Quote Originally Posted by shoeless joe View Post
I agree that we could have one of that top staffs in college baseball. But there is an enormous difference between that potential and realizing it on the field in big game situations on a consistent basis. Stepping in and being consistent in the SEC will be a big accomplishment for some of these younger guys that have the potential to be big time guys. Look no further than Devon jones and Evan Mitchell to see big league ability not realized on the collegiate level for whatever reason.
We aren't recruiting Devon Jones or Evan Mitchell-types of players anymore. We don't have to take those risks now. Those were talented guys with glaring red flags preventing them from being heavily recruited and also keeping them off the immediate MLB radar -- that we thought/hoped we could overcome. In some cases we got past the mental block(Stratton), in others(the two you listed) we couldn't. Frankly, we recruited those types because we couldn't GET "sure things" on the front end of Cohen's rebuild. Especially after McNickle built a reputation of destroying arms at MSU that it took Butch awhile to overcome.

The guys we are recruiting now IMO are not comparable to the guys you listed. Am I saying that one of them couldn't be a mental case? Absolutely one or two of them could be. But in general -- they are on an entirely different level mentally coming in.