November 26, 2008

Kendall Rogers
Rivals.com College Baseball Editor

Many of the nation's head coaches met last week in Indianapolis to discuss some of the issues facing college baseball programs. The coaches came to a consensus on some issues, but also disagreed on a few important items.

Topics discussed last week include the agent-advisor issue, transfer rule, increasing scholarships, 20-second pitch clock, adding more fall baseball games, providing early-season RPI relief for programs in the northern half of the country and adding a week to the back end of the season.

We'll have more on what some coaches think about these issues, but what's my take on these proposals?

Agent-advisor issue: Because of an issue between Oklahoma State pitcher Andy Oliver and a former advisor, the NCAA really has brought this issue to the forefront for good reason. Though it's against the rules to have an agent and receive money, players often get away with having an advisor because technically they are not getting paid to be clients of the agent/advisor. Obviously this is becoming a huge issue. Personally, I have little issue with a player having an advisor, but I also know that some advisors that have instructed their potential clients to transfer from a Division I program to a JUCO program so they can get drafted quicker. I have a huge issue with situations such as those. Overall, I think the advisor issue is worth policing, but not allowing it at all is a mistake. Draft-eligible players often are naive and need some direction in a draft year.

Transfer rule: This probably will not change anytime soon. Since ushering in the new rule, more stability has graced college baseball. Coaches can focus on recruiting their own players without a larger school coming in and poaching them away. Players now can attend a summer league without worrying about a coach from another school trying to get them to transfer. Though some coaches still believe players should be able to freely transfer, coaches overwhelmingly believe this rule is great for the game. I agree. I would make some exceptions with this rule, but certainly would never go back to making transfers a free-for-all.

Increasing scholarships: Given the fact baseball is incredibly underfunded at many institutions, coaches long have hoped for scholarship increases. The good news is change may be on the way. While the current scholarship total is 11.7, college coaches have proposed the NCAA increase the total to 14. Some schools don't even have the full 11.7, but coaches overwhelmingly agree with the idea of increasing scholarship totals sooner rather than later. I agree with this proposal. Baseball is one of few sports besides football and men's basketball that has the ability to make money. As a result, it seems like the sport should receive more financial aid.

20-second pitch clock: Wichita State coach Gene Stephenson is a proponent of adding a 20-second pitch clock to games. The NCAA recently has emphasized speeding up the game, and there are some coaches that support Stephenson's proposal. Personally, I think the game should be sped up, but also believe a pitch clock currently is not necessary. Let's see how the recent changes affect game speed before jumping to conclusions.

Adding more fall games: There appears to be a proposal to keep the 56-game schedule, but to give teams free rein to have four exhibition games during fall workouts. I'm in full support of this proposal. I know softball, volleyball and other sports have fall exhibitions, so I've actually never understood why baseball wasn't allowed to do the fact. Given the fact many coaches support this proposal, I expect it to go in affect sooner rather than later.

Providing early-season RPI relief for northern programs: There is more to this proposal than meets the eye. West Virginia coach Greg VanZant and Michigan coach Rich Maloney are strong proponents of tweaking the RPI formula to where teams receive more points for winning road games. This obviously would help northern programs that are forced to hit the road the first three weeks of the season because of weather concerns. Though some coaches are against giving more points for road wins, I'm for it. Road wins are a major part of the college basketball RPI formula and it's my opinion that college baseball should follow the same blueprint.

Adding a week to the end of the season: Perhaps the most interesting topic discussed at last week's meeting was the idea of adding a week to the back end of the season. The uniform start date still is an idea I really like, but I also believe the season should have one more week. As a result, I'm obviously for this rule change. Some coaches wish the week could be added at the front of the schedule, while most are fine with having the additional week on the back end. I'm fine with either scenario. Critics of the proposal say it will cut into summer leagues and summer pro baseball, but since when does a summer league and pro baseball factor into the equation of making college baseball better in the long run? Do what is best for the sport, not others.

I spoke with Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin for a story about last week's meeting in Indianapolis. Corbin and I also discussed his team and their chances of succeeding this spring. While Corbin believes his offense has a ways to go to be very good, he certainly is excited about his pitching staff with likely first-round pick Mike Minor leading the charge. Minor had a strong fall and likely will be followed in the weekend rotation by Caleb Cotham and Nick Christiani. Also keep an eye on freshmen Sonny Gray, Navery Moore and Jack Armstrong. Gray turned down pro money to go to Vandy and had a strong fall, while Moore and Armstrong also caught Corbin's attention. At the plate, people soon will know much about freshman shortstop Jason Esposito, who turned down the Kansas City Royals this past summer and had a stellar fall at the plate and in the field.

I caught up with UCLA coach John Savage last night and we discussed his team for the upcoming season. While Savage is a little worried his offense will be inexperienced early this spring, he actually is cautiously optimistic because of the job assistant coach Rick Vanderhook has done since arriving at the Westwood campus. Savage said that Vanderhook has been outstanding and his record speaks for itself. It'll be interesting to me to see how potential stars such as Gabe Cohen and Cody Decker perform this spring. On the mound, Savage believes the Bruins will be deeper than ever. He also is very high on freshman right-handed pitcher Gerrit Cole, who turned down the New York Yankees this past summer. Cole apparently had a strong fall and showed that he can be an immediate impact player.

Kendall Rogers is the college baseball editor for Rivals.com and Yahoo! Sports. He can be reached at rogersk@yahoo-inc.com.