Story from @RStew32
arkansas.rivals.com
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The 2022 Major League Baseball Draft is scheduled to begin Sunday, July 17, as part of all-star festivities, and there may be no more vocal opponent to the change than Dave Van Horn.
The Razorback head baseball coach met with the media Thursday morning, not shying away from sharing his true thoughts on the later draft and its impact on the college baseball world.
“What a horrible time for the draft,” Van Horn said. “The draft should have been last week. I’ve said this 10 times this year: It makes no sense at all. No one likes it except the owners. They think it’s cool to have the draft during the All-Star game. Nobody cares. Have the draft last week, let us get to work, get our rosters right, treat the kids right, give the ones that are not going to be able to come in more time to find a place to play. I mean, it’s a joke.”
The draft being as late in the summer as it is — paired with the players who still have a bonus year of eligibility as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic — means teams have to build rosters without considering players who do not turn professional or exercise their extra eligibility.
However, some players in those categories will inevitably come back, leading to larger rosters. Others will likely stick around longer than they might have before with the opportunity to profit off name, image and likeness.
“The conversation would be, 'You can take a couple hundred thousand dollars to sign, but why would you do that when you can come here and over three and four years, you might make three or four times that?'” Van Horn said. “Who knows where it's going? Because it's going up. It's not going the other way, and there's a lot more out there for baseball now. Like, a lot more than there was a year ago.”
Van Horn has stocked up the 2023 Razorbacks with 13 incoming transfers to date, even with the possibility of 2022 players, such as senior right-handed pitcher Connor Noland, returning.
“I think we’ve done a pretty good job,” Van Horn said. “I feel like for us, it’s about what we think these players are all about, really, as a player and we’re trying to get good people in with our culture and our locker room. In some cases, it’s maybe not the big splash, that big name out there — which, that’s fine if you get those guys — but we’re trying to go after the guys we feel are going to help our lineup or help our pitching as far as depth or a role, whether it’s a starter, reliever, closer.”
With ex-North Carolina State freshman phenom Tommy White on the move to LSU and former Kansas shortstop Maui Ahuna, who hit .396 in 2022, heading to Tennessee among others, the Southeastern Conference has brought in plenty of “big splash” players, as Van Horn referred to them.
Yet, the Hogs have not landed one of their own. Ten of their 13 transfers are coming to Fayetteville via the junior college ranks.
“We feel good about them,” Van Horn said. “A couple of in-state guys, a couple of guys from far away. Fall ball will be fun this year. I think there’s going to be a lot of competition, as it should be.”
Although Arkansas is working with just three newcomers with Division I experience, there is plenty of time before fall ball gets underway. After this month’s draft, the Razorbacks could have bigger pieces on the way for 2023.
“There may be a couple of big splash guys coming down the road,” Van Horn said. “But again, the smoke’s got to clear, and we’ll see how that all turns out because we’re on some things.”
HawgBeat - Transfer portal, timing of MLB Draft making recruiting tough for Van Horn
The state of the transfer portal and the timing of the MLB Draft has made recruiting tough for Dave Van Horn and staff.
arkansas.rivals.com
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The 2022 Major League Baseball Draft is scheduled to begin Sunday, July 17, as part of all-star festivities, and there may be no more vocal opponent to the change than Dave Van Horn.
The Razorback head baseball coach met with the media Thursday morning, not shying away from sharing his true thoughts on the later draft and its impact on the college baseball world.
“What a horrible time for the draft,” Van Horn said. “The draft should have been last week. I’ve said this 10 times this year: It makes no sense at all. No one likes it except the owners. They think it’s cool to have the draft during the All-Star game. Nobody cares. Have the draft last week, let us get to work, get our rosters right, treat the kids right, give the ones that are not going to be able to come in more time to find a place to play. I mean, it’s a joke.”
The draft being as late in the summer as it is — paired with the players who still have a bonus year of eligibility as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic — means teams have to build rosters without considering players who do not turn professional or exercise their extra eligibility.
However, some players in those categories will inevitably come back, leading to larger rosters. Others will likely stick around longer than they might have before with the opportunity to profit off name, image and likeness.
“The conversation would be, 'You can take a couple hundred thousand dollars to sign, but why would you do that when you can come here and over three and four years, you might make three or four times that?'” Van Horn said. “Who knows where it's going? Because it's going up. It's not going the other way, and there's a lot more out there for baseball now. Like, a lot more than there was a year ago.”
Van Horn has stocked up the 2023 Razorbacks with 13 incoming transfers to date, even with the possibility of 2022 players, such as senior right-handed pitcher Connor Noland, returning.
“I think we’ve done a pretty good job,” Van Horn said. “I feel like for us, it’s about what we think these players are all about, really, as a player and we’re trying to get good people in with our culture and our locker room. In some cases, it’s maybe not the big splash, that big name out there — which, that’s fine if you get those guys — but we’re trying to go after the guys we feel are going to help our lineup or help our pitching as far as depth or a role, whether it’s a starter, reliever, closer.”
With ex-North Carolina State freshman phenom Tommy White on the move to LSU and former Kansas shortstop Maui Ahuna, who hit .396 in 2022, heading to Tennessee among others, the Southeastern Conference has brought in plenty of “big splash” players, as Van Horn referred to them.
Yet, the Hogs have not landed one of their own. Ten of their 13 transfers are coming to Fayetteville via the junior college ranks.
“We feel good about them,” Van Horn said. “A couple of in-state guys, a couple of guys from far away. Fall ball will be fun this year. I think there’s going to be a lot of competition, as it should be.”
Although Arkansas is working with just three newcomers with Division I experience, there is plenty of time before fall ball gets underway. After this month’s draft, the Razorbacks could have bigger pieces on the way for 2023.
“There may be a couple of big splash guys coming down the road,” Van Horn said. “But again, the smoke’s got to clear, and we’ll see how that all turns out because we’re on some things.”
