Weekly 3-2-1 Transfer Portal Edition
Navigating a confusing world of college sports.
It's that time of year folks.
The time of year when every college player who is not getting exactly what they want in a college baseball program jumps into the Portal and hopes for greener grass on the other side.
Unfortunately, a lot of people who shouldn't transfer are transferring, and a lot of people who should transfer aren't either.
I wouldn't say I'm necessarily “anti” transfer portal, as I was recruited by two college coaches that took other jobs before I got to campus, and I ended up being cut/told to transfer by the coaching staff.
But I also wouldn’t say I think the Portal is a total positive, I think it has created a lot of issues, especially when you pair it with NIL/Paying players it becomes increasingly tricky for low budget programs to compete with their higher budget counterparts.
This is however the world we live in, and such is life.
Mainly, there are 3 “Buckets” that players fall into in regard to the portal.
1: Player that is not happy and wants to leave.
2: Player that Plays a lot but thinks they are better than the program.
3: Player that gets told to leave.
Each bucket has different solutions to the transfer portal equation, and needs to evaluate themselves and their situation accordingly.
Bucket 1:
These types of players usually didn't get enough innings, don't view their coaches as valuable to their long term career or think that they would suddenly become a better player if they were around coaches who were doing a better job.
While it would be pretty wild for me to say that the coaches you have don't have an impact on their performance, it is pretty crazy at times to see all of the people who believe that any other schools pitching coach will see directly eye to eye with them on everything and immediately make them better as a player.
Now. If you know for a fact that without a doubt the coach you are jumping ship to will make you a much better player, then you should probably go for it. But this all too often turns into a “grass isn't greener” scenario. You pick out a new school, with another pretty average pitching coach who doesn't really do that great of a job, and you don't have anything to show for it other than a new closet of college gear and another year being new to a program.
Bucket 2:
This is probably my least favorite part of the transfer portal/NIL era, but I think it provides a lot of opportunities for players to get the most out of their careers. I know countless players who weren't good enough to play for their dream school directly out of HS, but with some late blooming and player development it is often now that they are able to have outstanding freshman years and then jump on a higher opportunity if they earn one.
Again, I hate that schools that find potential in a young player are getting punished for finding/taking a chance on said player, but I think the last of restrictions on player transfers are a net positive for the baseball environment as a whole.
I personally know of multiple players who were benched at low level division 1 schools despite outlier talents, only to transfer to prime time SEC/ACC schools that took a chance on them. Many of these players catapulted themselves into higher draft stocks and tons of professional success.
There are plenty of reasons why players would jump to greener grass, unfortunately it is a business decision in a lot of cases. It's hard to fault players (who do have the tools/talent) for betting on themselves and daring to compete at a higher level than they do right now.
Bucket 3:
This one is the kicker. Everyone loves to talk trash about the players who hop in the transfer portal but no one likes to talk about grown adults making 4 year promises to children, and then going back on their word after those children show up and have a tough freshman year.
When I went to my first college I was 17. I showed up on campus and had to have my mother sign forms allowing me to compete in athletic activities at the collegiate level. This school was a bigtime SEC school that has won a College World Series. Within 9 months of me showing up I was redshirted and told to leave. My scholarship was *illegally* taken away from me and I was told to find a new home. This is part of the game, not some sob story, but before you get on social media and act tough telling kids not to transfer and crying about how unfair it is to your team/school, just remember the 3-5 kids that get told to pack their bags every year by their own coaches.
Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to break down what players want/need and how to make decisions in the portal.
Speaking specifically for pitchers, there isn't much that you need in order to make the most out of your career, it really comes down to a few things.
Someone to help make you a better player: This could be a pitching coach, it could be a mentor or a pitching trainer from the private area, but ideally you have someone who has the main goal of nothing other than your career and best interests in mind. Unfortunately, this is rare to find in a pitching coach as they have the job of babysitting 15 other pitchers.
Opportunity: You need to be able to showcase your abilities in a competitive setting. When I was at NC State, we had a pitcher who was previously drafted out of Junior College but chose to come to NCSU. This pitcher struggled during the season and got benched from his starting role. Towards the second half of the season, he started showing some promise again in bullpens and was given a midweek start against a lesser opponent and then some action in relief in not pivotal settings of conference games. This player ended up getting drafted again because he was able to showcase his talent despite struggling. It is important to know that “Opportunity” looks different for everyone.
Spotlight: This is sort of mentioned in my previous point, but being able to showcase your abilities to scouts in some sort of manner allows you opportunities to build rapport and let them see you in all sorts of forms. If you get scouts 1x a year and don't pitch well, it'll be hard for them to come back. This doesn't mean you have to go to a massive school, as points 1 and 2 mean more than this, but it is important to have some outlet to get your information out there.
With these three things, there really isn't a need to go anywhere else. But there are a lot of instances in which your situation has a few of them but not all, or it “kind of” has all 3 but doesn't really have anything special.
Not all three of these needs are equal, I would rank them in the order I listed them. Someone with a vested interest in making you the best player you can be is the most important. The second most important being the ability to gain opportunities, and the lowest of the three being primetime spotlight.
Now, while the most important facet is there for a reason, it's important to know that if you don't have that at your own school, that you don't necessarily need to jump ship in order to find it. There are plenty of places to find someone that prioritizes you higher than the rest. Here, we mentor/advise dozens of college players who come to us for advice and guidance on their career, talent and training. It doesn't *have* to be your coach at school.
While your coach at school is a big factor, it's important to know that as long as the coach is not a huge negative, it's probably not that big of a detraction from your experience/play. If you are a pitcher who takes care of his own business, coaches will generally let you do what you need to do. Don’t go and jump ship from a coach who is “fine” and believes in you, you might just find your next coach is worse. *** People drastically overestimate the quality of coaching at big schools.***
Now, it's important to know that there are levels to all of this. I write from the perspective of an athlete who viewed college as a primary vehicle to advance my professional baseball career. I did however snake my way into a degree from a solid school and a free Masters Degree.
Some of these factors do not take into account the opportunities that are had at some schools.
For example:
Please for the love of God don't leave Harvard because your pitching coach sucks. Keep your degree and spend your day finding outside help and trying to create common ground.
If you are choosing between two identical schools, and the cost of one is way lower than the other, that is a huge factor.
If you get to play for a school like Duke or Vanderbilt and have the chance to stay, stay. You need to figure it out on your own how to make the most of it. These schools check all the boxes and you don't need to be a huge success. Just throw hard and throw enough strikes to get innings and some professional team will take you. If you throw really good stuff and get 15 innings with mediocre results you will get 100k in the draft. Don't ditch a priceless education to go throw 10 more innings for a bad educational school.
Again, everyone is going to have different situations, needs and perspectives. But the main points remain the main points. Don’t overthink it, in the end your career will be defined by the work you put in and the school you choose is just something that will help/hurt that, it isn’t the outright defining factor.
Good Luck,
John