2025 NCAA Baseball Transfer Portal

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Originally Posted by maroonmania

This is actually not true. You can sign a Top 10 round guy for under slot and save money in your bonus pool for other draft picks BUT if you don't sign them at all then that slot money is subtracted from your overall bonus pool for this year which is a penalty. That's why so few guys in the Top 10 rounds don't sign. Usually a general agreement has been reached before a team will pick you because teams can't afford to not be signing their Top 10 round picks.

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-draft-o...%20a%20penalty.

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Yeah. Perry Minasian with the Angles made one of two missteps on this. First, he drafted Ryan Prager without knowing what it would take to sign him, and then lost him when he went so over slot on an 11th round pick. Second, he gave Prager a number that was acceptable to OK the pick and then actually offered less after the 11th round pick signed. So, they have around $325 K or so that they can go over slot to sign Mershon with, which will put him in the $475,000 bonus range. Does he take it? Maybe. Will the Angels offer it, because it doesn't seem like they actually planned on offering him more than $50 K over slot initially?

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Originally Posted by maroonmania

This is actually not true. You can sign a Top 10 round guy for under slot and save money in your bonus pool for other draft picks BUT if you don't sign them at all then that slot money is subtracted from your overall bonus pool for this year which is a penalty. That's why so few guys in the Top 10 rounds don't sign. Usually a general agreement has been reached before a team will pick you because teams can't afford to not be signing their Top 10 round picks.

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-draft-o...%20a%20penalty.

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This is correct. If they don't sign Prager(which he said he's going back to am), that slot money is down the drain

Mershon update?

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Originally Posted by maroonmania

This is actually not true. You can sign a Top 10 round guy for under slot and save money in your bonus pool for other draft picks BUT if you don't sign them at all then that slot money is subtracted from your overall bonus pool for this year which is a penalty. That's why so few guys in the Top 10 rounds don't sign. Usually a general agreement has been reached before a team will pick you because teams can't afford to not be signing their Top 10 round picks.

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-draft-o...%20a%20penalty.

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The money inside the top-10 is moveable. Prager's slot was 930K. That is "lost" but they signed the balance of the top-10 for almost 10.8M and they were slotted 12.8M, that's with Prager "allocated" 0.943M, still saved 2M. But they then they signed the 11th round kid for more. So they pay a penalty for getting the unexpected kid. Probably the 11th rounder is better than Prager, he just slipped to 11th because everyone expected him to attend college.

That said, they have spent too much on the post top-10, they are nearly 0.343M over, so they are presently 3% over. They have to pay a 257K tax.

They have 4 kids left unsigned, one being Mershon and another being an Auburn commit that is not going to sign. So 3 players they can sign but deep motivation to not increase their overage to 5%. They lose a draft pick in the future, if they do that.

Looks like Mershon is in LA

Brother just tweeted that Mershons just landed in Cali

He gone.

Go get the dude from Washington

Mershon's are meeting with the Angels. I would not expect him back.

Sounds like he is gone, can’t imagine flying to LA W/O a deal or agreement in place.

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Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

Mershon's are meeting with the Angels. I would not expect him back.

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I think the odds are better than 50/50 that he is gone but it's been known all week that he would be having a meeting in LA with the Angels.

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Originally Posted by Commercecomet24

This is correct. If they don't sign Prager(which he said he's going back to am), that slot money is down the drain

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Prager is betting on himself. 930K now as a 3rd rounder or be a 1st rounder next year. He had a tremendous post-TJ year, tough and resilient kid.

"Ultimately, I was put in a position where I felt really comfortable enough to bet on myself,” Prager stated. “The development that we have here is elite, and also, we were so close to winning a national championship. You feel like you have some unfinished business there.”

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Originally Posted by The Federalist Engineer

Prager is betting on himself. 930K now as a 3rd rounder or be a 1st rounder next year. He had a tremendous post-TJ year, tough and resilient kid.

"Ultimately, I was put in a position where I felt really comfortable enough to bet on myself,” Prager stated. “The development that we have here is elite, and also, we were so close to winning a national championship. You feel like you have some unfinished business there.”

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Apparently the Angels even offered a little over slot at just above 1 mil and Prager wouldn't take it. HUGE risk for him to pass that up unless he is getting a ton of NIL money. A&M is going to get their 3rd rounder back which likely helps bolster us losing our 18th rounder. We just can't win for losing.

A few redsox writers are speculating that Conrad Cason might not sign. That would be a huge welcomed surprise.

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Originally Posted by trob115

A few redsox writers are speculating that Conrad Cason might not sign. That would be a huge welcomed surprise.

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They are trying to steal a player. The LAA #11th pick getting 1.5M has probably spoiled the market. Unless they just overpay and pay the penalty.

Once Cason hits 100mph he's a top-5 overall pick. Plus I read his bat tool is really picking up. Just a freak athlete.

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Originally Posted by trob115

A few redsox writers are speculating that Conrad Cason might not sign. That would be a huge welcomed surprise.

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Yea, MLB is going to learn that competing against NIL is going to make it much harder to sign guys that play for or have signed with schools that emphasize their baseball programs. A lot of guys would much rather make a little less 'immediate' money if they can still make money on a college campus versus throwing their youth away living the minor league baseball life. You really only get one shot at experiencing the college social life as part of becoming an adult.

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Originally Posted by maroonmania

Yea, MLB is going to learn that competing against NIL is going to make it much harder to sign guys that play for or have signed with schools that emphasize their baseball programs. A lot of guys would much rather make a little less 'immediate' money if they can still make money on a college campus versus throwing their youth away living the minor league baseball life. You really only get one shot at experiencing the college social life as part of becoming an adult.

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Especially if it's a SEC school like MSU, LSU, Arkansas, or Tennessee. I bet we could offer the MLB round 11-20 minimum to at least our starting lineup, starting rotation, and top three relievers if we wanted to.

When is the deadline to sign?

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Originally Posted by ZedFedder

When is the deadline to sign?

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I believe it's Thursday by 4 PM

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Originally Posted by MetEdDawg

I believe it's Thursday by 4 PM

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Yeah. It's August 1st. So we'll know where we stand this week.

Jordan signs for 2M, 1.4M above slot

Cason signs for 1.25M, 1M above slot

Sounds like Slot doesn't mean a thing since they cut the number of rounds. If they draft you, they expect to sign you. If you don't sign, they just move to their next signee and offer more. The late round bonus is killing us now.

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Originally Posted by The Federalist Engineer

Jordan signs for 2M, 1.4M above slot

Cason signs for 1.25M, 1M above slot

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NIL can't compete with that kinda business.

We're likely losing our top three recruits. We'll see on Mershon but he's trying hard to leave. It won't take a Brinks truck for him.

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Originally Posted by Cooterpoot

We're likely losing our top three recruits. We'll see on Mershon but he's trying hard to leave. It won't take a Brinks truck for him.

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Nori, Cason, and ... Travis Smith?

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Originally Posted by The Federalist Engineer

Nori, Cason, and ... Travis Smith?

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Yep, Smith is like Merson, he wants to go pro. We'll see but the situation isn't positive. We can't get top recruits to campus like other schools, not all our fault but oh well.

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Originally Posted by Cooterpoot

We can't get top recruits to campus like other schools, not all our fault but oh well.

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Be prepared to hear how we do in fact get some top 150 players to campus each year even though we typically get zero contribution from them for their freshman year. Then hear about how they have to adjust.

Yes, obviously we get some top 150 players but we don't close on day one game changers often. It all boils down to money ultimately but these type of players never seem to work out for us. And yes you have to go after them but, it's all fluff at the end of the day.

The sad thing is that we are sitting here sweating a guy who was drafted in the 15th round and a guy who was drafted in the 18th round. Those guys don't ever sign....but somehow the two we have are just so ready for pro baseball. Like how do we get the shit luck that we do time and time again.

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Originally Posted by StateDawg44

Be prepared to hear how we do in fact get some top 150 players to campus each year even though we typically get zero contribution from them for their freshman year. Then hear about how they have to adjust.

Yes, obviously we get some top 150 players but we don't close on day one game changers often. It all boils down to money ultimately but these type of players never seem to work out for us. And yes you have to go after them but, it's all fluff at the end of the day.

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If your expectation is for freshmen to be immediate day one contributors you are going to be disappointed in general.

If your expectation is that they will develop into a high level player over three years which is typically what does happen then you will be a lot happier.

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Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

The sad thing is that we are sitting here sweating a guy who was drafted in the 15th round and a guy who was drafted in the 18th round. Those guys don't ever sign....but somehow the two we have are just so ready for pro baseball. Like how do we get the shit luck that we do time and time again.

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That's about program culture to me. Guys like Mangum and Tanner Allen had a lot of pride in playing for MSU. LSU has a long history of guys that want to play for LSU. We have a longer history of guys who want to come to MSU but see it as a means to eventually go pro.

A player from Mississippi is probably more likely to have that kind of pride than say a guy from South Carolina.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

That's about program culture to me. Guys like Mangum and Tanner Allen had a lot of pride in playing for MSU. LSU has a long history of guys that want to play for LSU. We have a longer history of guys who want to come to MSU but see it as a means to eventually go pro.

A player from Mississippi is probably more likely to have that kind of pride than say a guy from South Carolina.

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Ehh....I also think the guys we are talking about (Smith and Mershon) have better pro potential than Mangum or Allen. They were both basically always going to be career minor leaguers and that's what they've basically projected as since college. Doesn't diminish the fact that they are great college players, but their pro potential was known by about their sophomore year.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

If your expectation is for freshmen to be immediate day one contributors you are going to be disappointed in general.

If your expectation is that they will develop into a high level player over three years which is typically what does happen then you will be a lot happier.

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Funny how Nori is no longer a day one impact player all of a sudden. Or Cason wouldn't have been a contributor to our BP.

Although, Lemo probably wouldn't have put them out there regardless

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Originally Posted by StateDawg44

Be prepared to hear how we do in fact get some top 150 players to campus each year even though we typically get zero contribution from them for their freshman year. Then hear about how they have to adjust.

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Freshmen just arent getting alot of playing time now in the Portal Era. Less than 20 SEC Freshmen got 50 or more AB's in 2024

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Originally Posted by StateDawg44

Funny how Nori is no longer a day one impact player all of a sudden. Or Cason wouldn't have been a contributor to our BP.

Although, Lemo probably wouldn't have put them out there regardless

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Not sure I said that Nori would be a "day one impact " player but if I did the fact that he was a first round pick would see to agree with that assessment.

Cason would have been wait and see and it would have depended on how good his command would be.

Again- if you are expecting freshmen to contribute at a high level on day one you are going to be disappointed. If it happens be pleasantly surprised because it isn't the norm.

Sounds like a point well missed. There are schools that are getting their early round picks to campus and there are schools getting their Top 10 round picks to return to school. How often has that happened for State? I can think of 2 or 3. Maybe a couple more. When did the culture change so much that 13-18 round guys would rather ride minor league busses than go the college route? Seems like it coincided with the open transfer rules.

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Originally Posted by CaptainObvious

When did the culture change so much that 13-18 round guys would rather ride minor league busses than go the college route?

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Yea, while also making some pretty nice NIL coin in college. Its no longer make your money or go to college since now you can make some decent money while in college.

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Originally Posted by CaptainObvious

Sounds like a point well missed. There are schools that are getting their early round picks to campus and there are schools getting their Top 10 round picks to return to school. How often has that happened for State? I can think of 2 or 3. Maybe a couple more. When did the culture change so much that 13-18 round guys would rather ride minor league busses than go the college route? Seems like it coincided with the open transfer rules.

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Auburn kept all their HS players (2 top-100 and 9 top-200) and had an equal-to-better portal. Ole Miss lost 1 pick, 1st rounder, and kept 4 top 100 players and 3 top 200.

I guess we are stuck with Lemons though. Enough people like him. Not me, but enough.

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Originally Posted by The Federalist Engineer

Auburn kept all their HS players (2 top-100 and 9 top-200) and had an equal-to-better portal. Ole Miss lost 1 pick, 1st rounder, and kept 4 top 100 players and 3 top 200.

I guess we are stuck with Lemons though. Enough people like him. Not me, but enough.

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I?m not a big fan of Lemonis, but we couldn?t fire him this year.

If we are in fact losing similar players while programs equal or below us are retaining them then that is a huge problem. I doubt it?s NIL related.

I doubt it?s because they think Lemonis is going to get fired because everyone knows Bianco is a lame duck??

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Originally Posted by SPMT

I doubt it?s because they think Lemonis is going to get fired because everyone knows Bianco is a lame duck??

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Surely not, that would scare recruits away...

Water is wet,Templeton is cheap, Lemonis isn't a great recruiter

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Originally Posted by StateDawg44

Surely not, that would scare recruits away...

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In the old days it would, with portal doesn?t seem to matter