I was just looking at the clarion ledger all state 1st team. Only 3 or 4 are going d1. Several haven't committed and about 5 are going to juco. Some of the numbers they put up are staggering. With that said why would we get two Canadians one of which is 5'8 instead of some of these MS guys? Is baseball in the state not very good? One guy is hitting .495 seems like we could work with that.
Question for Todd and other baseball gurus
- Thread starter BrandonAcctgDawg
- Start date
Just go look on max preps. It is ridiculous. People need to learn how to keep books. With that being said, average is just a very tiny part of a reason Cohen would offer a kid.
One of those Canadians was drafted in the 31st round. Jacob Robson is supposed to be a big-time player. I also feel that if a guy's skills are good enough to be on the Canadian Select national team and drafted, he might be as good or better than some kid that plays in Mississippi and made all state. Also, the one that is 5-8 is ranked an 8.5 out of 10 on perfect game.com. That's not too shabby.
1. Not worried about height so much if the kid can play. Plenty of examples to give to support that. A smart fielder will figure out ways to compensate for his height, like moving in. Maybe he can jump. Who knows.<div>
</div><div>2. Like already said, can't just go by stats. I help in recruiting sometimes with soccer, and while I like to know ahead of time who I need to be watching, I really shouldn't need any stats to know who to pick and not. You can see what you need to if you've trained your eyes right. Cohen probably knows exactly what he likes, and he probably has an "eye test" guys have to pass. Along with other things- intangibles namely. But, I think if you do it right you can see enough of that stuff to make a decision as well. That's usually the most important part of an "evaluation" to me- talent is easy to see, and you usually see it quickly- a few minutes or so. The intangibles are the bread and butter IMO- how will this kid respond at the next level, are they a good teammate to have, work ethic, respect, etc.- all things that can determine potential (and usually do). Stats can't tell you that.</div><div>
</div><div>3. I agree, I'd like to make a team with a lot of MS guys if possible. Who knows those kids' situations, or if they passed the eye test. JUCO offers a chance to get drafted earlier and gives out more money. A lot of good players will go for those reasons. A lot of guys will go for grades. And, if they're good enough, they can still have a chance at State. JUCO is a pretty decent league to be in. I went to one and worked with the baseball team there, and it's surprising how much talent is really there, even if you know beforehand they have good talent.</div>
</div><div>2. Like already said, can't just go by stats. I help in recruiting sometimes with soccer, and while I like to know ahead of time who I need to be watching, I really shouldn't need any stats to know who to pick and not. You can see what you need to if you've trained your eyes right. Cohen probably knows exactly what he likes, and he probably has an "eye test" guys have to pass. Along with other things- intangibles namely. But, I think if you do it right you can see enough of that stuff to make a decision as well. That's usually the most important part of an "evaluation" to me- talent is easy to see, and you usually see it quickly- a few minutes or so. The intangibles are the bread and butter IMO- how will this kid respond at the next level, are they a good teammate to have, work ethic, respect, etc.- all things that can determine potential (and usually do). Stats can't tell you that.</div><div>
</div><div>3. I agree, I'd like to make a team with a lot of MS guys if possible. Who knows those kids' situations, or if they passed the eye test. JUCO offers a chance to get drafted earlier and gives out more money. A lot of good players will go for those reasons. A lot of guys will go for grades. And, if they're good enough, they can still have a chance at State. JUCO is a pretty decent league to be in. I went to one and worked with the baseball team there, and it's surprising how much talent is really there, even if you know beforehand they have good talent.</div>
You have to understand that Mississippi doesn't have a huge population and that thins out high school baseball at the lower levels. 5A and 6A are pretty strong and there are a few good private school teams, but outside of that it can get pretty thin overall.
In general- Mississippi is going to produce between 8-12 DI/draftable players a year. This year was typical to me.
P- Hunter DeVall- Going to LSU, grew up an LSU fan.
P- Taylor Olsen- JUCO. May very well have slipped through the cracks.
P/1B- Zach Irwin- JUCO because of grades, but signed with Ole Miss. D1 talent.
SS- Jay King- JUCO
3B/2B- Chase Nyman- signed with Ole Miss. D1 talent.
3B/P- Tyler Odom- JUCO
C/1B- Cort Brinson- walking at MSU. D1 talent.
Freakshow- Anthony Alford- Signed with Blue Jays.
OF- DJ Davis- Signed with Blue Jays, first round pick.
1B/OF- Bubba Keene- drafted by Marlins. Probably waited too late to sign with a D1 team.
C/2B/OF- Sam Walley- junior who will sign with a a D1 school.
OF- LaDarius Clark- D1 talent but has grade issues.
So, of the 12 guys on the All-State team, nine either signed or will with a D1 team or were drafted by MLB. A couple are going to JUCO because of grades. That doesn't include Jacob Shempert who should have also been on the All-State team and is going to ICC because of grades.
In general- Mississippi is going to produce between 8-12 DI/draftable players a year. This year was typical to me.
P- Hunter DeVall- Going to LSU, grew up an LSU fan.
P- Taylor Olsen- JUCO. May very well have slipped through the cracks.
P/1B- Zach Irwin- JUCO because of grades, but signed with Ole Miss. D1 talent.
SS- Jay King- JUCO
3B/2B- Chase Nyman- signed with Ole Miss. D1 talent.
3B/P- Tyler Odom- JUCO
C/1B- Cort Brinson- walking at MSU. D1 talent.
Freakshow- Anthony Alford- Signed with Blue Jays.
OF- DJ Davis- Signed with Blue Jays, first round pick.
1B/OF- Bubba Keene- drafted by Marlins. Probably waited too late to sign with a D1 team.
C/2B/OF- Sam Walley- junior who will sign with a a D1 school.
OF- LaDarius Clark- D1 talent but has grade issues.
So, of the 12 guys on the All-State team, nine either signed or will with a D1 team or were drafted by MLB. A couple are going to JUCO because of grades. That doesn't include Jacob Shempert who should have also been on the All-State team and is going to ICC because of grades.
The guys that we are getting are off of their national team. They play in wood bat tournaments- sometimes against MLB rookie level teams and other colleges.
Canada has a strong history of producing MLB players- Larry Walker, Russell Martin, Justin Mourneau, Joey Votto, Rich Harden, Jason Bay, and on and on.
We are getting these players because Cohen knows their head coach from his days at Kentucky. UK had a couple of Canadians on their team when he was the coach there, and I actually believe he first met their coach when he was the hitting coach at Florida.
We are recruiting Mississippi fine in my opinion. We should shoot for getting five of the top 8 players in my opinion a year. We are doing that for the most part. We are also recruiting the surrounding states pretty well- West Tennessee, Alabama, and Louisiana. What we are missing out on are the national type players from the big population states like Florida, Texas, Georgia, and California. I think we are recruiting these Canadians as a way to fill in that gap. We'll see how it works, but Robson was drafted in the 30th round and then we are getting Kyle Hann who was rated the 11th best player in Canada.
Canada has a strong history of producing MLB players- Larry Walker, Russell Martin, Justin Mourneau, Joey Votto, Rich Harden, Jason Bay, and on and on.
We are getting these players because Cohen knows their head coach from his days at Kentucky. UK had a couple of Canadians on their team when he was the coach there, and I actually believe he first met their coach when he was the hitting coach at Florida.
We are recruiting Mississippi fine in my opinion. We should shoot for getting five of the top 8 players in my opinion a year. We are doing that for the most part. We are also recruiting the surrounding states pretty well- West Tennessee, Alabama, and Louisiana. What we are missing out on are the national type players from the big population states like Florida, Texas, Georgia, and California. I think we are recruiting these Canadians as a way to fill in that gap. We'll see how it works, but Robson was drafted in the 30th round and then we are getting Kyle Hann who was rated the 11th best player in Canada.
Can they adjust..
Can they adjust to the 90+ degree heat for 6 months
Can they adjust to only seeing their family/friends back home a few weeks a year
On top of all the adjusting that comes along with just being a freshman in general..
I like getting two, because at least now they'll have someone to relate to. Seems like they'll have better odds together. Probably easier for them to adapt to MS than it would be to New Jersey or somewhere with a fster lifestyle.
Can they adjust to the 90+ degree heat for 6 months
Can they adjust to only seeing their family/friends back home a few weeks a year
On top of all the adjusting that comes along with just being a freshman in general..
I like getting two, because at least now they'll have someone to relate to. Seems like they'll have better odds together. Probably easier for them to adapt to MS than it would be to New Jersey or somewhere with a fster lifestyle.
Also, I don't think that we are asking them to be saviors immediately or anything like that. We should be able to develop them at a reasonable rate.
I think they will be fine as far as the weather- a lot of that is mental. February and March can be pretty cold in Mississippi. April usually isn't too bad.
I think they will be fine as far as the weather- a lot of that is mental. February and March can be pretty cold in Mississippi. April usually isn't too bad.
They will certainly get homesick at some point, but I don't think they will have a problem adjusting. I think the majority of Canadians would probably transition to the South pretty well considering the majority of Canada is rural and agriculture is king.
It is an interesting experiment of sort on Cohen's part, and I'm curious to see how it turns out. Both guys seem to be big-time players, and it would be cool if they pan out.
Todd, why do we struggle to land the national type recruits? Ole Miss seems to land them pretty regularly as do many other SEC schools, but we just can't seem to sign any of those type of recruits.
It is an interesting experiment of sort on Cohen's part, and I'm curious to see how it turns out. Both guys seem to be big-time players, and it would be cool if they pan out.
Todd, why do we struggle to land the national type recruits? Ole Miss seems to land them pretty regularly as do many other SEC schools, but we just can't seem to sign any of those type of recruits.
We don't land national recruits because we don't go after them IMO. More often than not, these guys go HIGH in the draft and never make it to school, thus all the time and energy spent recruiting them is a waste, and the need you were looking to fill goes MAJORLY unmet. Cohen has been quoted that he doesn't chase first-round high school talents but tries to find 5th-20th round type players.
What does OM have to show for their national #2 recruiting class this year? Other than looking good on paper...They lost their top 3 recruits to the 1st round of the draft and another in the top 6 to JUCO. Basically, that's still a good class(average for the Bianco tenure), but it failed to adequately address needs IMO because alot of the talent they recruited is not going to be there...and almost all of the best backup plans have long since signed elsewhere...
1. Before last season, we had three losing seasons out of four. Much like people on here, players wanted to make sure last year wasn't a fluke. Now that we are winning, we should start to see more top flight players coming in. Cohen didn't have top rated recruiting classes after he had two bad seasons there either. Right now we have two of the PG top 200 in Reid Humphries and Austin Sexton committed and Brent Rooker who was invited to the National Power Showcase in Miami. Humphries is actually in the top 50 I believe.
2. There are a lot of good options as far as SEC teams to go to besides us. We don't have the advantage of facilities and attendance. Scott and Cohen should take care of this going forward.
3. Our coaches don't always go by just Perfect Game ratings. We've gotten some guys that were drafted high in the MLB draft, but not rated in the top 200 by PG- such as Brandon Woodruff (5th round),Jacob Lindgren (12th round), William DuPont (16th round)- and then we've found some guys late in the game like Hunter Renfroe (26th round), Nick Flair (25th round), and Jacob Robson (30th round). I do agree with engie that we evaluate signability better than some of the other schools- at least the past year for sure. If our coaches think you can play, they will bring you on board.
2. There are a lot of good options as far as SEC teams to go to besides us. We don't have the advantage of facilities and attendance. Scott and Cohen should take care of this going forward.
3. Our coaches don't always go by just Perfect Game ratings. We've gotten some guys that were drafted high in the MLB draft, but not rated in the top 200 by PG- such as Brandon Woodruff (5th round),Jacob Lindgren (12th round), William DuPont (16th round)- and then we've found some guys late in the game like Hunter Renfroe (26th round), Nick Flair (25th round), and Jacob Robson (30th round). I do agree with engie that we evaluate signability better than some of the other schools- at least the past year for sure. If our coaches think you can play, they will bring you on board.
especially in certain areas of the state. 5 and 6a are pretty stout but even there most talent is bunched. for example, JPS schools are extremely weak, and a decent team within one of those districts can excel. then on the other end take new hope and oxfords division, probably 4 of the top 10 5a teams in the state are in that division. and a lot of good players in MS go the private school rout which can really inflate statistics. may have gotten a little off subject there but my point is that there are pockets of top tier baseball being played and at the same time some horrific baseball being played.