Lemon gets 2nd portal position player

[archdog]

We need 6 Mershons

[Coach34]

We’re gonna be a good mid major team next year…

D1 named this guy one of the 50 best SS in college baseball. Let's chill with the dumb shit.

It was just one short year ago we had posters laughing at Lemon for signing Purdue. He went on to become 1st team SEC and one of the best in conference.

Our last 2 CF'ers were G5 and great for us

[SPMT]

D1 named this guy one of the 50 best SS in college baseball. Let's chill with the dumb shit.

It was just one short year ago we had posters laughing at Lemon for signing Purdue. He went on to become 1st team SEC and one of the best in conference.

Our last 2 CF'ers were G5 and great for us

No kidding!!!!

We act like G5 is so far off. As a team, usually but individual players?.nah.

[Coach34]

No kidding!!!!

We act like G5 is so far off. As a team, usually but individual players?.nah.

G5 is the new development program for P5 programs to raid and steal their best

[Commercecomet24]

G5 is the new development program for P5 programs to raid and steal their best

Exactly. Every p5 program is taking the best players from g5. It's like the minor leagues for p5 now. It's not the 80s where you develop your own players anymore

[Coach34]

Exactly. Every p5 program is taking the best players from g5. It's like the minor leagues for p5 now. It's not the 80s where you develop your own players anymore

Jay Johnson just said as much. Every season now is a 1 year deal. You are totally rebuilding your roster every season now.

[Coach34]

And we have to Moneyball with the portal. We arent going to get the high end guys commanding big money. We arent that team. We are literally the Oakland A's

LSU, Florida, A&M, UPig, etc- they all have that booster they can go to for a big check for someone. We dont have that like they do

[No BS Dawg]

If this is the case, and it certainly seems to be based on the last few years, we will be playing second fiddle to LSU, Florida, AM, Tennessee in baseball. We will be stuck in the 5-10 part of the SEC and lose out in regional play most years. We can?t pull mainly G5 and D2 players and expect to compete more than that. That is also the reality of the situation. Our best hope is to get a guy that cocky baseball players want to play for and can pull with his fire and passion. Lemonis is not that guy and Vittellos do not grow on trees.

[Coach34]

If this is the case, and it certainly seems to be based on the last few years, we will be playing second fiddle to LSU, Florida, AM, Tennessee in baseball. We will be stuck in the 5-10 part of the SEC and lose out in regional play most years. We can?t pull mainly G5 and D2 players and expect to compete more than that. That is also the reality of the situation. Our best hope is to get a guy that cocky baseball players want to play for and can pull with his fire and passion. Lemonis is not that guy and Vittellos do not grow on trees.

We will see if Lemon is a Moneyball guy or not. But no doubt- this is where we are

our fans have to understand- college baseball as we knew it is gone from 2021. The portal, NIL, and unlimited transfers has changed the game.

[maroonmania]

We will see if Lemon is a Moneyball guy or not. But no doubt- this is where we are

our fans have to understand- college baseball as we knew it is gone from 2021. The portal, NIL, and unlimited transfers has changed the game.

Yep, which is exactly why I said I'm glad we got our NC in 2021 because we likely won't see another unless we get a top.of the line coach at some point that recruits and develops his ass off. All the recruiting advantages we had pre NIL are gone. It's just a money game for the elite guys now. College baseball used to be the most pure amateur college sport out there but those days are long gone.

[Coach34]

Yep, which is exactly why I said I'm glad we got our NC in 2021 because we likely won't see another unless we get a top.of the line coach at some point that recruits and develops his ass off. All the recruiting advantages we had pre NIL are gone. It's just a money game for the elite guys now. College baseball used to be the most pure amateur college sport out there but those days are long gone.

Yes and its why I loved college baseball more than MLB since I was 5.

But without money- Vitello is not Vitello. We have fans that hear shit and want to spout we are middle of the pack in NIL- well thats what we are going to be in the SEC- middle of the pack. LSU, Tenn, Candy, Fla, A&M are spending twice what we are so they are getting the top of the line guys. We wont be getting those guys. We are Moneyball and we better hit on more than we miss.

[Coach34]

and to add- with our budget in the big sports- our main goal is to keep what we have. So we have to recruit well- which is also hampered by NIL- and keep the good ones from being raided.

This is college sports now

[Coach34]

If you want us to get the guy from Indiana State that hit 23 HR's and is going to LSU? Contribute 100K to the NIL so we can get him

Otherwise? STFU. Stop blaming Lemon because you dont make enough money

[Pinto]

So much BS and outright lies in this thread. Folks threads like this are why you don?t believe what you read on message boards.

[SPMT]

So much BS and outright lies in this thread. Folks threads like this are why you don?t believe what you read on message boards.

Explain specifically please.

[Quaoarsking]

D1 named this guy one of the 50 best SS in college baseball. Let's chill with the dumb shit.

I'm not necessarily down on this guy, but "top 50 in college baseball" isn't a huge compliment when, if you exclude the Big 10 which isn't really a power conference in baseball, there aren't 50 power conference teams.

[Coach34]

So much BS and outright lies in this thread. Folks threads like this are why you don?t believe what you read on message boards.

feel free to call out the lies and lets discuss what you think is BS

Please bring us some facts and data- not just your opinion

[Coach34]

I'm not necessarily down on this guy, but "top 50 in college baseball" isn't a huge compliment when, if you exclude the Big 10 which isn't really a power conference in baseball, there aren't 50 power conference teams.

Hard to discount the Big Ten when we and other teams get guys from there that excel in our league

[Todd4State]

Exactly. Every p5 program is taking the best players from g5. It's like the minor leagues for p5 now. It's not the 80s where you develop your own players anymore

This is the thing about the portal that most of our fans don't understand. It's not that common for anyone- even LSU or Tennessee to take a bunch of legit guys from the SEC and ACC. Are there some out there like Billy Amick, Chase Burns, Tommy White, etc.? Sure but it's only a handful of players like that so the pool is small to start with.

The vast majority of the players teams in the SEC get out of the portal are going to be from mid majors and smaller schools. It's just how the system is set up really. To make it 3-4 years at a SEC school you have to be a high end prospect like a Nolan Stevens or you have to be a guy that can come in and contribute right away almost like Hunter Hines.

Most of the SEC guys that transfer out are going to be like Aiden Moffett that maybe have a high upside which got them recruited by a SEC school to start with but if they don't make progress quickly the funds dry up and they essentially have to go somewhere else to play.

The mid majors are going to get the "good ball player/late bloomer" types and those are the ones that end up in the SEC eventually. Conner Hujsack probably falls in that category.

In the immediate future for us- we're going to have to build around guys like Nolan Stevens, Makhai Grant, Luke Dotson, Ross Highfill, Dylan Cupp, and whomever we get through the draft like Henry Allen, maybe Dante Nori, etc. And then the portal guys like Gehrig are going to fill in the gaps.

[Todd4State]

Is he competing for Larry's old job? He was a SS, but hopefully we don't have an opening there.

I think this is a player that can play multiple positions and we can play him wherever we need him. It helps with the uncertainty of Mershon because he can play MIF and was a Brooks Wallace Award watch player so he's someone that can at least adequately play MIF. He also has the ability to play the OF and of course DH. At 6'3" he is tall enough to even profile at first base even though the bat doesn't profile there. He doesn't have a ton of power but he doesn't strike out a lot and he makes contact. He again like Gehrig Frei has an almost 1/1 K/BB ratio and he has some speed.

Odd as this sounds- from reading up on him I think he actually may replace Johnny Long in terms of being a team leader. He sounds like a very mature, hard working kid who was able to thrive at a military school. He'll probably lead in a different way than Long.

Will he start? Maybe/maybe not depending on what else we bring in the portal and how the draft shakes out but at worst it looks like on paper we got a guy that is versatile, makes contact, isn't going to cause problems on or off the field and can run a little bit.

When you're talking about lineup depth this is the kind of guy that we're talking about.