Gehrig Frei Officially Back!

[Perd Hapley]

You’re not wrong but in this era where guys have been able to stay in school forever, you occasionally run into older guys who just decide they are done playing college baseball and you have to fight it occasionally. We’ve had guys forego senior years because they weren’t pro prospects and got accepted in med school, for instance. Not quite the NIL era but I believe Houston Harding passed on his final year for an UDFA offer.

Couple of major differences there. First off, Harding was already 23 years old in the 2021 season when he was still at MSU. That’s a year older than Frei and Sullivan are now.

Secondly and perhaps most importantly, NIL wasn’t yet a thing in the summer of 2021.

Also, not sure how much NIL we actually are giving Frei and Sully. You can argue we didn’t really need them so I wouldn’t be surprised if we aren’t giving them all that much.

Excuse me?

In 2025 Frei had a .990 OPS, Sully was a blistering 1.120. They combined for 23 HR’s. There’s no argument whatsoever that “we don’t really need them”. They are both easily worth $50k or more.

 

[CaptainFalcon]

Couple of major differences there. First off, Harding was already 23 years old in the 2021 season when he was still at MSU. That’s a year older than Frei and Sullivan are now.

Secondly and perhaps most importantly, NIL wasn’t yet a thing in the summer of 2021.


Excuse me?

In 2025 Frei had a .990 OPS, Sully was a blistering 1.120. They combined for 23 HR’s. There’s no argument whatsoever that “we don’t really need them”. They are both easily worth $50k or more.

Both good players and it’s not a guarantee either one starts for us next year. Less about them and more about how loaded we are.

 

[Anon1684630174]

Unless Sullivan starts out in a horrendous slump that is prolonged, I can’t imagine him not being the DH. The guy is a hitter.

 

[Perd Hapley]

Both good players and it’s not a guarantee either one starts for us next year. Less about them and more about how loaded we are.

This is getting a bit ridiculous. They were the 2nd and 3rd best hitters on the team. We didn’t find 7-8 hitters in the portal that are ALL better than them. Hell, we only brought in 4 notable position players total (Wyers, Valincius, Nunnalee, Teel). Therefore, they are both going to play and start. 1.000+ OPS players in the SEC don’t just grow on trees.

We made the NIL offers before the draft / portal windows. No MLB teams wanted to match the NIL offers, which is a big part of why they didn’t get drafted. The portal was the threat. Not MLB.