Most people that are around high school baseball will agree the showcase is an important part of the recruiting cycle. However there are those that wish to redefine the “conventional” showcase to include college “camps” and baseball “tournaments” hoping to lure the player and his parent’s money to their event. (Mainly the college coaches and the tournament organizers) To me this is deceptive and could leave the high school player without proper exposure. Most parents and players only go through this process one time are uninformed. By the time they realize exactly what has happened, it could be too late.
Your thoughts.
Fungo

I agree, it's getting as bad as buying a car, better do your research or you may buy something you don't really want or even worst pay too much.

Here's a young poster's response when it was suggested he atend a showcase:
as for showcases, my summer team is playing at 5-6 during the summer

Some tournaments are used as a means of "showcasing" players albeit not necessarily in a "showcase" format

the teams that enter are showcase teams more than summer tournament teams

Fungo may have inadvertantly recognized a swing of the pendelum.

some yrs back, before the rise of PG & T1 "nfl combine type" showcase format, regional showcase tourneys for hs Jrs & Srs patterned after Area Code were the main venue for exposure - games on the field like TR has mentioned

noting the success/popularity of venues like WWBA at E Cobb & AC Games among recruiters & pro scouts, it would seem like the numbers/times/etc from the "combine type" workouts are reduced to nice footnotes if they can see a guy play and he shows 'em he can flat out play the game between the lines .. possibly swinging their priorities back to seeing more innings & less combine numbers

my observations ..

PG should offer some good insight as well

BEE


we have found that many , if not all, of the college coaches want to see the players in games---the "cold cuts" as I call them- gun readings, 60 yd times et al mean nothing until the player is seen is a competitive game situation


many times the "cold cuts" do not translate

I agree. Some players shine in a game situation and some shine in a showcase format, some shine in both. My Son shines in game situations, and has recieved positive feedback from these venues.

It is important to understand which events are going to be scouted though, not all are. As noted above WWBA, East Cobb, Area Code are Premier Events.

Here's another kind of deceit:

Last August, my son attended a legit showcase hosted by a major D1 program and staffed by coaches from other D1's, D2's, and JUCO's. A week later, my son received a phone call (a full 11 months before he was supposed to) from an asst. coach of a Big 12 program who had staffed the showcase son attended. I'm paraphrasing, but he said something like this:

"We can't really talk to you about recruiting until July 1, but we liked what we saw at the XX Showcase and would like you to attend ours." The coach then went on to specify two skills that he liked in our son.

Our son, of course, was quite flattered and was really excited about the opportunity to attend, even though it involved a sizeable investment (about $350 for the 2-day showcase + gas, hotel, and meals), not to mention a very long drive.

We subsequently discovered that many other players from that same original showcase also received personal calls. (I'm positive those calls generated a LOT of extra camp/showcase income.) To my knowledge, not one of those players -- some of whom are quite talented -- have received any follow-up from the school, even though some have contacted the school repeatedly on their own.

Buyer beware!

TR,
Amen. SPARQ is useful for football.

College camps. If a college coach wants/asks to see a player attend their showcase or camp to get an eyeball look, then the player can be invited gratis, I would think. Some people attend for the training, but otherwise, it's a longshot.

First of all… Perfect Game, East Coast Pro, Area Codes, etc are all showcase type events no matter what they might be called.

They all have the workout portion to the events. They all run the 60, do the infield, outfield, catchers pop times and take BP. They all also play games!

The tournaments sometimes will set up stations for timing the 60, but for the most part the games are all that scouts see.

Trying not to be partial and seeing we are involved in both… Here is the way I look at it from a scouting perspective. We need to see players at both, they are both important. But if one was more important than the other to us, it would be the showcase. We want those numbers and so does every MLB scout out there. The grading system is based on these numbers to a certain extent.

Kind of like picking players from a tryout. You haven't seen the player compete in a real game, but you still have a good idea who the most talented players are.

Once a player shows he has the tools, scouts need to see him play the game and compete. One without the other can’t possibly tell the whole story. Yes, we see outstanding players with less than great tools in tournaments. We have seen outstanding tools who don’t play the game very well, too.

Tools still are extremely important. We have seen very poor performances in our tournaments by top level draft prospects. Lastings Milledge, Cody Johnson, Delmon Young, Carl Crawford, Chris Marrero, Justin Upton, Jeff Clement, etc. have all stunk up the place at our events in the past. Lastings and BJ Upton went a combined 1 for 40 in Jupiter one year. Yet both ended up going in the first round the next spring.

If a player has outstanding tools… He should attend showcase events. Anyone who racks up a good report regarding his tools is going to get scouts/recruiters excited about seeing him play in games and watching him compete against top players.

If a player is a good performer, but lacks the tools… He should attend the tournaments that provide the very best visibility to scouts/recruiters.

In any case it is a big advantage to create interest. If a player is extremely talented, he benefits by as many people knowing it as possible. He will NOT be overlooked at a showcase event.

If the performance player is in a big tournament along with many highly regarded prospects… It is possible he could be overlooked in spite of performing very well.

Tournament/game players need to be educated.

If you can run, make sure to try and get your best Home to 1st Base time on every opportunity. If you can run and have not attended events that document your running times and then you go out and run a lazy 4.9 to first base… You will be labeled as a player who can’t run! This is because that is all scouts have to go by! This is too bad because there are times when a plus runner will run a bad H-1. They seem to get forgotten if the player has already recorded a good running time and scouts/recruiters already know he can run.

The tournaments are a lot more fun to scout. True competition can't be copied. Unfortunately for some, the players followed the closest at tournaments are the same players who have created interest before the tournament. If you want to get every possible opportunity... Go to the events or try to get on the same team with the players who draw the most scouting interest.

The 60 measures running speed, arm strength is measured by observation and a radar gun, bat speed is measured by how far the ball goes in BP along with a bit of skill. Fielding gets measured during infield or during a game.

SPARQ measures how much training one has done in the SPARQ tests as much as anything else. (OK, athletic ability does play a role too.)

dominick,
I don't believe they are allowed to do that.
I believe a camp has to be open to everyone and everyone has to pay or it becomes a official recruiting visit or something of the sort.

I'm just speculating, PG or TR probably knows the answer.

As far as a slightly above average player making a name for themselves at a college camp here's a summary of some of the pitcher's HS accomplishments from the media guide of a good, not currently in the top 25, D1 team. This is real life.

Pitcher
1. All CIF, Orange County Player of the Year.
2. All league as sophmore and junior.
3. No special accomplishments but ranked #13 in NorCal by PG as a senior.
4. All CIF, All league
5. League MVP, All CIF, All League
6. All League 3 years
7. League MVP
8. All State, All CIF, League MVP
9. All League, 2 years
10. League POY
11. League POY, All CIF, All State 2 years
12. All State, All region
13. All State, All league
14. All conference, All City
15. Youth National POY, All CIF, AFLAC
16. All State
17. All league, team MVP

How many of these, many of whom are not getting many innings, do you think had to go to a camp to get recognized? I'm sure some of them attended a camp but probably more to get acquainted with the coaches than to get themselves noticed. I'd also guess that if they did go to a camp that like PG said they were the ones who got the attention based on what was already known about them.

I got these from the media guide we got at their camp and my son will probably go to one of their prospect camps just because we've already got the money committed (long story) and the pitching coach said he'd spend some extra time with him to make up for a bit of a mess up they had. I was impressed by the pitching coach who showed some real class as well as pitching knowledge.

What I call the "cold cuts" , the 60 yd etc, are not allowed to be done on a college campus---they have to to be done off campus---this for a showcase event

Please don't ask me why !!!

yes, I can see why the gratis would be improper. On a related point, if a college coach sees you at showcase, then invites you to his camp, what does that say? Is it good, or is it to entice $$ from eager people? I think that is the issue that I have seen from posters.

dom,
Depends on how good the player is. Though they'll take the $$ in either case.

The truly outstanding player does not have to worry about why he is being invited or what the college coach has for a motive. He simply shows up (if he wants to) shows what he has and good things happen in most cases.

Then there are the border line players, who may or may not create additional interest. (lots of them)

Then there are the others who will have even less chance of being recruited after they attend and show what they can do.

All players who attend a college camp, showcase, etc. Should try hard to take something out of it... Try hard to learn something, even if it's something other than what you came for.

Some of those who will be recruited know it before they attend. The others should hope, but not expect to get recruited. After all, if there are 100 or more players there, they will not all be recruited by that college.

That does not mean it won't be well worthwhile! Some college camps are excellent!

quote:

Originally posted by dominick:
College camps. If a college coach wants/asks to see a player attend their showcase or camp to get an eyeball look, then the player can be invited gratis, I would think. Some people attend for the training, but otherwise, it's a longshot.

Just an FYI, that is a violation, all players attending college sponsored camps are required to pay the same fee.