So Peyton Stovall turned down $2 mil to go to Arkansas

[CaptainObvious]

He said his reason was the Arkansas is the number 1 player developing program in the country.

Consistency in a coaching staff, no matter the sport, does matter in player development. The longer State can keep our staff together the better chance to get 1st and 2nd rounders to come to school.

[Lord McBuckethead]

They really are not the Number 1 player developing program in the country.
Name a player they have developed into a first round guy without said person already being a dang high draft pick to start with?

Now that Peyton Stovall is going there, in 3 years they will be seen as a player development Mecca once again.

Truth be told, this kid should be in the pros, earning money, eat, shit, sleep baseball for the same 3 years, bangin super models.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I wouldn't consider them the top of player development. IMO they're not in the top 5. I'd say it's probably us, OM, Vandy, Florida, and LSU. You could probably throw Texas in the mix as well. Maybe NC State too.

[BrunswickDawg]

With Jacob Robson being promoted to the Tigers last night, the 2013 MSU team now is tied for the SEC record for the number of MLB players on a single roster with 8 ('12 MSU, '01 LSU, '10 UF are the others).
The 2016 MSU team has a chance to have more with Robson, Lowe, Rooker, Kruger, Hudson all having played and with Mangum, Collins, Small and Pilk all in MiL.

[WPS]

They really are not the Number 1 player developing program in the country.
Name a player they have developed into a first round guy without said person already being a dang high draft pick to start with?

Now that Peyton Stovall is going there, in 3 years they will be seen as a player development Mecca once again.

Truth be told, this kid should be in the pros, earning money, eat, shit, sleep baseball for the same 3 years, bangin super models.

I don't think "player development" necessarily means 1st round draft picks. There are some really good college players that don't project well like Kopps. But Arkansas has been in the top 3ish in the SEC in quantity of players in MLB for the majority of Van Horn's tenure. Couple of Cy Young winners in there. Heston Kjerstad wasn't a super elite prospect and he went #2 overall. Same for Benintendi, wasn't expected to be a top 10 pick before the season he was drafted.

Arkansas just built a $28 million player development facility with a brand new weight room and pitching lab. Wes Johnson and Matt Hobbs after him have really ramped up the focus on analytics and technology so we're putting a ton of money toward those types of tools instead of fan experience amenities - though it would still be nice for Baum-Walker to get cupholders lol. DVH has said he wants to start recruiting more first round picks to come to college now that the facilities are getting so geared toward amenities for players to excel compared to what you get in the minor leagues. So Stovall's statement may be more on the level of focus and resources that are being poured into it than actual results so far.

[The Federalist Engineer]

He said his reason was the Arkansas is the number 1 player developing program in the country.

Consistency in a coaching staff, no matter the sport, does matter in player development. The longer State can keep our staff together the better chance to get 1st and 2nd rounders to come to school.

MLB sure liked him. Should be solid for the Hogs.

"Stovall had a strong summer on the showcase circuit, including drilling a homer at East Coast Pro despite a hand injury, and took his performance to the next level this spring. He homered 12 times in his first 21 games despite getting pitched around, and some evaluators say he's the best hitter in the Midwest -- college or high school. One veteran scout said Stovall has the best swing in his area since Todd Walker, who played 12 seasons in the Majors after going eighth overall in the 1994 Draft.

Stovall excels at barreling balls with his sweet left-handed stroke and makes hard contact to all fields. He consistently puts together quality at-bats and doesn't try to do too much, displaying natural ability to lift balls to his pull side as well as some opposite-field pop. He has the bat speed and strength to produce 20 or more homers per season, and he's such a gifted hitter that his biggest proponents believe he may develop plus power. "

[Captain Falcon]

I mean if we are being honest, the life of a minor league baseball player kinda sucks, at least at the lower levels. They pretty much have to live off their signing bonuses and don't get paid jack squat otherwise. It's a lot of long bus rides and you are typically either living out of a hotel or in a 4-5 bedroom apartment you share with some of your teammates. Oh and you're playing in front of maybe 200 people every night in games where it's all about development and the score of the game doesn't matter much at all.

If you are somebody like Peyton Stovall, JT Ginn, Gunnar Hoglund, etc., there's some appeal to getting the college experience, especially at an SEC school that really emphasizes college baseball. If you go to a program that has good resources and a strong track record of putting guys in the pros, maybe it's still a little bit of a gamble to not take the money, but if it works out, when you're 21 you end up right where you would have been anyway, plus you got to do those things in college.

[AlSwearengen]

When did he commit to Arkansas?

[dawgoneyall]

Somebody lied to him....he will figure that out eventually.

[ShotgunDawg]

He?s 100% legit and turned $2.9 mil. My guess is Arkanasas leads him off since he?ll have the highest OBP on the team.

Arkansas does a great job. Best baseball strength and conditioning program in America. I believe Arkansas is a top 5 developer but it?s tough to say who the best is.

Top 5 developers:

Mississippi State
Arkansas
Ole Miss
Dallas Baptist
Louisville

Oregon State was the Mack daddy of development under Casey and Tennessee May very well be on this list soon.

[The Federalist Engineer]

He?s 100% legit and turned $2.9 mil. My guess is Arkanasas leads him off since he?ll have the highest OBP on the team.

Arkansas does a great job. Best baseball strength and conditioning program in America. I believe Arkansas is a top 5 developer but it?s tough to say who the best is.

Top 5 developers:

Mississippi State
Arkansas
Ole Miss
Dallas Baptist
Louisville

Oregon State was the Mack daddy of development under Casey and Tennessee May very well be on this list soon.

No Vandy? Florida? Texas Tech? Or UCLA? Ole Miss on your list?

[ShotgunDawg]

No Vandy? Florida? Texas Tech? Or UCLA? Ole Miss on your list?

Vandy has underachieved considering they have the #1 class every year. They recruit so well that they're bound to develop a few guys.

Florida has so many polished players in the state that they don't have to do much.

Good point on Texas Tech

UCLA is Florida west coast. Polished players

Ole Miss does a good job. Maybe put Texas Tech in their place, but Ole Miss' coaching staff is solid.

[Todd4State]

Yeah. I'm going to disagree with Ole Miss being a top five developer of talent. They only have I think three players currently in MLB right now. Two of those played at Ole Miss 10 years ago in Lynn and Pomeranz.

Without looking I'm going to guess at the very least LSU has more than that right now in MLB.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

They really are not the Number 1 player developing program in the country.
Name a player they have developed into a first round guy without said person already being a dang high draft pick to start with?

Now that Peyton Stovall is going there, in 3 years they will be seen as a player development Mecca once again.

Truth be told, this kid should be in the pros, earning money, eat, shit, sleep baseball for the same 3 years, bangin super models.

There aren’t a lot of super models in the towns where they play A or AA baseball. And they aren’t looking for 19-20 year old kids. If he wants to “bang” somebody in the next 3 years, a college town full of college girls is a much more fertile hunting ground.

[Todd4State]

There aren’t a lot of super models in the towns where they play A or AA baseball. And they aren’t looking for 19-20 year old kids. If he wants to “bang” somebody in the next 3 years, a college town full of college girls is a much more fertile hunting ground.

I definitely remember some cleat chasers at Jackson Mets/Generals games growing up! LOL!

[AlSwearengen]

If olemiss is a top 5 developer, something is really out of whack over there.
Considering everything with vandy, I’d say they do a pretty average job at player development.

ETA: not bad, but not great either.

[BrunswickDawg]

If olemiss is a top 5 developer, something is really out of whack over there.
Considering everything with vandy, I’d say they do a pretty bad job at player development.

Vandy led all college programs with players on MLB rosters on Opening Day this season with 11 - https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/colleges-with-the-most-players-on-2021-mlb-opening-day-rosters/

The SEC dominates that list.

[The Federalist Engineer]

I mean if we are being honest, the life of a minor league baseball player kinda sucks, at least at the lower levels. They pretty much have to live off their signing bonuses and don't get paid jack squat otherwise. It's a lot of long bus rides and you are typically either living out of a hotel or in a 4-5 bedroom apartment you share with some of your teammates. Oh and you're playing in front of maybe 200 people every night in games where it's all about development and the score of the game doesn't matter much at all.

If you are somebody like Peyton Stovall, JT Ginn, Gunnar Hoglund, etc., there's some appeal to getting the college experience, especially at an SEC school that really emphasizes college baseball. If you go to a program that has good resources and a strong track record of putting guys in the pros, maybe it's still a little bit of a gamble to not take the money, but if it works out, when you're 21 you end up right where you would have been anyway, plus you got to do those things in college.

HS Infielders

Austin Riley (drafted at 18) and full time MLB by 22.

Royce Lewis (drafted at 18) still in Minors at 20

Josh Lowe (drafted at 18) still in Minors at 21 (Nate Lowe's brother)

College Elite Infielders

Nick Madrigal (drafted at 21) and full time MLB by 24 (Top-10 Draft Pick)

Dansby Swanson (drafted at 21) and Full Time MLB by 23 (Top Pick Overall)

Ian Happ (drafted at 20) and Full Time MLB by 22

Control Example
Adam Frazier (drafted at 21) and Full Time MLB by 25

Small sample size with many assumptions, but it seems they scoot the Elite Draft Pick college players into the majors in 2 years, even when the stats are not that great, like Swanson with Braves. Madrigal, on the other hand, dominated all the way up. Seems that clubs don't want too-young a kid in MLB or too-old a kid in the Minors. So Stovall will prolly not lose much by being a Pig, if he does show flaws that drop his stock or get injured.