Awesome that Mike Fox's son is coming to Rice. Mike was a good player and (is) a good guy.

I don't remember if anybody ever said if Shane Hoelscher was any relation to Derek H., who played with Mike Fox (and Curtis Fox and Bryan Foxx too).

So is this Fox family related to Matt Fox, who played for Rice from 1998-2001?

(08-05-2011 09:32 AM)mrbig Wrote:  So is this Fox family related to Matt Fox, who played for Rice from 1998-2001?

Matt is Blake's uncle and his high school coach.

(08-05-2011 11:09 AM)louismcc Wrote:  

(08-05-2011 09:32 AM)mrbig Wrote:  So is this Fox family related to Matt Fox, who played for Rice from 1998-2001?

Matt is Blake's uncle and his high school coach.

Crizazzle!

(08-05-2011 11:09 AM)louismcc Wrote:  

(08-05-2011 09:32 AM)mrbig Wrote:  So is this Fox family related to Matt Fox, who played for Rice from 1998-2001?

Matt is Blake's uncle and his high school coach.

Matt also coached at Fort Bend Baptist for a couple of years if I remember. Traver had switched from there to Houston Christian last year (as a Junior), so I would guess that Matt was his coach at some point? A lot of ties with Rice and these young players..

In case you don't have access... I split the thread to smack. This thread is stickied so we can keep up with our recruits... not so people with agendas can further them here. This is not a place to bash recruits or recruiting... even those who decide to go elsewhere.

Five days until the commencement of Freshman O-Week, and six days before the August 15th signing deadline, has anyone heard/read anything regarding the leanings of McFarland? I believe he is the only guy in play at this point (either from the incoming recruitment class or amongst our draft-eligible players)? Thanks in advance.

(08-09-2011 09:08 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Five days until the commencement of Freshman O-Week, and six days before the August 15th signing deadline, has anyone heard/read anything regarding the leanings of McFarland? I believe he is the only guy in play at this point (either from the incoming recruitment class or amongst our draft-eligible players)? Thanks in advance.

This morning Jim Callis at Baseball America tweeted that the Brewers signing McFarland was "iffy" in response to a question from a Brewers fan.

(08-09-2011 10:10 AM)Volente Beach Owl Wrote:  

(08-09-2011 09:08 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Five days until the commencement of Freshman O-Week, and six days before the August 15th signing deadline, has anyone heard/read anything regarding the leanings of McFarland? I believe he is the only guy in play at this point (either from the incoming recruitment class or amongst our draft-eligible players)? Thanks in advance.

This morning Jim Callis at Baseball America tweeted that the Brewers signing McFarland was "iffy" in response to a question from a Brewers fan.

Thanks...that's encouraging. BTW, according to Kendall and Perfect Game, it appears that Josh Bell is going to matriculate at UT in Austin. HUGE get for the Longhorns, and will likely immediately become their best hitter (not that that's saying much).

The fact that McFarland is "still weighing his options" (per JD's blog posting yesterday) is not a good sign at this late juncture, with O-Week scheduled to start on Sunday. I could be reading too much into this, but if he's still weighing his options at this point, it indicates he's ready to turn pro if Milwaukee ups the ante a bit (as teams invariably do at the 11th hour). I hope I'm wrong, as this would be a HUGE loss, especially so late in the process, without any chance of bringing in a late signing.

In other news, UT may not only land Josh Bell on campus, but according to Kendal, talks between the Yankees and Stafford have broken down, and it now appears likely Stafford will return as a weekend starter for the Longhorns.

(08-11-2011 08:25 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  The fact that McFarland is "still weighing his options" (per JD's blog posting yesterday) is not a good sign at this late juncture, with O-Week scheduled to start on Sunday. I could be reading too much into this, but if he's still weighing his options at this point, it indicates he's ready to turn pro if Milwaukee ups the ante a bit (as teams invariably do at the 11th hour). I hope I'm wrong, as this would be a HUGE loss, especially so late in the process, without any chance of bringing in a late signing.

It would be a loss, but certainly not a huge loss, given our existing depth in the infield and the 2012 infielders that we have verbals from -- Tekyl, Byrd, and Theiss -- all of whom are highly regarded.

(08-11-2011 08:34 AM)Volente Beach Owl Wrote:  

(08-11-2011 08:25 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  The fact that McFarland is "still weighing his options" (per JD's blog posting yesterday) is not a good sign at this late juncture, with O-Week scheduled to start on Sunday. I could be reading too much into this, but if he's still weighing his options at this point, it indicates he's ready to turn pro if Milwaukee ups the ante a bit (as teams invariably do at the 11th hour). I hope I'm wrong, as this would be a HUGE loss, especially so late in the process, without any chance of bringing in a late signing.

It would be a loss, but certainly not a huge loss, given our existing depth in the infield and the 2012 infielders that we have verbals from -- Tekyl, Byrd, and Theiss -- all of whom are highly regarded.

VBO, I'm not sure where/why you keep talking about our "existing infield depth"? Not counting McFarland, we've got Hoelscher (#1 on 3B depth chart), Hamilton (#1 on SS depth chart), Stringer (2B) and Ratterree (2B, 1B, OF). Fuda and Cook can each play 2B in a pinch. That's not exactly depth in 2012.

(08-11-2011 08:43 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  VBO, I'm not sure where/why you keep talking about our "existing infield depth"? Not counting McFarland, we've got Hoelscher (#1 on 3B depth chart), Hamilton (#1 on SS depth chart), Stringer (2B) and Ratterree (2B, 1B, OF). Fuda and Cook can each play 2B in a pinch. That's not exactly depth in 2012.

We also have incoming freshmen:
Carter Burgess
Ford Stainback
Shea Pierce

Of these, I think Burgess is the most highly regarded pre-Rice.

(08-11-2011 08:51 AM)Volente Beach Owl Wrote:  

(08-11-2011 08:43 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  VBO, I'm not sure where/why you keep talking about our "existing infield depth"? Not counting McFarland, we've got Hoelscher (#1 on 3B depth chart), Hamilton (#1 on SS depth chart), Stringer (2B) and Ratterree (2B, 1B, OF). Fuda and Cook can each play 2B in a pinch. That's not exactly depth in 2012.

We also have incoming freshmen:
Carter Burgess
Ford Stainback
Shea Pierce

Of these, I think Burgess is the most highly regarded pre-Rice.

As I said, that's not much depth in the infield, and virtually no experienced depth; especially if Rat is moved to 1B or OF.

(08-11-2011 08:57 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(08-11-2011 08:51 AM)Volente Beach Owl Wrote:  

(08-11-2011 08:43 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  VBO, I'm not sure where/why you keep talking about our "existing infield depth"? Not counting McFarland, we've got Hoelscher (#1 on 3B depth chart), Hamilton (#1 on SS depth chart), Stringer (2B) and Ratterree (2B, 1B, OF). Fuda and Cook can each play 2B in a pinch. That's not exactly depth in 2012.

We also have incoming freshmen:
Carter Burgess
Ford Stainback
Shea Pierce

Of these, I think Burgess is the most highly regarded pre-Rice.

As I said, that's not much depth in the infield, and virtually no experienced depth; especially if Rat is moved to 1B or OF.

OK, so I'm curious as to where you think McFarland will play in his first season?

(08-11-2011 09:00 AM)Volente Beach Owl Wrote:  

(08-11-2011 08:57 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(08-11-2011 08:51 AM)Volente Beach Owl Wrote:  

(08-11-2011 08:43 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  VBO, I'm not sure where/why you keep talking about our "existing infield depth"? Not counting McFarland, we've got Hoelscher (#1 on 3B depth chart), Hamilton (#1 on SS depth chart), Stringer (2B) and Ratterree (2B, 1B, OF). Fuda and Cook can each play 2B in a pinch. That's not exactly depth in 2012.

We also have incoming freshmen:
Carter Burgess
Ford Stainback
Shea Pierce

Of these, I think Burgess is the most highly regarded pre-Rice.

As I said, that's not much depth in the infield, and virtually no experienced depth; especially if Rat is moved to 1B or OF.

OK, so I'm curious as to where you think McFarland will play in his first season?

IMO, he'd compete with Hamilton for the starting SS spot.

One issue that may keep Milwaukee from substantially upping their offer to McFarland is that they still haven't signed their 1st 2 picks (at least according to Baseball America). If that's true Milwaukee may want to conserve as much budget as possible to sign Jungmann (1st round) and Jed Bradley (Ga Tech - 2nd round) - thereby making them reluctant to offer McFarland much.

(08-11-2011 04:19 PM)CoatzaOwl Wrote:  One issue that may keep Milwaukee from substantially upping their offer to McFarland is that they still haven't signed their 1st 2 picks (at least according to Baseball America). If that's true Milwaukee may want to conserve as much budget as possible to sign Jungmann (1st round) and Jed Bradley (Ga Tech - 2nd round) - thereby making them reluctant to offer McFarland much.

And McFarland is one of their lower picks. However, Kendall has been reporting that though chances are that Jungmann will eventually sign, Bradley has given strong indications about returning to school for his Senior year.

We also have incoming freshmen:
Carter Burgess
Ford Stainback
Shea Pierce

Of these, I think Burgess is the most highly regarded pre-Rice.
[/quote]

I think Shea Pierce is going to Sam Houston with his dad.

(08-11-2011 05:27 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  is one of their lower picks. However, Kendall has been reporting that though chances are that Jungmann will eventually sign, Bradley has given strong indications about returning to school for his Senior year.

If that's true (& who really knows), I guess Milwaukee will be more inclined to throw $ at Bradley than McFarland. The fan base is much more likely to be critical of Milwaukee management if they lose the #15 pick than if they lose the 18th round pick.