re: LSU Baseball 2026 (and beyond) Recruiting Thread

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Additionally, Schmidt is not a top 10 prospect. He was #45 on mlb.com.

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Miso wasnt highly rated either, did not get drafted in the 5 round draft back in 2020, came back and signed for $2.35M 2 years later after essentially 1 year of any production at JUCO

In the end, there arent a ton of datapoints to go in because frankly not a ton of particularly highly rated kids ever do go the JUCO route, it doesnt mean there arent datapoints in the past saying it isnt a route someone cant be successful with though.

Some kids, like Miso, can take pretty large leaps especially during that kind of time frame. Look at how some kids come in here and look at end of year 2 sometimes.

Curiel came here because he really wanted college, but I bet if he went JUCO he would have probably signed for a large amount after just 1 year there too (maybe not $6M exactly, who knows, but certainly a large sum of money).

In the end, just not a ton of datapoints, but when someone is looking for the fastest route to a large MLB contract after not getting over like $1.5M offers initially out of high school, that route is not best suited to lock yourself in for 3 years at a d1 place. Technically speaking you can spend 1-2 years in JUCO and be eligible each year and might not have to wait 3 years to get what you want. Doesnt mean it will always work out, but also doesnt mean it wont work out either, but thats the fastest way to get yourself back into the draft for a someone who wont be 21 by the end of their sophomore year. I do think it's a difference pitch to a DES than it is to someone who has to be locked in for 3 years. It sounds a bit silly, but a year can make all the difference, especially being eligible with leverage for at least 2 years in d1, not just 1.

Keep in mind the promises being made are quite a bit different to a guy like this from LSU's end and a JUCO's end. Sure, we can pay him a nice comfortable amount to come here, but we can make no guarantees with playing time. We care about winning first and foremost and if he someone doesnt have it, they wont pitch much, flat out. Any JUCO out there would sell a weekend rotation spot and for him to pitch as much as he wants there by comparison.