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tournament of stars/usa 18u tryouts


texas13

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Congrats that's a great experience.

Question, why does your brother play for some many different select teams? Heat, banditos, sun devils, evo shield, tri-state, marucci etc ?


Not trying to answer for D-20 but, Ethan is a talented player who main focus needs to be focusing on performing in the right opportunities...at this juncture it's all about his personal performance not so much team. In addition it's not select ball he is playing its showcase and that's kinda the point, but for the record, no matter the situation, Ethan is a competitor and enjoys playing like a team!
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Thats a good question. Ethan is a competitor and takes every opportunity he can to get to play. So when teams call him and ask him about pitching a weekend or two and they will pay for expenses(canes) then he is all for it. But this summer he will play mainly for the sun devils
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You are in the program when you play select baseball, Showcase is different. It is all about getting seen and getting your name out there. If you can go pitch for different teams and be seen by some of the best scouts, then at this level that is what you do. The more you get your name out there the better off you will be (that is if you are good enough)

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I have never seen the heat, kyle chapman,angels or sun devils pull that strategy, only the banditos. I'm not blaming the kids as I can see that angle if you are ok with being a hired gun...I just think its chicken *hit for a team to do it because you didn't build anything, you just hired or bought the team to win so you can post on your website about how many titles you have.

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Showcase and Select are programs designed to help kids, and at the same time be a profitable business. Winning those titles help to keep the pipe full of potential next level players. I know for a fact that everyone of those programs you mentioned uses PO's and in these big national tournaments they often have them fly in to pitch one game and then leave. Sometimes they will pay for transportation...dog eat dog world in baseball and it's starts being about business when your kid hits 14 to 15...the trick is keeping it fun and light hearted enough so ya don't burn them out!
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Yes he is and most of the lifers are too. lol. For the record my son does not play for the Banditos. That is just Rays Way. But most of the big organizations do it, not just the Banditos. When you get in to some of those really big tourneys, you have to have some extra pitching help. It is about winning so the pipeline never gets dried up.

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The heat might but the rest of those teams do not do that. Their rosters are posted from the get go. At a big tourney, such as WWBA in Georgia, they might pull a couple of extra pitchers from a lower level team but they are not flying in guys or recruiting guys from other teams to play.

 

 

Sun Devils fell yesterday to the Banditos/Dallas Tigers lol

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JoeBob...I have had ties to almost every team mentioned on this thread and at some point they have last second added pitching and or hitters...the idea is to win but not for the reasons of counting wins...the further you go in these big showcases the more scouts in attendance ...ie...more exposure for your player...more exposure equals more scholarships or maybe better daft possibilities. The business part is simple economics 101, the more signed or drafted equals more younger players in the pipe...everybody wants to be a winner. I realize you may be a purest at heart and that's cool but their is room for both purity and the more aggressive showcase world.
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JoeBob...I have had ties to almost every team mentioned on this thread and at some point they have last second added pitching and or hitters...the idea is to win but not for the reasons of counting wins...the further you go in these big showcases the more scouts in attendance ...ie...more exposure for your player...more exposure equals more scholarships or maybe better daft possibilities. The business part is simple economics 101, the more signed or drafted equals more younger players in the pipe...everybody wants to be a winner. I realize you may be a purest at heart and that's cool but their is room for both purity and the more aggressive showcase world.

 

Good post and very well said Bone. You have a definitive grasp of how these teams expose their players. It doesn't matter if it's called showcase, prospect, or select baseball. The focus is getting individuals noticed in a team setting. You'll see the more knowledgeable coaches at this level set up their teams defense and offense in ways to best compliment that one or two players that have scouts there to watch them at game time. I never see two games played with the same approach. The key is to stay in as many games as possible so all of your players, especially PO's, get time in the spotlight.   

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I understand that and totally agree with exposing your guys as much as possible. I don't agree with a having a "team" and then all of the sudden ray decides to fly in someone else to pitch instead of the guys on his team that have been with him all year. Again I understand from the players perspective, but from a team and parent perspective you have to see that the people that have been there for the long run getting shoved aside would not go over well. If you are just short pitching because you are on game 8 in 5 days in a huge national tourney ok but the banditos employ this every weekend big or small tourney just for the sake of posting another number on their website.

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JoeBob...I have had ties to almost every team mentioned on this thread and at some point they have last second added pitching and or hitters...the idea is to win but not for the reasons of counting wins...the further you go in these big showcases the more scouts in attendance ...ie...more exposure for your player...more exposure equals more scholarships or maybe better daft possibilities. The business part is simple economics 101, the more signed or drafted equals more younger players in the pipe...everybody wants to be a winner. I realize you may be a purest at heart and that's cool but their is room for both purity and the more aggressive showcase world.

 

I understand how the system works.Most all kids playing summer ball are looking for exposure. The amount and quality of that exposure depends on where you play (tournaments, not position) and how well you play when you're there. 

 

Where the problems arise are when you have parents paying for their son to be on a team and then that team brings in a "hired gun" for the weekend. That is just plain wrong. Some teams eliminate this issue by having "fully funded" teams, like the Sun Devils in years past (not sure how they are structured under Matt Thompson). In that situation, you perform, you play. Any time you're not happy with that arrangement, you are free to leave. 

 

Coaches at every level of the game have one concern-keeping their job/winning. Some keep their job by developing the players they have, others keep their job by always looking for a better player.  It's the responsibility of the parent to research which type of coach you will be playing for.

 

Good luck to you guys. College baseball is a cut-throat business.

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[quote name="joebob" post="1500149" timestamp="1403554424"]I have never seen the heat, kyle chapman,angels or sun devils pull that strategy, only the banditos. I'm not blaming the kids as I can see that angle if you are ok with being a hired gun...I just think its chicken *hit for a team to do it because you didn't build anything, you just hired or bought the team to win so you can post on your website about how many titles you have.[/quote

Really? When the Sun Devils were funded by Chip Ferguson, they had players flown in to tournaments from all over. Not to mention everything was free, doesn't that classify as being a hired gun?
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I have never seen the heat, kyle chapman,angels or sun devils pull that strategy, only the banditos. I'm not blaming the kids as I can see that angle if you are ok with being a hired gun...I just think its chicken *hit for a team to do it because you didn't build anything, you just hired or bought the team to win so you can post on your website about how many titles you have.


Showcase is just that. Put the men in front of scouts and let them show their stuff. The way it is a this level. Heat-KC-Angels-Banditos-Mizuno-Sun Devils. You can agree or disagree but look at the scholarships they get for these men. Bottom line, play at next level. After HS, it's all business

This is the one thing that burns my @$$ the most. "They" don't get scholarships for these kids. They provide an opportunity of playing in front of scouts. The kids are the ones who have to perform, and earn any scholarship they get. I can't stand when you hear organizations saying stuff like, we got this kid and this kid a scholarship here, as a recruiting pitch. Meanwhile, discounting all the countless hours of hard work and dedication the kids put into baseball to earn that scholarship. That's my biggest pet peeve with some organizations.
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[quote name="joebob" post="1500149" timestamp="1403554424"]I have never seen the heat, kyle chapman,angels or sun devils pull that strategy, only the banditos. I'm not blaming the kids as I can see that angle if you are ok with being a hired gun...I just think its chicken *hit for a team to do it because you didn't build anything, you just hired or bought the team to win so you can post on your website about how many titles you have.[/quote

Really? When the Sun Devils were funded by Chip Ferguson, they had players flown in to tournaments from all over. Not to mention everything was free, doesn't that classify as being a hired gun?

 

Definitely a "hired gun".  But, as a parent with a player on that team, you pay nothing. Therefore, if you have a problem with that, you are always free to leave. For the most part it is usually a pitcher or two. At some tournaments Perfect Game would ask if the team had a spot for a local player the scouts wanted to see play. That's just the way it goes. The Sun Devils provided national exposure. When they brought in "hired guns", that brought more scouts to their games. We're talking 3 or 4 tournaments-WWBA in Marietta, WWBA in Florida, and WWBA in Jupiter.FL in the Winter (maybe the largest scouting contingency I have ever seen).  They never claimed to "get" anyone a scholarship, they did provide every player with an opportunity to get noticed. I appreciate all that Mr. Ferguson and his staff provided my son. I know he had the talent and worked his behind off, but the opportunity they provided him is immeasurable.

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