't think MSU's coaches would have expected him to contribute in the rotation right away either.

And yes, in college there is more emphasis on winning but at the same time there is still a development component and while there is that emphasis on winning most college coaches are not reasonably going to expect a typical freshman to come in right away and have a major impact unless they are a special JT Ginn-esque talent.

Also remember that while these raw pitchers may not pitch a ton during the season they are still developing at practice and then they will typically play summer baseball. So it's not like they are totally sitting around either.

Basically it's simple risk/reward. Typically if you can make more money and give yourself a better chance at making it to MLB by going to college- that's probably what a typical player should do.

The good news for MSU is we are really developing a lot of MLB caliber players out of very raw ones like Hunter Renfroe, Dakota Hudson, Brandon Woodruff, Brent Rooker, and now in the future Ethan Small, and I think Eric Cerentola and Brad Cumbest both have a chance to potentially become first round picks themselves. If JT Ginn works out well for us and we can start attracting Vanderbilt type talent along with the raw talent we will really be cooking with gas.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Self delete - too negative

[timotheus]

with the baseball scholly situation as it is, aren't most D1 baseball players on some type academic scholarship? I believe Johnson has an ACT score under 20 but I still say he's better in the long run to either go the juco route or ultimately attend MSU. What is the slot value for him?

[viverlibre]

Well if they had a minor league system where those pitchers could develop.******

The scout meant it may be better to go straight to the minors via the draft than to spend 2-3 in college (not getting the same amount of real game work as the pitcher would have gotten the minors). Sorry didn't realize I needed to draw a map to the conclusion.

[Todd4State]

with the baseball scholly situation as it is, aren't most D1 baseball players on some type academic scholarship? I believe Johnson has an ACT score under 20 but I still say he's better in the long run to either go the juco route or ultimately attend MSU. What is the slot value for him?

The slots stop after round 10. But if a team has extra money they can sign players after round 10 for above slot value without penalty.

[Todd4State]

The scout meant it may be better to go straight to the minors via the draft than to spend 2-3 in college (not getting the same amount of real game work as the pitcher would have gotten the minors). Sorry didn't realize I needed to draw a map to the conclusion.

I still disagree with him.