Per John Cohen

[Todd4State]

and BDJ- we are going to have 39-44 guys competing for spots on next years roster. The thing that I thought was eye popping was having possibly 10 walk-ons.

Here are the guys that are being Cohened- Nappi, Hayes, Tyler Johnson while Hollinghead will grad. in Dec and won't be on the team (Germans), and Forrest Moore will sit out (Germans). It also appears as if Micheal Busby and Justin Bussey may be out.

I have heard that Houston will have to walk-on.

Some guys on the still undecided list- Duffy, Jarrod Parks, Bowen, Ryan Powers, and Adkins. Duffy surprises me here.

Of the guys that appear to be definately coming back, there was one that really stood out to me- Caleb Reed. Does not mean that anything is guaranteed. I will also say that Reed also played the OF in HS and could possibly switch positions. Cody Freeman is another guy that stands out to me because of rumors that he was leaving, but it appears as though that is not the case. Also on the definately coming back list- Routt (SHOCKING!), Sneed, Butler, Brownlee, Ryan Collins, Pace, Devin Jones, and Rawdow.

Gentleman, we are going to have a new baseball team next year.

 

[Todd4State]

and BDJ- we are going to have 39-44 guys competing for spots on next years roster. The thing that I thought was eye popping was having possibly 10 walk-ons.

Here are the guys that are being Cohened- Nappi, Hayes, Tyler Johnson while Hollinghead will grad. in Dec and won't be on the team (Germans), and Forrest Moore will sit out (Germans). It also appears as if Micheal Busby and Justin Bussey may be out.

I have heard that Houston will have to walk-on.

Some guys on the still undecided list- Duffy, Jarrod Parks, Bowen, Ryan Powers, and Adkins. Duffy surprises me here.

Of the guys that appear to be definately coming back, there was one that really stood out to me- Caleb Reed. Does not mean that anything is guaranteed. I will also say that Reed also played the OF in HS and could possibly switch positions. Cody Freeman is another guy that stands out to me because of rumors that he was leaving, but it appears as though that is not the case. Also on the definately coming back list- Routt (SHOCKING!), Sneed, Butler, Brownlee, Ryan Collins, Pace, Devin Jones, and Rawdow.

Gentleman, we are going to have a new baseball team next year.

 

[War Machine Dawg]

that Adkins is on the "maybe" list. I figured he was a lock, considering he was a JUCO transfer and would be a senior next season. Not to mention he's pretty good defensively and probably has the best arm of any current OF. But some of the OF will have to go to make room for guys like Runey Davis. I'm assuming Davis is coming since he was drafted higher coming out of HS & was looking to be picked in the top 10 rounds this year.

 

[bulldogcountry1]

I'd really like to see Duffy in a uniform next year. He's got a good stick and always seemed to be a good spark plug during pre-game. I just don't know where he fits into the puzzle defensively.

That brings me to Freeman. He had a promising freshman season and played his way into the regular lineup late this year, but I doubt he gets much time behind the plate in the future. Both he and Duffy will have to start cathing fly balls because we can't have 5 DHs.

Pace showed some potential if he can get healthy.

Sneed will have a good senior season.

I was a little disappointed in Collins after the season he had last year. I don't know if he had injuries, but he was a far cry from 08.

Long story short: If guys like Butler, R. Powers, Houston, and Bowen still get a lot of PT next year, then we're going nowhere.

 

[basedog]

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Some guys on the still undecided list- Duffy, Jarrod Parks, Bowen, Ryan Powers, and Adkins. Duffy surprises me here.
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who he wants from that list. Probably they were told to try-out and they don't know if they want to compete or not. JMO

 

[bulldogcountry1]

Of the 15 pitchers, only 5 look to be on the list as likely returners:

Routt, Whitney, Jones, Pace, Reed

The leaves Houston and Bowen on the iffy list (whether they go or stay).

Going by BDJ, as best I can tell, there are 10 signees listed as pitchers. A couple or three others could possibly do both, but let's not count those right now. You have to think that half of the invited walk-ons are pitchers too.

With the returners and signees alone, we're back at 15 again already. We'll likely have 20+ guys competing for 15 spots this fall.</p>

 

[MSUArrowCS]

Are you just not a fan of his suspect fielding? Personally, I willing to settle for a .945 fielding percentage if it's from a switch-hitter with a .335 average. I've always thought he looked like a LF ... but just curious if I'm missing something.

 

[Mstate11]

So Tyler Johnson has been shown the door?

 

[ScoobaDawg]

either JUCO or back with Dady..I mean Polk.
Really hurts for him since he redshirted last season...and will have to sit another if he transfers D1

 

[ScoobaDawg]

on the "I neverwant to see him on our field again" crowd.
Between the average fielding and his in-ability to listen to coaches (when you get thrown out at 3rd..and they say don't do it again..and you do it twice more that same game)
I have seen enough of him.

 

[ScoobaDawg]

I'm not feeling its very likely at all Duffy will be back, he does not care for Cohen
and is NOT a good catcher at all, remember he got pulled mid-inning earlier this year
and never caught or very rarely did again.
If he comes back, its only because its hard to transfer now..because you have to sit for a year.

Cody will have a chance to move to 1b/of if he comes back, which signs indicate he will.

Collins had injuries till mid-way through the season i believe, 08 was a pleasant surprise from him.

 

[bulldogcountry1]

I'm not willing to "settle" anymore.

I like his effort, but he's just not that good.

 

[Todd4State]

with Jet Butler, it's the lack of defense, and even worse, his baserunning skill are horrible. And I'm being sheepish when I say horrible. That's why when I heard Jet mentioned as a possible draft pick, I was like "Why?" I thought maybe the scouts had seen something that I didn't.

Edit to say, I could maybe put up with Jet if he hit .350 with 20 home runs, but that isn't the case. He's not a bad hitter, in fact it's the strongest part of his game, but it doesn't overcome his lack of defense and baserunning skills. Heck, I could even overlook the bad defense if he ran the bases halfway decently. Essentially, he would be Russ Sneed if that were the case.

 

[Todd4State]

he will go JUCO. He would still have the option of going to UAB if he wanted to and he could potentially expose himself to other good programs.

But Cohen hasn't cut anyone yet. The ones that have left have left on their own. He won't cut anyone until the end of fall practice, I guess.

 

[independencebowlmainstay]

with Jet Butler, it's the lack of defense, and even worse, his baserunning skill are horrible. And I'm being sheepish when I say horrible. That's why when I heard Jet mentioned as a possible draft pick, I was like "Why?" I thought maybe the scouts had seen something that I didn't.

Edit to say, I could maybe put up with Jet if he hit .350 with 20 home runs, but that isn't the case. He's not a bad hitter, in fact it's the strongest part of his game, but it doesn't overcome his lack of defense and baserunning skills. Heck, I could even overlook the bad defense if he ran the bases halfway decently. Essentially, he would be Russ Sneed if that were the case.

I was told that a few organizations like him, but would like to move him behind the plate. They think his arm would play there better, and he could be a Russell Martin type guy there. No, Im not saying he is Russell Martin, but that is the type of player some organizations envisioned him being. Mayber Cohen could put him there in the Fall. You need a C, so it couldn't hurt to try.

 

[Coach33.sixpack]

Looking at these teams in Omaha, we would not even touch them in talent. We would not even touch Southern Miss in talent. All these teams have caught up with us and most have surpassed us. I don't see our pitching being any better next year. That's just looking at what Todd posted.

 

[8dog]

Parks and wants to give him a shot at 3rd.

 

[Wooderson]

we are not light years away. you doom and gloom people are very ignorant when it comes to college baseball.

I guess you haven't noticed in that-there college world series that many of the top performers have been true freshmen.

 

[Todd4State]

is going to be our catcher. Not that I feel real good about that. I hope that Cody Freeman gets a look there again because like I've said before, I don't think Cohen has seen him healthy. I don't think Freeman is that bad defensively when he is healthy. My only saving grace I have about Thigpen is transferred to Meridian CC after committing to LSU, so at least he was wanted by a top notch program.

As far as Butler being moved to catcher, I've seen crazier things happen. He wouldn't be any worse there than he is at second base. It's just so hard to get past his baserunning though.

 

[8dog]

there is a chance R. Powers doesn't return. Also, Vickerson's fielding % this year in juco was .898. That's atrocious.

So we need someone to play 2nd. Having someone that hit above .300 in conference isn't a horrible option.

 

[Todd4State]

because of that.

I just hope he figures out how to hit.

 

[Todd4State]

prefer Ryan Powers to Jet. Especially with the offensive improvements that Ryan made. If he continues to improve offensively, and hits .300 with a couple of home runs and solid defense, I would take that any day.

Hopefully Ryan will put up with Cohen for another year.

 

[patdog]

I tried to tell you people back in February that the overall talent level on this team was Divison II talent at best and not many believed me. The pro draft pretty much proves that I was right. We can turn it around with good recruiting, but remember that although there are a few true freshmens playing well in the CWS, in every case they're not completely carrying the team. Those teams all have damn good soph-jr-sr talent as well. And we just don't.

 

[Todd4State]

but your point remains.

I think a mass purge is probably the right thing to do in the long run. Yes, we're going to have a ton of Fr. pitchers next year, and heck, maybe even a Fr. catcher if Kolby Byrd steps up and does well, and I'm sure they will struggle at times, but I don't think they will struggle as badly as the pitchers last year. I'm also not a big fan of JUCO's, but again, I don't think what Cohen is doing by recruiting a lot of them is a bad idea in this case either. They should provide at least a little bit of maturity and at least a good many of the JUCO's are guys that played at other legit D-I programs like Texas before going JUCO.

Like I said last year- Cohen's first year was going to be his "establishment year". This next year is going to be his rebuilding year.

 

[8dog]

or maybe he's just a typical juco.

He is hitting really well in the summer league he is playing with Adkins in. Don't know anything about the pitching in that league.

 

[Wooderson]

we have alright talent in the batting order. I believe many MSU fans are getting their feeling hurt because of what Ole Miss and USM are doing, so they throw out the no-talent. and while it's true we don't have the players we used to, our season came down to pitching. we had zero depth. Shore that up and we're in the regional this season. Just one or two more guys, heck, even just Ricky Bowen.

with our signed recruiting class we are closer than many think. We have potential this next year and especially the year after that.

 

[patdog]

Like I said last year- Cohen's first year was going to be his "establishment year". This next year is going to be his rebuilding year.

This year wasn't even a rebuilding year. Polk recruited every player on this year's team. Cohen never had the chance to even begin to try to recruit for 2009. Next year will be a rebuilding year. The earliest we even have a chance to be competitive is 2011, and if we're competitive by then Cohen deserves serious consideration for SEC coach of the year.

 

[Coach33.sixpack]

Like I said last year- Cohen's first year was going to be his "establishment year". This next year is going to be his rebuilding year.

This year wasn't even a rebuilding year. Polk recruited every player on this year's team. Cohen never had the chance to even begin to try to recruit for 2009. Next year will be a rebuilding year. The earliest we even have a chance to be competitive is 2011, and if we're competitive by then Cohen deserves serious consideration for SEC coach of the year.

Todd is not saying this was a rebuilding year. He said this was an establishment year and next year will be the rebuilding year.

 

[patdog]

I was just reemphasizing the point that he made.

 

[Todd4State]

it's really not so much talent as it is attitude. Cohen has an attitude of "let's win" and most of the players have an attitude of "let's all have a good college experience", even though many of our players improved. But I think a lot of the offensive improvement credit has to go to Cohen. He's just a really good hitting coach, if nothing else.

At the same time, our pitching was so atrocious that I think there were some other things that were overshadowed. Defense comes to mind. We certainly could improve there. Baserunning also comes to mind as well. Our position players as a whole are not very athletic, but many of them are decent enough hitters, some even had some pop in their bat, and so some of their other deficiencies get overlooked at times.

It's really easy to do that when you score 16 and give up 17.

Heck, our best position players except for Conner Powers were walk-ons- Hogue and DeLoach.

As far as me, I'm not really concerned with USM or UM as much as I am getting our program straight. If they do well, they do well. If we take care of our business we'll be fine.

 

[BillBraskyDOG]

My sources tell me he is not well liked on and off the field and cant hit SEC pitching. The fact that the staff likes him makes me very uneasy.

 

[Todd4State]

My sources tell me he is not well liked on and off the field and cant hit SEC pitching. The fact that the staff likes him makes me very uneasy.

His teammates or the coaches? Both?