What do you think college baseball and the minor leagues will look like in 10 years?

[HeavenUniversity]

With colleges now being able to pay kids legally , more TV, improved coaching, and upgraded facilities plus MLB greatly reducing the number of minor league teams, what do you see the landscape ( at Tennessee and nationally) looking like over the next ten years?

 

[Jkm0920]

I don't know, but I'm afraid I won't like it. I hope I'm wrong. And considering my track record we should be in good shape.

 

[Dougie_D]

I don’t know baseball that much but I don’t think much will change except that kids that would normally go to west coast baseball schools will now go to SEC schools.
The minor league system won’t change probably. The kids who wouldn’t be able to get good NIL money as a recruit could still be good enough to play in a farm league and get a little money.
At the end of the day, money isnt a big deal as much as to just playing the sport they love

 

[volfannga]

I turned off MLB a long time ago. Long story. I believe college baseball is going to continue to grow in popularity. It offers more convenient options and more fan friendly atmosphere. Biggest issue I think will be pricing. Too many families and fans have been priced out at the MLB level and sadly it is happening more at the college level.

 

[UT97Vol]

I turned off MLB a long time ago. Long story. I believe college baseball is going to continue to grow in popularity. It offers more convenient options and more fan friendly atmosphere. Biggest issue I think will be pricing. Too many families and fans have been priced out at the MLB level and sadly it is happening more at the college level.

Agreed on all. The college player is increasingly better and more apt to go to college than sign out of high school. Not in all cases but increasingly so. Back when I played in the 90's you measured a pitchers dominance level by whether he could top 90 mph by a few mph. Today, college teams have multiple pitcher throwing triple digits and 95 mph is now the new standard sans "specialists".

So, one of two things is going to have to happen. Either MLB clubs are going to have to start paying not only higher bonuses but higher salaries for their minor leaguers or the college game is going to put the minors out of business. It's probably the former, because MLB teams prefer to develop their own talent. But who knows?

When I went to work for the Mets in the late 90s in player development and scouting, the scouting director told me during spring training that only three or four of the guys out there on the field that we were looking at would make it to the Big Leagues. He said the rest are here so they have someone to play with. So, that's a lot of expense just to develop the few guys they really care about.