re: LSU Baseball 2021 (and beyond) Recruiting Thread - OLD THREAD

LINK

Tiger Rag writeup on JUCO commit Gause

Project, Correct me if I'm wrong, but since the MLB draft was moved to July, that changed the eligible date and now Milazzo is a draft eligible sophomore, correct?

Yeah. Milazzo is the only one for LSU whose draft eligibility changed.

Another summer league assignment has popped up: Augustus Milligan will play in the South Florida Collegiate League for the Delray Beach Lightning.

Yeah, it's replacing the Appalachian League. It's supposed to draw incoming Freshmen and Rising Sophomores, which would leave rising Juniors and up for the Cape League.

With the draft pushed back, I think you'll see more draft eligible guys playing in the summer to raise their stock, but this is still going to undercut the Cape Cod League.

The new league will be a continuation of the MLB's PDP league. I'm still conflicted on it. I know it will be good competition and instruction for the players that go to it, but it's giving Rob Manfred control over another aspect of baseball and taking away from some of the good things that already existed.

In general I think what manfred is doing to baseball is bad for the game long term. He’s essentially organized a hostile takeover of the minor leagues, forced contraction against the wishes of many front office people, and is expanding MLBs reach into the amateur side.

A lot of this isn’t designed to help baseball be better, but to help it be cheaper for the owners, who make money hand over fist.

I don’t think the minor league system was perfect, but cutting 42 teams from it and putting caps on how many minor league teams a franchise could have are more harmful than helpful. He placated a few cheap owners and homogenized everything.

He’s also taking professional baseball away from some areas that don’t have major league teams anywhere near them, which is going to limit the growth of baseball and baseball fans in general. Basically looking to save a buck today by cutting off the opportunity to earn a lot more later.

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I’ve thought for years now that the minor league system was too bloated. I’m not informed with exactly how Manfred shaved teams off but I’m not mad at the idea. The fewer minor league players the more college players. It sucks for the fans of those particular teams but I’ve long wanted to see more high school talent find their way to college.

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I don't necessarily disagree that the minor leagues were bloated, but I disagree with putting a cap for each team on the number of affiliates they could have. If the Yankees want to pay to have 12 affiliates, that should be okay. The Rays obstinance to paying for minor league affiliates should affect anyone other than the Rays. That's what I mean by homogenization. They're taking away the ability for franchises to pursue development on their own terms.

Manfred targeted mainly teams with stadium issues or leagues with older stadiums and small attendance. But in the process he's also reformed the player development contracts between MLB and MILB and set up for a future where MILB owners can be forced out for MLB owners to take their place. Some of the MILB realignment is needed, especially geographically, but strong-arming MILB owners into selling their player development contracts is a dishonorable way of going about things.

And there is a concerted effort to push more HS talent to college. It's because the MLB teams don't have to pay for their development in college, but it also means they don't hit free agency until they're older and less valuable. So it's a way for them to save a buck on the front end and on the back end.

According to PBR he’s the top uncommitted kid in that class in LA. Looks like it’s a loaded class for the state. We are recruiting him, along with several other Barbe kids in different classes.

He committed on Twitter