Ponzi scheme supported by some travel coaches and many college coaches. High School senior wants to play in college. He is a pretty good player, possibly good enough to make somebodys team at some point if his measurable skill level improves. Throws 84-86. Not polished. Good kid. Naive family. What should they do? (Honest answer: You are not going to a D1 school. They have all their money committed. They are looking at juniors and sophomores now. Get better, then it might be a reality.) Well, play on my "Elite, Developmental Scout team. We play a fall schedule that will allow you to showcase your talents in front of all these colleges. Check our website and look at all the commits we have." Family writes check. Kids goes to a couple of practices a week, takes a little BP, throws a pen, and meets up with team on weekend. Throws his inning, runs some poles, plays with his stretching cords for an hour while designated coach for the weekend texts and sets fantasy team for the next day on his phone. College assistant leaves early to go to Starbucks. Since he throws 84, no college cares. But travel coach has cashed the check that was written for exposure, so he talks with a few of the colleges coaches and pushes the kid on the school so the family "sees him working for us." College coach shrugs and says, "OK, have him come up to camp." Family feels they still have a chance and signs up for numerous on campus camps. Travel coach breathes a sigh of relief because he knows this kid only throws 84 and has no chance at a school that has no money left and looks for kids that are 88-90 like everyone else. But he did his job. At camp the kid throws to 6 batters and tops out at 84. Gets 5 of 6 guys out, coach says they will "keep an eye on you in the spring" or "We might have you come up next year in fall and see if you can make our team." College coach did his job. Made a few bucks. Made a few vague promises and the family goes home and "commits." Norcalpreps writes an article about the latest commitment. Kid thinks he has struck gold. He is a committed athlete. Kid still throws 84. Parents get to tell other parents and colleagues at work that their son "committed" to a school and all their dollars spent on travel teams is now justified. This is the high water mark. I "committed." High school, travel coach, various prep outlets tweet and retweet the commitment. 15 minutes of fame. Season starts. Kid takes mound as an apparently confident future college player. Unfortunately, there are 4 other pitchers on the team that are just better than him. He can't hold runners, can't field his position. Doesn't really know how to pitch, does not have command and has a horrible inning in a preseason tournament game. HS coach loses confidence. Kid falls down the ladder on the staff. Other teams extra motivated because they just scored 5 off a "committed player." Player has a uneventful senior year. Goes back to play for travel coach over summer. Pays thousands to play on "Summer collegiate team." Travel coach blasts HS coach for using the kid wrong. Kid packs bags for college. Throws 3 innings in the fall and is cut. Comes home and goes to JC. Stills throws 84.
Lies everywhere. Honesty nowhere. College assistant coaches don't even talk with other members of their own staff about recruits because they are all angling for a better job and want to keep channels open with other talented underclassmen. High school ball means nothing. JC ball suffers. Early commitments are not the end of pressure as every article on this website proclaims, but rather the beginning of the work. Because all those early commits to St. Mary's and UCLA and USC and wherever are going to need to get better to even play at those schools. You are a walk on, or assured of a roster spot, or even a 25% guy, you better get better or your stay at said school will be one year.
It has become a Ponzi scheme. When a kid/family needs to hear the truth...you need to get better...you aren't even assured of a starting spot on your HS team, you need to run faster, hit the ball harder and farther, and throw harder and then you can start thinking about college. Better set your sites a little lower and try and be a better player, or better yet, lets have a good season and win some games and learn how to play the game, be a good teammate, then try and see what comes next. Not good enough anymore. The belief is that everyone that invests in baseball is going to play in college and be a commit and get their article on this site. The showcase world has built up that dream on the cancelled checks of lots of people and will continue to do so until colleges are forced to keep kids around rather than cut them. But in defense of the colleges, they probably need to bring in 50 guys to find 35 tough enough to play because the kids coming out of HS are under prepared because all they do is take a little BP and go to showcases and camps and throw to 6 hitters. But there are some pretty impressive websites that proclaim what all these training outfits can do.
Throw 90, you will be recruited. (Maybe a little less if you are left handed.)
Run a decent 60 time
Throw the ball consistently to 2B in 2.1 for a catcher.
Have a strong arm and be able to play SS for an infielder.
Mash the ball. Balls fly out of park in BP all the time. Can drive the ball to opposite field.
Have good size.
If that is not you, get better and then think about D1. Lower your sights. D2, D3, or a JC.
It really comes down to how much you love the game. How much do you want to play. Success takes time unless you meet the physical criteria after your sophomore/junior year. If you love it, you grind it out, take a longer path.
But nobody sells that. They sell, showcases, come to camp, we'll watch you, we might have a roster spot, we'll give you the fall.
It is rapidly becoming a joke. College coaches know it, but they often have no recruiting budget and need to attend showcases. Plus the assistants make zero money and $500 for showing up with a clipboard and stopwatch is necessary to pay the rent. And so are all those camps. Showcase guys know it, but they have found a way to make a living in baseball without having to coach and worry about wins and losses, and they have bills to pay. No one is really hurt. The top kids still get seen and recruited, albeit during their sophomore year. But everyone else is chasing the dream and come with checkbooks in hand. Its like buying that magic weight loss pill at 2 in the morning from the infomercial. People watch and buy. Baseball is now up there with the 6 pack abs in 3 weeks, get the dent out of your car with this paint, and buy the George Foreman grill crowd. Awesome.
This post was edited on 10/25 6:56 AM by tired of this