2021 Baseball Season Stuff

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Given the money is relatively low and given how erratic Vasil was this past season, it seems like there is some chance he’ll return to UVa in 2021-2022 in the hope of improving his pitching and being picked higher in the draft. What do you think, Karl?

Since he’s got two years of eligibility left (1 + his COVID freebie), there’s certainly a chance. Odds are against it, but this is one to watch. The two years gives him extra draft leverage where he can come back and not have no eligibility after next season thus being subject to a paltry bonus offer.

Will come down to how much money the Mets offer, his personal goals, and how much additional development he thinks he can get at UVA.

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College baseball coaches of high level teams have maybe the hardest job of roster building of any coach of any sport at any level. 11.7 scholarships to split among a 27 man roster. Recruit too good of a player and you risk losing him to the pros. Or a recruit might get drafted and decide to come to school. Your juniors and draft eligible sophomores might get drafted and leave or they may stay. You’ll find out sometime in August. After the transfer portal eligibility deadline of course.

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Need some trash talking ammo. Whats the tally of UVA vs Vah tek players drafted?

4 to 1 I believe.

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Muhahahaha! :smiling_imp:

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You know a Hokie honestly trying to compare the two programs as some sort of equals?

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I’d never seen VT play baseball until this season. True story, I assumed they didn’t have a team, or just recruited the Dixie League All stars and hoped for the best

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Getting picked here is probably a sign that the Rockies will try to sign Kent.

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Now 5 to 2 Hoos.

Make that 5 to 3.

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First 100k doesn’t count against the pool, right?

First $125k.

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Post Draft 2022 Roster Math Update

Normally, your roster is 35 players max.

In 2021, it was unlimited. We had 38.

In 2022, it’s 40.

So we’re 2 under to start.

5 players (Channing Austin, Jacob Baldino, David Coppedge, Connor Hincks, and Tate Ballestero) are in the transfer portal.

So we’re 7 under the limit now.

We have a 15 player first year recruiting class. We have 2 known JUCO transfers. We have 2 known non JUCO transfers.

Now we’re 12 players over the limit.

Let’s update what we know / expect for players leaving or not entering the program via the draft or probable retirements.

  1. Stephen Schoch (said his goodbye on Twitter).

  2. Logan Michaels (previously said his goodbye on Twitter and signed as an undrafted free agent with the Orioles).

  3. Kyle Whitten (signed as undrafted free agent with the Rays).

  4. Benny Montgomery (expected to sign with Rockies).

  5. Shane Panzini (expected to sign with Royals).

  6. Andrew Abbott (expected to sign with Reds).

  7. Zack Gelof (expected to sign with A’s).

  8. Mike Vasil (expected to sign with Mets).

  9. Nic Kent (expected to sign with Rockies).

  10. Zach Messinger (expected to sign with Yankees).

  11. Griff McGarry (expected to sign with Phillies).

So we’re just about at the limit with known and expected additions and departures (1 player over).

Still unaccounted, and they may not make any formal declaration if they’re simply returning to UVA, are: Bales, Neeck, Kosanovich, Rivoli, Tappen, Lebreux, Ortiz, Hlinka, Hamrock, Price, and Sullivan.

Getting to 40 or under will be easy. There’s still probably room for additional players to transfer in as well depending on how things shake out with the group of juniors and seniors whose status we don’t yet know.

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Damn Karl… Good Stuff… the roster turnover is a bit insane… I am thinking with the extra year that this was not ordinary?

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Thanks Karl, Am I right in assuming we are going to have a big talent drop off for next year. That was a great lineup we lost to the pros. I probably don’t know what I’m talking about so what do you think next years team is going to look like? Will we be contenders?

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There’s always some to a good deal of roster turnover every season in college baseball.

It’s going to take place at the top of the roster with your best veterans (draft) and with the bottom of the roster (young guys that aren’t a fit for the level or want to be somewhere they can start, and vets that are out of eligibility).

The key is to keep the churn out of the middle of your roster where young talent is bubbling up into your next wave of stars and you’re developing the rest of your key contributors.

Any guy on a roster should be viewed as a three-year player. That means they’ve had a good enough career to be drafted high enough to get a good offer after their draft eligible third season. That is a win for the team and player.

Fourth / fifth year guys are ideally limited to special circumstances.

The turnover across the board is a little higher than normal but that can be expected. You’ve got the free transfer in play. And you had 2020 draft guys stay an extra year (like Abbott) because MLB only held a 5 round draft in 2020 plus the free Covid year back from the NCAA.

There’s still a bit of a glut of those guys, hence the still expanded roster size in 2022.

And while that extra year resulted in some extra turnover at the top of our roster (probably still a little yet to come), it worked out because it paid off our excellent 2020 season start with a 2021 CWS trip.

We’ll still get a couple key vets back from the yet to be accounted for list. But some will also move on.

I’m also not sure we’re done with additions. Another pitcher or two wouldn’t shock me. And I think the staff is trying to find a veteran catcher, transfer or JUCO, to play the position part time while backing up and mentoring Teel and the two young first year catchers entering the program this fall while giving Teel some breathers from behind the plate on occasion.

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McGarry, Kent, and Panzini have all signed their pro contracts now.

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