Close family friend's son has been a commit to the Good Guys since 9th grade. When Schloss fubared, the staff made sure to tell him he still belonged here (tu offered him to follow Schloss), then he recently got to dress out and take his individual team pic etc. Two days later told he doesn't have a spot anymore. I know we have an immediate need at catcher and to wait a year for this kid to come onto the scene is hard but feel for him.

Had a kid at UH get cut on the day of move in. It seems like baseball is the one sport that really has to be cut throat to compete nowadays

Negative. Aggie commit from 9th grade to last week (senior hs). Went to Aggieland on an invite to try on new uniforms and take individual pics along with other commits. Cut two days after that visit.

Schloss told kid he had a spot for him at tu but kid said he's an Aggie. New staff called him after schloss departure to reaffirm their commitment to him as well.

Hes a catcher and was told they picked up another due to immediate need

austinrb10 said:

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Negative. Aggie commit from 9th grade to last week (senior hs). Went to Aggieland on an invite to try on new uniforms and take individual pics along with other commits. Cut two days after that visit.

Schloss told kid he had a spot for him at tu but kid said he's an Aggie. New staff called him after schloss departure to reaffirm their commitment to him as well.

Hes a catcher and was told they picked up another due to immediate need

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Are you referencing Bear - the CA catcher we took out of the portal this summer? I think he was freshman of the year out of his Cali conference.

That stuff is going to happen now with condensed rosters, draft, few minor league teams, etc. Kids at the mid level D1s can move up after a year or two. They are going to take incoming freshman spots.

ColoradoMooseHerd said:

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So he is in High School? If that is accurate, he did not get cut. Rather it sounds like the coaches were being honest with him early in the process of his senior year. Player still has plenty of options at this point.

Maybe the coaches will come back around but sounds like they have given him a lot of time to make a decision.

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. Yes it sounds like they rescinded his offer.

not as much the portal but coaching changes and title Ix which makes so few scholarships for baseball. Better players are in College baseball since the draft has been reduced to 20 rounds.

austinrb10 said:

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Close family friend's son has been a commit to the Good Guys since 9th grade. When Schloss fubared, the staff made sure to tell him he still belonged here (tu offered him to follow Schloss), then he recently got to dress out and take his individual team pic etc. Two days later told he doesn't have a spot anymore. I know we have an immediate need at catcher and to wait a year for this kid to come onto the scene is hard but feel for him.

Had a kid at UH get cut on the day of move in. It seems like baseball is the one sport that really has to be cut throat to compete nowadays

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Was he a scholarship player or preferred walk on? As a former PWO at a Big 12 school, I can tell you that stuff happens quite frequently. Never to me, but there was at least one guy per fall that wouldn't make it to the spring.

Sorry been trying to get packed up for Aggieland……yes, I guess I should rephrase that his offer was rescinded than cut. He was a scholarship player.

Both parents (Aggies and UH) recently told us that the teams are going to have 14-17 pitchers. So, there won't be depth at each field position. That they will simply bring in utility players that can play just about anywhere on defense. Obviously, it worked well for us after Montgomery was hurt.

Get the logic especially with the upcoming formats. It just stinks to see how cutthroat it is for players firsthand. I was naive to it

austinrb10 said:

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Sorry been trying to get packed up for Aggieland……yes, I guess I should rephrase that his offer was rescinded than cut. He was a scholarship player.

Both parents (Aggies and UH) recently told us that the teams are going to have 14-17 pitchers. So, there won't be depth at each field position. That they will simply bring in utility players that can play just about anywhere on defense. Obviously, it worked well for us after Montgomery was hurt.

Get the logic especially with the upcoming formats. It just stinks to see how cutthroat it is for players firsthand. I was naive to it

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It cuts both ways. Kids who have been committed for 2+ years decommitting too.

It sucks since he's pretty clearly a red-ass Aggie that he won't have the offer from A&M anymore but the increase to 34 full scholarships while keeping rosters at 34 will probably improve the game and increase parity. Lots of kids like this one will end up at a program like Lamar or DBU or even lower-tier P5 programs (especially in the BigXII and Big10) and improve their programs.

Arms are definitely at even more of a premium now.

TarponChaser said:

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One question I've always asked and never gotten an answer when these stories come up, is how can a school/program do this? If you've signed a national letter of intent, that is a binding contract (for at least one year) for the school to pay a certain amount of scholarship money. Obviously that varies by sport and player but if the kid is signed and didn't do anything to violate those terms like fail to handle their classwork and can't meet NCAA requirements or admission or do something stupid/criminal off the field just being able to upgrade that spot to a different player is not a valid reason to yank a scholarship.

Or, is this a kid who has been committed but hasn't signed yet?

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A signed NLI is a binding contract but from the players perspective it's not possible to enforce it to the full extent of its intent. A player can hold the program to the contract in terms of monetary value but they have no recourse when it comes to being on the team. So when a school decides they no longer want a commit they tell him there is no place for him on the team and if he wants to play baseball he needs to go somewhere else. The player has the option to enforce the scholarship, not be on the team, and attend classes as a regular student. Hardly any players ever do this.

TarponChaser is spot on. That is exacly what is happening out there.

My son is a 2026, who is being recruited in the current environment.

Pitchers are top priority, then utility players or 2 ways

TarponChaser said:

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TAMU1990 said:

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austinrb10 said:

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Negative. Aggie commit from 9th grade to last week (senior hs). Went to Aggieland on an invite to try on new uniforms and take individual pics along with other commits. Cut two days after that visit.

Schloss told kid he had a spot for him at tu but kid said he's an Aggie. New staff called him after schloss departure to reaffirm their commitment to him as well.

Hes a catcher and was told they picked up another due to immediate need

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Are you referencing Bear - the CA catcher we took out of the portal this summer? I think he was freshman of the year out of his Cali conference.

That stuff is going to happen now with condensed rosters, draft, few minor league teams, etc. Kids at the mid level D1s can move up after a year or two. They are going to take incoming freshman spots.

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It's unfortunate but unless a kid is a stud on the level of a LaViolette or Montgomery or Grahovac coming out of HS these days the opportunities are going to be limited. College coaches would rather take a kid who has a proven record at the collegiate or juco level because they're more physically mature, they've proven they can handle the balance of school & playing ball, and they've been competing against grown men at a higher level than the vast majority of what HS kids see on a daily basis.

I've heard, second-hand, from a couple guys who run player development for big orgs (Hunter Pence, Twelve, Banditos) in the Houston area that they're being told from college recruiters that for the most part they're hitting the portal for position players over HS kids but are more willing to take HS arms. I think that squares with what's being seen in the recruiting world- they want position players who have proven it while they'd rather take an arm with fewer innings on it and develop/protect those arms.

And it also drives home what I've heard directly from college recruiters for HS kids- get your ass in the weight room to get stronger, faster, and more explosive. Being bigger is part of that- look at our 2025 HS recruits. Every single one is at least 6'0" tall, except for LHP, David Ramirez who is throwing 90 at 5'11" 170 with filthy spinning stuff.

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Your words are true. I started hearing the same stuff as it was materializing in 2021 after Covid. It's getting worse each year. Most HS players need to go JUCO or mid level D1/D2/D3 and see how you develop. Position players have to be tooled out if you want to play in the SEC/ACC. If you think you're going to escape older players in JUCO, your aren't.


My son was a 6'1" 215 pound position player (all muscle) in JUCO and they are are a dime a dozen. I remember when he reported as a freshman and it was the first time he looked average in size. He was always one of the bigger kids. Not anymore. He played well in his 2 years, was looked at by mid D1s, but he also got accepted into A&M. He made the right choice.

Pitchers are always at a premium and get more grace with recruiters/scouts than a position player. I also noticed catchers tend to be looked at with more flexibility; offensive ability like Jackson Appel is not normal. The only catcher I saw like Appel got drafted after his freshman year. If you're a position player and you make it to any college roster you have done well. Most rosters aren't going to have more than 14-15 position players.

What's ironic is kids always want to be in the infield when they are little. Players get sad when their teenage baseball careers start going down the PO road, but they will have the most opportunity to make it to a college roster. 1/2 of the roster is reserved for pitchers. My son was a good pitcher too but he wanted to be an everyday player. I think they all do until they get into that pitcher's mindset - whether by choice or forced.

But can this kid even sign yet? He just started his senior year.

trouble said:

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But can this kid even sign yet? He just started his senior year.

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December is when they can sign. I think.

That's what I thought as well

My understanding is December as well.

Is this the Namken kid?