Baseball portal is open

[Jeff Howe]

Jason Flores to the portal.

[AZ Longhorn]

2 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

Jason Flores to the portal.

The writing has been on the wall for all of these guys so far

(With the possible exception of Courville—I really hoped we'd give him a chance and spend that cash elsewhere, but that was just wish-casting, given what we know about Jim and catchers.)

The biggest surprise to me is how long it's taken them to enter. I'm impatient for the churn! 

But for some reason, the baseball portal is just much slower overall. Remembering from last year: Leffew and Larsen were post-Cape additions, and Pendergrass was a spring enrollee. All were contributors this year. Not that I want us to repeat that per se, and be left scrambling after the draft in a month, but it does add some perspective. 

[Blake Munroe]

1 hour ago, AZ Longhorn said:

The writing has been on the wall for all of these guys so far

(With the possible exception of Courville—I really hoped we'd give him a chance and spend that cash elsewhere, but that was just wish-casting, given what we know about Jim and catchers.)

The biggest surprise to me is how long it's taken them to enter. I'm impatient for the churn! 

But for some reason, the baseball portal is just much slower overall. Remembering from last year: Leffew and Larsen were post-Cape additions, and Pendergrass was a spring enrollee. All were contributors this year. Not that I want us to repeat that per se, and be left scrambling after the draft in a month, but it does add some perspective. 

Had a note on catchers in today’s insider notes , fwiw. 

As for the portal being slow, I agree… but also remember the team had to get back from Omaha, get situated, have player meetings, etc. Every team at the CWS is running behind compared to the rest of the schools out there. 

You’re definitely at a clear advantage when it comes to the portal when you aren’t in Omaha, that’s for sure. 

[UTexas]

 

[Realist Horn]

52 minutes ago, UTexas said:

 

Not sure he's looking for a part-time spot, but we could use the depth. Probably pricy. 

[UTexas]

 

[UTexas]

 

[Jeff Howe]

3 hours ago, Realist Horn said:

Not sure he's looking for a part-time spot, but we could use the depth. Probably pricy. 

Likely very pricey.

[CJ Vogel]

intriguing option.

[Assistant Regional Manager]

4 hours ago, Realist Horn said:

Not sure he's looking for a part-time spot, but we could use the depth. Probably pricy. 

In a 34-man roster era, almost all depth is going to have to come from your HS class.

The days of the bench being stacked with guys that would start at other SEC schools are over.

[Jeff Howe]

According to Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, Texas has commitments from the No. 1 (Armstrong), No. 4 (Garcia) and No. 18 (Solitaria) prospects among his top 60 prospects in the transfer portal.

 

[CJ Vogel]

21 hours ago, CJ Vogel said:

intriguing option.

Costello's brother committed to South Carolina five days ago. He's on campus at SCar now,

[Jeff Howe]

7 minutes ago, CJ Vogel said:

Costello's brother committed to South Carolina five days ago. He's on campus at SCar now,

For Gamecock baseball, hiring Paul Mainieri was the equivalent of self-imposed probation. They’ll be better with just about anyone else leading the way.

[JMarquette]

43 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

According to Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, Texas has commitments from the No. 1 (Armstrong), No. 4 (Garcia) and No. 18 (Solitaria) prospects among his top 60 prospects in the transfer portal.

 

@Jeff Howe are you surprised we haven’t signed any pitchers yet?

[Jeff Howe]

2 hours ago, JMarquette said:

@Jeff Howe are you surprised we haven’t signed any pitchers yet?

No. They’re in a better position than most with Volantis and Cozart. What they need and who they target depends on how they project guys like Crossland, Winter and Walls.

[AZ Longhorn]

30 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

No. They’re in a better position than most with Volantis and Cozart. What they need and who they target depends on how they project guys like Crossland, Winter and Walls.

... and on how much of the committed high school class makes it to campus. Some of those guys are real dudes.

We're golden at the top, our needs are with the roles after our aces. For the spots around Walls/Winter/Crossland/McKernan, if possible I'd prefer high upside freshmen (who eventually turn into Volantis'es and Cozarts at the top of your rotation) over mercenary portal pickups. Let's save any pitching cash to put together good offers to the high school class and see who we can get to campus. If we do worse than expected there, we can throw cash at some portal guys in late July or early August (remember Leffew, for example, was a post-Cape commit last year—those guys exist). 

Edited 44 minutes ago by AZ Longhorn

[Jeff Howe]

2 minutes ago, AZ Longhorn said:

... and on how much of the committed high school class makes it to campus. Some of those guys are real dudes.

We're golden at the top, our needs are with the roles after our aces. For the spots around Walls/Winter/Crossland/McKernan, if possible I'd prefer high upside freshmen (who eventually turn into Volantis'es and Cozarts at the top of your rotation) over mercenary portal pickups. Let's save any pitching cash to put together good offers to the high school class and see who we can get to campus. If we do worse than expected there, we can throw cash at some portal guys in late July or early August (remember Leffew, for example, was a post-Cape commit last year—those guys exist). 

The key thing to remember in this portal cycle is that Texas doesn't want to get burned by the draft. The staff took Moroknek and (more so) Freeman at their word last year and got left holding the bag. They had a connection with Ashton Larson through Nolan Cain and scrambled to find Pendergrass, which ended up being pretty important last-minute pickups.

[AZ Longhorn]

2 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

The key thing to remember in this portal cycle is that Texas doesn't want to get burned by the draft. The staff took Moroknek and (more so) Freeman at their word last year and got left holding the bag. They had a connection with Ashton Larson through Nolan Cain and scrambled to find Pendergrass, which ended up being pretty important last-minute pickups.

Good point, thanks. After the trauma of last year, they may be less likely to save money for competing against professional offers, even it if lowers our ceiling. "One in the hand is better than two in the brush"

The other piece of context I'm fascinated by is the likelihood of an MLB/MLBPA lockout and work stoppage. Does that looming possibility send more HS draft picks to college this year than otherwise? 

[Jeff Howe]

17 minutes ago, AZ Longhorn said:

Good point, thanks. After the trauma of last year, they may be less likely to save money for competing against professional offers, even it if lowers our ceiling. "One in the hand is better than two in the brush"

The other piece of context I'm fascinated by is the likelihood of an MLB/MLBPA lockout and work stoppage. Does that looming possibility send more HS draft picks to college this year than otherwise? 

Probably not, because Minor League Baseball should continue to operate independently of MLB, even in the event of a lockout. Contracts for draftees will be finalized long before the CBA expires and unless they're on a 40-man roster, they shouldn't be impacted by a work stoppage.

[Texansarebetter]

@CJ Vogel any word on INF targets? Do you know what the plan is for 2B and 1B? Assuming borba comes back and Mendoza goes pro. Thanks!! 

[Hornmatic]

31 minutes ago, AZ Longhorn said:

... and on how much of the committed high school class makes it to campus. Some of those guys are real dudes.

We're golden at the top, our needs are with the roles after our aces. For the spots around Walls/Winter/Crossland/McKernan, if possible I'd prefer high upside freshmen (who eventually turn into Volantis'es and Cozarts at the top of your rotation) over mercenary portal pickups. Let's save any pitching cash to put together good offers to the high school class and see who we can get to campus. If we do worse than expected there, we can throw cash at some portal guys in late July or early August (remember Leffew, for example, was a post-Cape commit last year—those guys exist). 

Just remember that “high upside freshman” also include guys like Bryce Navarre, Drew Rerick, and Jason Flores. 

[Jeff Howe]

Just now, Texansarebetter said:

@CJ Vogel any word on INF targets? Do you know what the plan is for 2B and 1B? Assuming borba comes back and Mendoza goes pro. Thanks!! 

Not CJ, but Texas is on the hunt for a middle infielder. I haven't heard the exact plan regarding first base.

[CJ Vogel]

4 minutes ago, Texansarebetter said:

@CJ Vogel any word on INF targets? Do you know what the plan is for 2B and 1B? Assuming borba comes back and Mendoza goes pro. Thanks!! 

Haven’t heard a specific target just yet