Changes to NCAA Baseball Transfer/Coaching Rules

[GTNavyNuke]

@Buzzbomb pointed out changes to all NCAA sports for transfers in another post. For baseball, D1 dove into the applicable details. (After all, what's more important than baseball?).

What The New Transfer Windows Mean For Baseball • D1Baseball

The NCAA on Wednesday established transfer windows and other guidelines for Division I Baseball moving forward.

d1baseball.com

What it does is not a lot functionally. It extends the transfer period to just before the MLB draft. Ironic that a 60 day extension was recommended for all spring sports and what was approved was 45 days, just shy of the MLB draft. So players will have to continue to guess who will get drafted / come back before the draft, allowing the deadline after the draft would obviously be better for players.

Still a one time no penalty transfer. To me, that's fine since these guys are students too and three undergraduate colleges seems a lot. If they want to move around that much, there is the minor leagues.

One thing I hadn't thought about but makes sense is to have players be able to transfer in the fall and be able to play the next spring. It's done in softball. Given the amount of over signing by colleges and 35 player limit, players should be able to transfer (once) without penalty in the fall IMHO if things don't work out at their college.

The article implies that changes are coming for numbers of coaches.

 

[rodandanga]

Didn't baseball used to allow transfer without sitting out? I seem to remember that being a thing during the Micah Owings transfer.

 

[eokerholm]

This just gets the player closer to the draft date to solidify/confirm their draft potential/agreements with the various teams and their "advisors" moreso than the 7/1 deadline did.
Others can be in the portal too, so Coaches can still go shopping as soon.... the list just changes drastically right at Draft Time.... so now you might have to replace or be notified by non-draftees later (if they didn't know about portal entrance. Most are covered during exit interviews for the season so shouldn't be too much of a shock or surprise. (outside of Texas losing 12 Pitchers to portal or draft with the firing of Sean Allen as Pitching Coach). But per the NLI, you can't use coaching changes as an excuse to not show up without going through the portal.....

2 transfers are possible.

1. 1st one is a free pass (don't have to sit out),
2. the 2nd is Grad Transfer. Once the player graduates from said college. They can return to that school for graduate school and/or transfer (thru portal) to another graduate school, without sitting out a year.

I do think given the roster restrictions, Fall cuts, etc, the Dec Portal should be allowed for players, as Roster Limit isn't locked until 2/15 of Baseball season. Some schools carry more or less than others in the fall and whittle down come deadline day.... Some schools were already down to 35 last spring or this Fall and others were/are not. Texas A&M plans to cut 11 guys this Fall. Those guys should be able to make the portal and play in Spring if picked up. Same with those 6 guys (including some incoming freshman already on campus) that were cut on 8/2 from Texas Tech. They were robbed of a year, if they have to wait until Fall of '23 to get back on a college field.

 

[eokerholm]

I'd also like to hear more about the 20-24 scholarship roster spots (up from 11.7) supposedly starting in 2023/24 season (next summer). (Decided by conference.....)

New NCAA committee poised to turn college sports upside down - Sports Illustrated

The NCAA’s post–Mark Emmert era could be a completely different experience.

www.si.com

 

[eokerholm]

Some are posting Fall Rosters....Quite a few people could be hitting that December Portal....

Virginia Tech (only 22?)

Baseball Fall 2024

Baseball Fall 2024

hokiesports.com

Florida State (39)

@fullname - @season - Baseball - Florida State University

@description

seminoles.com

Auburn (48)

Baseball 2025

Baseball 2025

auburntigers.com

 

[GTNavyNuke]

College baseball is going to cha

Some are posting Fall Rosters....Quite a few people could be hitting that December Portal....

Virginia Tech (only 22?)

Baseball Fall 2024

Baseball Fall 2024

hokiesports.com

Florida State (39)

@fullname - @season - Baseball - Florida State University

@description

seminoles.com

Auburn (48)

Baseball 2025

Baseball 2025

auburntigers.com

The Chokies have no Fr or apparently their 3 transfers in the 22 roster. Perfect game has them with 18 in the 22 class. And three coming in from the portal from D1 (which is slow in reporting). So about 43.

Problem is that guys have to sit out the 23 spring season. So they won't play and probably wouldn't get much practice time either.

So more pain than usual in adjusting to the roster limit for most teams. Including us.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

This isn't a change to college yet, but the changes to MLB are raising some controversy. Specifically, prohibiting shifts and a strike clock.

What I don't get is why the players union is against the changes. Since they apply to all teams and all players, what's the problem? I like them since they will speed up the game with the pitch clock and increase the hits without shifts of three infielders on one side of the field. Of course that will favor some hitters who can't pull as well, but so what?

I'd like to see the computerized ball / strike calling too. With the balls having so much breaking action at the end, I think many pitches which are called strikes aren't as they break so much away from the plate.

MLB rules are changing and players aren't happy about it | CNN

Major League Baseball announced Friday three rules changes to take effect in the 2023 season, after receiving a majority vote from the Competition Committee. The players union has expressed disapproval of two of the new rules.

edition.cnn.com

 

[FredJacket]

This isn't a change to college yet, but the changes to MLB are raising some controversy. Specifically, prohibiting shifts and a strike clock.

What I don't get is why the players union is against the changes. Since they apply to all teams and all players, what's the problem? I like them since they will speed up the game with the pitch clock and increase the hits without shifts of three infielders on one side of the field. Of course that will favor some hitters who can't pull as well, but so what?

I'd like to see the computerized ball / strike calling too. With the balls having so much breaking action at the end, I think many pitches which are called strikes aren't as they break so much away from the plate.

MLB rules are changing and players aren't happy about it | CNN

Major League Baseball announced Friday three rules changes to take effect in the 2023 season, after receiving a majority vote from the Competition Committee. The players union has expressed disapproval of two of the new rules.

edition.cnn.com

Data!

 

[eokerholm]

The extra puts the runner at 1st that much closer for stealing.
That should be interesting.

MLB's bigger bases, explained: Why baseball is using new, larger bases for 2022

A seemingly inconsequential change could make a big difference to how MLB shakes out in 2022.

www.sportingnews.com

 

[FredJacket]

Note the shift rule says 4 infielders must have both feet "in" the infield. I've been a baseball fan all my life. I've never heard a "depth" to the infield defined. Is it?

I've always assumed (like outfield wall) where infield dirt transitions to grass was arbitrary & varied by stadium. Will where that transition point is be codified across the game or depend on each ground crew's setup?

Pretty sure the "infield fly" ruling is based on umps judgment & typically is called out beyond the dirt into shallow outfield.

 

[THWG]

Note the shift rule says 4 infielders must have both feet "in" the infield. I've been a baseball fan all my life. I've never heard a "depth" to the infield defined. Is it?

I've always assumed (like outfield wall) where infield dirt transitions to grass was arbitrary & varied by stadium. Will where that transition point is be codified across the game or depend on each ground crew's setup?

Pretty sure the "infield fly" ruling is based on umps judgment & typically is called out beyond the dirt into shallow outfield.

View attachment 13016

As a Braves fan, don't get me started on the infield fly rule

 

[eokerholm]

Are they doing the double base at 1st? runner has one and so does the first baseman? That would also improve safety and collisions.

 

[THWG]

Are they doing the double base at 1st? runner has one and so does the first baseman? That would also improve safety and collisions.
View attachment 13019

I wish they would do this, but I think they're just going with the bigger bases.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Note the shift rule says 4 infielders must have both feet "in" the infield. I've been a baseball fan all my life. I've never heard a "depth" to the infield defined. Is it?

I've always assumed (like outfield wall) where infield dirt transitions to grass was arbitrary & varied by stadium. Will where that transition point is be codified across the game or depend on each ground crew's setup?

Pretty sure the "infield fly" ruling is based on umps judgment & typically is called out beyond the dirt into shallow outfield.

View attachment 13016

Everyone knows this is what the infield looks like.

Or this:

And here's the definition from https://www.mlb.com/glossary/rules/field-dimensions

So I don't really know either. For all four infielders to have both feet inside that 90' square would be a massive change to the rules. So they must define the infield as where the dirt ends on the particular field?

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Pleasant baseball conversation about transfers at https://www.warrennolan.com/basketball/2022/sos-rpi

One area I didn't agree with was the idea that allowing a "free" fall transfer would be bad for players on the team who had otherwise "won" a position. I don't think you "win" the position till Spring, or shouldn't anyway. But I do really like the idea of only one "free" undergraduate transfer. These are supposedly college "students".

I like the idea of a roster limit in the fall, like 45. That way some teams can't stockpile and then cut more kids. Need to do something to limit the fall number.

 

[gtrower]

Data!

Does this take into account tv as well? I imagine some of the inflated MLB duration is commercial breaks that other levels don’t have to worry about? Or does tv work around the game flow for mlb (unlike football)?

 

[FredJacket]

Does this take into account tv as well? I imagine some of the inflated MLB duration is commercial breaks that other levels don’t have to worry about? Or does tv work around the game flow for mlb (unlike football)?

That's a good question. I don't know if MLB TV "break" obligations exceed the timed elements of the MiLB things (ie between innings & pitching changes).

 

[78pike]

That's a good question. I don't know if MLB TV "break" obligations exceed the timed elements of the MiLB things (ie between innings & pitching changes).

I don't think TV affects baseball like it does football. With baseball the commercials occur between innings as the pitcher warms up. You never see the guy with the red shirt standing there holding up the game while the pitcher waits like you see in football. MLB has an allotted amount of time between innings allowing networks to time their commercials. At the end of that time the umpire signals play ball.

MLB lowered the time between innings to 2 minutes for local broadcasts and nationally televised games in 2019. MLB had instituted times of 2 minutes, 5 seconds for local broadcasts and 2 minutes, 25 seconds for nationally televised games in 2016, decreasing these times by 20 seconds from where they were previously.

I don't believe non televised games have much less than 2 minutes between innings for a pitcher to warm up. Having attended many Tech baseball games it seems like about 2 minutes between innings whether the game is televised or not.

 

[CINCYMETJACKET]

I have been at Tech games in the past when the pitcher is ready, but a TV crew person is on the field holding up play until TV is ready. Not sure if it happens as much today, as I don't get to as many games as I'd like to living in Cincinnati, but it definitely used to happen.