AUBURN | The NCAA gave seniors the opportunity to return for another season of eligibility. The MLB Draft was contracted from 40 to five rounds meaning a lot of college juniors and high school prospects will face the choice of staying/enrolling in school or taking a nominal, fixed free agent signing fee.
We’re looking at a 2020 college baseball season loaded with talented players, which should be an exciting prospect for coaches. But that’s not necessarily the case. It’s actually made their job much tougher.
“For every guy that comes back, that may cost somebody else that wants playing time,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “I try not to play that game in my mind. I’m trying to play the game of doing right by everybody and when the dust settles, Auburn is going to be in good shape. Whatever’s going to happen is supposed to happen and I need to be and my staff needs to be the adults in the room.”
There’s two big issues facing Auburn and a lot of college baseball programs right now: The roster space and scholarship money to fit all these potential players and the playing time to satisfy their skill level.
Auburn had five seniors, eight draft-eligible juniors and at least one draft-eligible sophomore on its roster last season. Thompson signed 14 players in the fall expecting the majority of its draft-eligible players to move on after this season. Most of those signees are expecting a certain amount of scholarship money and an opportunity to compete for a spot in the lineup.
With only 11.7 scholarships to distribute to 27 players, the numbers can get tight really quick. If a player unexpectedly returns that was on a 25 or 50 percent scholarship, that money has to come from somewhere. It’s something that can happen with one or two players every year, but not four or five or more in one year, which is what the Tigers and many other schools may have to deal with in the coming months.
For Auburn, Thompson and his staff have to plan for the potential return of a number of talented players including seniors Matt Scheffler and Rankin Woley, or juniors Steven Williams, Cody Greenhill and Jack Owen. The seniors can return at the same scholarship level they were at this season without counting against the 11.7. But the juniors, sophomores and incoming players all have to fit into the 11.7.
“With that five round draft, you look at the SEC and Auburn specifically, it’s like musical chairs,” Thompson said. “All this music is playing and after June 10th and 11th when these five rounds are done and the music stops, there’s going to be less chairs than there are ball players.
“These guys have been great, our families have been great and we just have to take care of everybody the best we can. I think everybody is just waiting. When the music stops, that’s when we’ll know how to do the best we can for everybody.”
There was talk of the shortened MLB Draft being held July 15 so when it was announced last Friday that it would be held June 10-11, Thompson was pleased.
“I think it’s good for us they’ve moved it up. We get to a decision earlier and it gives more time on the backside if guys are going to return, if seniors are going to return, if somebody’s going to sign or if somebody needs to go participate somewhere else,” he said.
Thompson is also hopeful the NCAA moves forward on a suggestion to expand rosters from 27 to 30 for the 2021 season. Currently, schools can have 27 scholarship players, but they all have to receive at least 25 percent. Teams can have a total of 35 players on the roster.
There’s no proposal, however, or really any significant discussion about increasing the 11.7 scholarship limit for college baseball. With college athletic departments already in a money crunch and no guarantee of a full football season this fall, there’s not many schools ready to discuss the possibility of spending more on a non-revenue sport.
Players not drafted in the first five rounds will have an opportunity to sign with a club for just $20,000, far less than most would have received a year ago. According to D1 Baseball, 395 players received six-figure bonuses after the fifth round including 295 after the 10th round in last year’s draft.
“We’ll let this draft play out. We control what we control, and we’ll figure out how to navigate our best roster after June 11,” Thompson said.
