*****Portal Watch

#376
#376
Just now saw where Dylan Loy is entering the portal. WTF? Did I miss something? He's seen plenty of action. Any word on why he's leaving?
 
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#377
#377
preacherman20 said:
I have respect for both of these guys. But what do you guys see as the difference between DLoy leaving to be a starter which all have said is a good thing and Chase Burns leaving to be a starter again which most of you guys called a traitor.
If you don't know, I know them personally. Chase was Kirby's roommate his last year here and they spent a lot of time together and last year I ate almost every meal at Omaha with DLoy as he and Kirby were great friends including that last lunch of championships.
I hope they both have success and understand both of them leaving to fulfill their goals. Wondering the difference. Because both of them are great young men in their own ways.
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I didn't like Chase leaving, and I don't like Loy leaving. That doesn't make either a bad person. I don't know either personally, so I have no opinion on them as individuals. Chase made a bad decision, IMO. Sure, he got drafted high, but I think that would have been true even if he stayed here. He had good stuff. But hey, we still won it all without him. I hate losing Loy because he was one of our more solid BP arms. We were already looking at rebuilding the BP, and losing Loy makes it just a bit tougher. But I have confidence in Tony and Frank to work it out.

Honestly, I just hate losing anyone who has actually contributed to our success. I want them to stay Vols. Selfish, I know, but JMO.
 
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#378
#378
Ttucke11 said:
Are you really going to make the argument the #2 pick in the draft wasn't going to start for us last year? He only got demoted bc he had a rough stretch. He clearly was going to. The 3rd spot was a rotating door.

Sure it worked out. But yes there's a difference. Like I said superstar players leaving draw a much more negative reaction than someone who pitches an inning at a time out of the bullpen once or twice a week. No one cares Kaleb Webb left in football but Nico was kinda a big deal. Same thing.

Not to say I wanted Loy to leave I think he was a great lefty to have out of the pen.
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Yes, I would make the argument that he might not have felt like he would have started the whole season. He hadn't started at the end of the previous two years. He obviously wanted a guaranteed starting role for a full season. He wasn't going to be the #2 pick coming out of the bullpen. I'm sure there was a trust issue factor there as well after already being demoted a couple of times.
 
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#379
#379
preacherman20 said:
I have respect for both of these guys. But what do you guys see as the difference between DLoy leaving to be a starter which all have said is a good thing and Chase Burns leaving to be a starter again which most of you guys called a traitor.
If you don't know, I know them personally. Chase was Kirby's roommate his last year here and they spent a lot of time together and last year I ate almost every meal at Omaha with DLoy as he and Kirby were great friends including that last lunch of championships.
I hope they both have success and understand both of them leaving to fulfill their goals. Wondering the difference. Because both of them are great young men in their own ways.
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The honest answer is one is perceived as a worse loss than the other. And that’s okay.
 
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#385
#385
mattdingus2002 said:
Looking at who we’re recruiting in the portal, I think their new strategy is recruit guys with high averages and get on base, get them into our strength program and hope power comes
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There's more than one way to score runs. I'm fine if we don't hit quite as many homers if it means we hit a bunch of doubles, get on base and keep pressure on the opposing pitching staff
 
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#386
#386
I think the difference in Dylan Loy and Burns is stark. Burns was a starter for 1.5 years before he had a rough stretch and got demoted. It was clear he had the talent to be a starter and an elite one at that. There was a clear opportunity if Burns stayed to regain his starter role, but feelings had been hurt and that bridge was burnt.

Loy was never a full-time starter and outside of an appearance here or there never demonstrated he could be a full-time SEC starter. So, I have no hard feelings for a guy looking for a better situation for himself when that opportunity wasn’t present here. You won’t convince me that if Burns didn’t return in 2025 he wouldn’t have been a starter again. We had 2 open rotation slots. He would have snagged one since we didn’t fill in from the portal with any clear frontline starters.
 
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#387
#387
TheMookieMonster said:
I think the difference in Dylan Loy and Burns is stark. Burns was a starter for 1.5 years before he had a rough stretch and got demoted. It was clear he had the talent to be a starter and an elite one at that. There was a clear opportunity if Burns stayed to regain his starter role, but feelings had been hurt and that bridge was burnt.

Loy was never a full-time starter and outside of an appearance here or there never demonstrated he could be a full-time SEC starter. So, I have no hard feelings for a guy looking for a better situation for himself when that opportunity wasn’t present here. You won’t convince me that if Burns didn’t return in 2025 he wouldn’t have been a starter again. We had 2 open rotation slots. He would have snagged one since we didn’t fill in from the portal with any clear frontline starters.
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Burns had been demoted once from starter to reliever as a freshman in 2022. In 2023 it was clear the intention was to let Burns become a full-fledged starter, but he was getting lit up like a 4th of July fireworks show in SEC play; I believe his ERA in conference as a starter was like 7 or 8.... and Andrew Lindsey was out-pitching him, as were both Beam and Dollander. So, Tony did what had to be done and demoted him back to the pen; once that happened again, Burns was as good as gone.
 
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#389
#389
Hate to see Loy leaving. He’s a good kid and from all accounts, an even better teammate. Had really high hopes for him being a local and he made a lot of fans in the Appy League last year.

The portal gives and it takes away. While Loy wasn’t likely to turn into a high draft pick, I couldn’t help but to pull for the guy. One of the few that I wish the best wherever he lands.
 
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#390
#390
mattdingus2002 said:
Looking at who we’re recruiting in the portal, I think their new strategy is recruit guys with high averages and get on base, get them into our strength program and hope power comes
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Kilen only had 9 HRs at Louisville in 2024. He hit 15 for Tennessee this year. Fischer went from 20 to 25. Amick went from 13 to 23 after transferring to Tennessee (and that’s with missing a few games with appendicitis).

I think you’re probably right.
 
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#392
#392
DooleyOrangePants said:
Hate to see Loy leaving. He’s a good kid and from all accounts, an even better teammate. Had really high hopes for him being a local and he made a lot of fans in the Appy League last year.

The portal gives and it takes away. While Loy wasn’t likely to turn into a high draft pick, I couldn’t help but to pull for the guy. One of the few that I wish the best wherever he lands.
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Agree. I wish he would give it 1 more year and see what happens.
 
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#393
#393
VOLED said:
Agree. I wish he would give it 1 more year and see what happens.
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Wouldn't that negate his leverage in the draft? He needed to really shine this year or at the latest next year, no? Being out of eligibility in baseball isn't so good, right? I'm no expert on this so apologies if I'm in the weeds on this one.
 
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#395
#395
CAVPUT said:
Wouldn't that negate his leverage in the draft? He needed to really shine this year or at the latest next year, no? Being out of eligibility in baseball isn't so good, right? I'm no expert on this so apologies if I'm in the weeds on this one.
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Loy probably doesn’t have much of a chance being a high draft pick unless he had a significant jump in mph, in my opinion.

Soft tossing lefties normally go later in the draft or completely undrafted
 
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#396
#396
Any Advincula update? Would like to see some middle infield movement. Have we had any contact with Chris Hacopian?
 
#399
#399
preacherman20 said:
I have respect for both of these guys. But what do you guys see as the difference between DLoy leaving to be a starter which all have said is a good thing and Chase Burns leaving to be a starter again which most of you guys called a traitor.
If you don't know, I know them personally. Chase was Kirby's roommate his last year here and they spent a lot of time together and last year I ate almost every meal at Omaha with DLoy as he and Kirby were great friends including that last lunch of championships.
I hope they both have success and understand both of them leaving to fulfill their goals. Wondering the difference. Because both of them are great young men in their own ways.
Click to expand...
Chase was quoted in an article in The Athletic last spring where he said something like, "I don't have to prove anything to anyone." I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist. Obviously I'm making an assumption (so correct me if I'm wrong), but based on his commentary, it led me to believe that he didn't really think he should be made to "prove" that he belonged in a starting rotation here.

There are lots of details we'll never know, but it made sense to me that Tony and Frank probably laid it out something like, "We want you to be a starter, you're more than good enough to be a starter, and we know YOU want to be a starter, but it's a role you'll have to prove you can hold down after the hiccups last year." As in, I don't think they would ever promise to keep someone in a role like that regardless of their performance. I know Tony likes to stick with his guys, but you obviously can't have a weekend starter sporting an 8+ ERA in league play.

So again, I'm drawing conclusions based on assumptions, but I never liked the idea that Chase felt he was above having to prove himself. He struggled in 2023, and yes he absolutely deserved a chance to reclaim that role in 2024 (and I think he would've gotten that chance here), but his wants/needs shouldn't rise above what's best for the team.

I don't begrudge him for leaving, and he obviously got where he wanted to go, but the way it all played out kinda left a bad taste in my mouth.
 
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#400
#400
Arizona's pitching coach just took the head job at San Diego State; time for Tony V to go raid the Wildcats and bring us a Tony Pluta (anyone would work really, the Wildcats had some very good bullpen arms this year)
 
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