re: how does LSU baseball look next year?

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Is their any chance that Eierman makes it here next year?

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Of course their is. Eierman could go anywhere from the 2nd round to not being drafted at all. He's a speical talent...ran the 60 yard dash in roughly 6.4 seconds.

If ever makes his way to campus I have a feeling he'll be play similar to the way JC Holt did for the Tigers.

Cave and Story are also out of state commitments however I'd put a 35% chance in keeping those two.

Oops, my bad. I meant to put Bourgeois on Weekday and Eades on Sunday.

CajunFootball might be related to Bourgeois. That's the second pro-Bourgeois post he's made recently.

Dude was pretty bad.

LSU-Eunice got us with another one.

Thanks for Rhymes, though.

Never met the guy in my life. Like I said previously, I had him listed in the wrong spot. He isn't our best option, but he is experienced. He's going to instantly help the bullpen an could get a few weekday starts(Got 2 wins against Tenn and Bama last year).

People that denigrate Ross forget that he had absolutely no upperclassman at his position to help him with the transition. Gibbs had Ochinko to take the pressure off of him. Ross had Snickeris and Slaid, two other first time D1 guys. It's a tough transition, he's going to be much better next year.

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maybe we can actually get lucky with the draft this year. fricking ucla gets cole, tcu gets purke, florida gets whitson, etc.

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We faired great with the draft this past year.

great? losing lee, leblanc, and cecchini hurt

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great? losing lee, leblanc, and cecchini hurt

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We still had the number 1 or 2 class after they were gone. Losing Leblanc, Cecchini, Southall and whatever happened to Davis did hurt though. They all could have possibly started this year.

Davis and Koziol. Koziol would have been another arm and another guy to try at first. Davis could have competed in the outfield.

C - Ross gets the first crack at it, but if Tyler Moore or Evan Powell show something in preseason don't be surprised if they move him out. Ross can't hit .225 again and hold that job down on a day-to-day basis. I wouldn't expect Slaid and Snikeris back next year (though they might park Slaid at Eunice and see if maybe they can bring him back in 2013).

1B - They don't have the guy they need at this position yet. Dozar and Edwards didn't produce, Bruno looks iffy. And this business of using 1st base as a catch-all position where you just dump somebody who can't win a job elsewhere simply doesn't cut it. You need a legit 1st baseman; when you have one, you win.

2B - No reason to move Jones, though they might. I'd rather have him here than Hanover, if for no other reason than that if you can't get better than .310 with ZERO home runs out of your 3rd baseman you're in trouble. Barrios could help here or at third depending on Hanover or Nola leaving. Rhymes is another possibility.

SS - If Nola stays, one imagines he keeps this job. Hitting .285 with no power ain't gonna cut it, though. If Nola goes out, Barrios or maybe Jones should be able to handle this.

3B - Hanover needs to be replaced if he can't perform a LOT better than he did this year. Ray is an intriguing option given that he hit for both a high average and power the two years he played JC ball (and in high school as well). Rhymes, Barrios and Jones are all decent options here as well. Or even Tasin, who when he's not pitching could maybe help here or at third.

RF - Katz was fine here. No reason to change him.

CF - If Cave or Eierman get here, they'd work in center. Both seem to have enough stick to help us. Cave might be a better fit in left or right than center, but Eierman would be a huge get for this position. If we can't get him, this guy Fields or Terrance Magee are the next best bets.

LF - Watkins has to be replaced. A new hitting coach could maybe get enough out of Edward to make him worthwhile here, or if Cave makes it to school he'd be fine in left.

DH - Rhymes did fine at DH, but they need to find some more power for the middle of the lineup, particularly with Mahtook gone. I expect him to move to the field somewhere next year. Moore hit 16 homers in 35 games at Dunham; if he doesn't push Ross out of the way behind the plate maybe he could be an option. Or maybe Ray would work here. Or Bruno, if he's any good.

Weekend - It would be easy to just go Gausman-McCune-Eades again, and you'd have a good rotation. But they need more left-handed pitching, so if Glenn can make it here, maybe you can end up with a Gausman-Glenn-McCune rotation and that would free Eades up to be a Jared Bradford-Louis Coleman type closer.

Weekday - I'm going to say some of the freshmen will factor in here. Maybe Baranik, maybe Nola, maybe Aaron Johnson or possibly the Bonvillain guy from Delgado.

Long/Middle Relief - We're going to need to find some help here, because what we had was awful this year. Dykstra's likely to get drafted in the middle rounds and go pro, I'm not sure what they're going to do with Broussard and Peterson, and they're going to have to find somebody with more stuff than Chris Cotton. Nick Goody is a very intriguing guy here, and Mitch Hopkins might be worth looking at if he can get healthy.

Setup/Closer - I expect Ott to get drafted and go pro, and after what Grewe has done to develop him I'll wish him well. He didn't develop anything to go with that slider he had as a freshman for two years and he lost his ability to reliably get people out as a result. Which is a coaching issue. But with him gone, you have a guy in Rumbelow who has the stuff to be a quality setup man or closer IF HE GETS COACHED. You have Berry, who has one pitch he can throw and who needs to be something less than THE setup man. This guy Tasin, who maybe could be a contributor on the field somewhere as well, isn't a bad option. Baranik could be a guy. And if somebody like Glenn or Bonvillain can give us a left-handed weekend starter, Eades might be your real answer.

Anyway, that's what I've got. I think there's enough talent to stop sucking. But Mainieri had better go find a hitting coach and a pitching coach we can win with. The two we have have dragged this program into the dirt.