This is their last chance to get any money. If they come back next year as seniors, they'll have zero leverage and the bonus will be about 10k.

Yes. They'd be extremely misguided to consider coming back. Would make no sense

Munz reports that Fred Franklin is going to play at USM.

RIP Hunter Slater.

Now that I think about it, if Braley leaves, there should be room for Slater.

Apparently he might play 1st next year.

I would guess that Slater might move to 1st, Reynolds will play 3rd. Outfield of Franklin, Wallner, Irby, and Keating. Montenegro could also contribute. Boyd or Keys at Shortstop. Guidry at second primarily, although I wish he could move somewhere like 3rd because his defense at second isn't great. Hoard will be a 1B/DH. Position player wise, not a whole lot of question marks. Should be pretty good again there. Pitching wise, not so much. Every role is up for grabs there.

(06-14-2017 12:50 PM)BeagleUSM Wrote:  Now that I think about it, if Braley leaves, there should be room for Slater.

So the strikeout totals on offense will not suffer.

(06-14-2017 09:30 AM)Reggie Favre Wrote:  

(06-14-2017 08:39 AM)Eagleholic Wrote:  For their own good, they both should probably go if they want to pursue MLB. Braley is slotted to get over $250k and McCarty is slotted to get just under $180k.

That's not really all that much. Could be better to finish school now and play another year. Perhaps they do better next year and get just as much of a signing bonus, or more. Of course, they could also flop next year. I wouldn't blame them for signing but, its not like its a $2 million bonus. Would depend a lot on the annual salary amount.

A signing bonus like that puts them into a higher end tax bracket. They'll actually get about 50% of that and I'm assuming any agent they have would get a cut. So after it's said and done, Braley would pocket probably just under $100,000 and McCarty probably about $60,000. In other words, you're right, it's not much money. Don't get me wrong, I wish I'd have had that coming right out of college. I'm sure these guys have financial advisers giving them advice, at least let's hope.

Not sure what I'd do. They have a solid reason to leave and a solid reason to stay. I just have this gut feeling they're gone. Like I said before, if you win an amazing 50 games and can't even get out of your own regional....wtf are you doing? If they'd have gotten one play away from Omaha I'd understand the "unfinished business" argument. But they didn't even get out of their own regional....I'd lean to leaving.

Burdeaux to Detroit in the 20th round

(06-14-2017 01:07 PM)Eagle9 Wrote:  I would guess that Slater might move to 1st, Reynolds will play 3rd. Outfield of Franklin, Wallner, Irby, and Keating. Montenegro could also contribute. Boyd or Keys at Shortstop. Guidry at second primarily, although I wish he could move somewhere like 3rd because his defense at second isn't great. Hoard will be a 1B/DH. Position player wise, not a whole lot of question marks. Should be pretty good again there. Pitching wise, not so much. Every role is up for grabs there.

With that many left handed bats, how many lineup slots does Berry plan on rotating?

Question on Wallner that I kind of asked earlier in the year before realizing how great of a hitter he was. We probably haven't ever had a pitcher with his raw talent. I don't know what this would entail but if he focused most of his energy on pitching on the offseason and in practice, how good do you think he could be on the mound? Obviously, way too good of a hitter to take out of the lineup, so not suggesting that. But it's a lot harder for us to find elite pitching than elite hitting.

That's complicated. If he comes back next year throwing 96 again, he doesn't need a lot of work. He's gonna be pretty good. He'll be a shut down reliever for multiple innings. If he comes back at 91 like he was late in the year, his future is hitting with spot relief appearances here and there. And honestly, there isn't much "focusing" on pitching as one might think. I'm sure he'll continue to throw bullpens just like the rest of the pitchers, but he'll spend most of his time with the hitters. That's because, in all honestly, pitchers don't do that much.

To be honest, when people ask questions about a player (Roney comes to mind) "focusing" on pitching, I kind of chuckle inside. Because pitchers spend the majority of their time working on fielding their position, team defense, running, and shagging balls in the outfield. There really isn't that much time devoted to getting better at pitching. Sounds weird, but I've seen and been around a lot of baseball, and it's pretty much that way everywhere. A pitcher can only realistically throw off a mound 2 or 3 times a week at most.

In football, a receiver can work on beating press coverage every single day a million times a day if he wants. In basketball, a shooter can work on shooting off the dribble as much as he wants. But a pitcher can only spin so many curveballs a day. On a typical day a college pitcher will show up to practice and stretch with the team. He might toss for about 10 minutes to warm up and then throw a flat ground, with his throwing partner playing catcher about 45 feet away. He'll throw about 15-20 pitches mixing in all his pitches, with the majority being fastballs. So he'll throw maybe 5 or 6 breaking balls. Then they'll join the rest of the team for the rest of practice, which will usually consist of defensive drills and batting practice. So in 3 hour practice, a pitcher will typically spend about 20 minutes tops working on pitching. And that's on a good day. If he just pitched the day before or is pitching the next day, he may not even pick up a ball.

In general, baseball is the most inefficient sport when it comes to practice time/productivity. I've always thought of it like this: If football and basketball are 70% talent and 30% coaching, then baseball is 90% talent and 10% coaching. Simply put, it's a players game.

(06-14-2017 01:36 PM)eaglenjxn Wrote:  

(06-14-2017 01:07 PM)Eagle9 Wrote:  I would guess that Slater might move to 1st, Reynolds will play 3rd. Outfield of Franklin, Wallner, Irby, and Keating. Montenegro could also contribute. Boyd or Keys at Shortstop. Guidry at second primarily, although I wish he could move somewhere like 3rd because his defense at second isn't great. Hoard will be a 1B/DH. Position player wise, not a whole lot of question marks. Should be pretty good again there. Pitching wise, not so much. Every role is up for grabs there.

With that many left handed bats, how many lineup slots does Berry plan on rotating?

Question on Wallner that I kind of asked earlier in the year before realizing how great of a hitter he was. We probably haven't ever had a pitcher with his raw talent. I don't know what this would entail but if he focused most of his energy on pitching on the offseason and in practice, how good do you think he could be on the mound? Obviously, way too good of a hitter to take out of the lineup. But it's a lot harder for us to find elite pitching than elite hitting.

It makes me wonder if we would try having Wallner strictly DH and pitch? With Braley he would usually "just" DH the Sunday games if he pitched on Saturday as his arm was dead. With Wallner DHing only, it would allow him to concentrate fully on pitching and hitting....and this way he could get fully warmed up in the bullpen instead of trying to warm up between innings and then his routine 8 pitches once he comes into the game

The problem with DHing Wallner is that really hurts his draft stock as a hitter. They're not drafting a DH that high. He needs to show that he can play the field. Preferably somewhere besides first base.

Signee Kyle Keith drafted by the Rangers. 22nd round.

(06-14-2017 01:49 PM)usm99 Wrote:  It makes me wonder if we would try having Wallner strictly DH and pitch? With Braley he would usually "just" DH the Sunday games if he pitched on Saturday as his arm was dead. With Wallner DHing only, it would allow him to concentrate fully on pitching and hitting....and this way he could get fully warmed up in the bullpen instead of trying to warm up between innings and then his routine 8 pitches once he comes into the game.

The SUNWACUSA coaches of the year will figure all that out Chief.

(06-14-2017 01:46 PM)Eagle9 Wrote:  That's complicated. If he comes back next year throwing 96 again, he doesn't need a lot of work. He's gonna be pretty good. He'll be a shut down reliever for multiple innings. If he comes back at 91 like he was late in the year, his future is hitting with spot relief appearances here and there. And honestly, there isn't much "focusing" on pitching as one might think. I'm sure he'll continue to throw bullpens just like the rest of the pitchers, but he'll spend most of his time with the hitters. That's because, in all honestly, pitchers don't do that much.

To be honest, when people ask questions about a player (Roney comes to mind) "focusing" on pitching, I kind of chuckle inside. Because pitchers spend the majority of their time working on fielding their position, team defense, running, and shagging balls in the outfield. There really isn't that much time devoted to getting better at pitching. Sounds weird, but I've seen and been around a lot of baseball, and it's pretty much that way everywhere. A pitcher can only realistically throw off a mound 2 or 3 times a week at most.

In football, a receiver can work on beating press coverage every single day a million times a day if he wants. In basketball, a shooter can work on shooting off the dribble as much as he wants. But a pitcher can only spin so many curveballs a day. On a typical day a college pitcher will show up to practice and stretch with the team. He might toss for about 10 minutes to warm up and then throw a flat ground, with his throwing partner playing catcher about 45 feet away. He'll throw about 15-20 pitches mixing in all his pitches, with the majority being fastballs. So he'll throw maybe 5 or 6 breaking balls. Then they'll join the rest of the team for the rest of practice, which will usually consist of defensive drills and batting practice. So in 3 hour practice, a pitcher will typically spend about 20 minutes tops working on pitching. And that's on a good day. If he just pitched the day before or is pitching the next day, he may not even pick up a ball.

In general, baseball is the most inefficient sport when it comes to practice time/productivity. I've always thought of it like this: If football and basketball are 70% talent and 30% coaching, then baseball is 90% talent and 10% coaching. Simply put, it's a players game.

I know they can't pitch much in practice....but how much was Wallner throwing this year? Was it 2-3 times? I'm sure he would be fine with little work on the mound as a reliever. But we need starting pitchers (especially if both Braley and McCarty go), and it definitely seems like he has the stuff to be one.

Since you brought up Roney: How much was he throwing off the mound during the week when he was here? If he wasn't throwing off the mound much, he damn sure could have used the work.

Roberts taken in the 34th round by the Rockies.

Some notable draft picks....

CBA, 35 - Brent Rooker, Mississippi State 1B/OF (Twins)
CBB, 74 - Zac Lowther, Xavier LHP (Orioles)
3, 101 - Brett Netzer, Charlotte 2B (Red Sox)
5, 152 - Glenn Otto, Rice RHP (Yankees)
6, 169 - Zach Rutherford, Old Dominion 3B (Rays)
6, 179 - Taylor Braley, Southern Miss RHP (Marlins)
6, 185 - Dane Myers, Rice RHP (Tigers)
7, 210 - Brewer Hicklen, UAB OF (Royals)
7, 219 - Colton Laws, Charlotte RHP (Blue Jays)
7, 222 - Kirk McCarty, Southern Miss LHP (Indians)
10, 303 - Randy Bell*, South Alabama RHP (Mariners)
10, 306 - Rob Calabrese, Illinois-Chicago C (Giants)
11, 321 - Ryan Gridley, Mississippi State SS (Athletics)
13, 381 - Wyatt Marks, UL-Lafayette RHP (Athletics)
13, 388 - Tristan Gray, Rice 2B (Pirates)
15, 465 - Jared Young, Old Dominion 2B (Cubs)
16, 487 - Raphael Gladu*, Louisiana Tech LF (Mets)
17, 524 - Tyler Ratliff, Marshall 3B (Rangers)
18, 542 - Garrett Whitlock, UAB RHP (Yankees)
18, 551 - Dominic LoBrutto, FIU RHP (Red Sox)
20, 605 - Dylan Burdeaux*, Southern Miss 1B (Tigers)
21, 626 - Nate Harris*, Louisiana Tech RHP (Rockies)
21, 634 - Jake Dahlberg*, Illinois-Chicago LHP (Cardinals)
22, 674 - Kyle Keith, Lane CC RHP (Rangers)
23, 694 - Evan Guillory, UL-Lafayette RHP (Cardinals)
24, 721 - Alex House, FAU RHP (Astros)
25, 750 - Tyler James, William Carey CF (Royals)
26, 779 - Gunner Leger, UL-Lafayette LHP (Marlins)
29, 864 - Brent Diaz, Louisiana Tech C (Brewers)
30, 900 - Adam Bainbridge*, Old Dominion LHP (Royals)
30, 902 - Jake Mangum, Mississippi State CF (Yankees)
34, 1016 - Hayden Roberts, Southern Miss RHP (Rockies)

*senior

Could have been worse in terms of who we lost draft-wise

our two best pitchers and our two best offensive players is pretty bad

Bordeaux was a senior. We were losing him anyway.