Good Sunday morning to you. I want to start this blog by stating that everything I am about to write is based on a hypothetical question, my personal opinion, and my personal speculation. I have no first hand knowledge of any such summer collegiate baseball league, player, coach, organization currently doing what I am suggesting might happen (or is happening). Every organization, every league, every person I may refer to is purely fictional and for the purposes of this blog only. All I am doing is creating a dialogue for the subject matter – could a summer collegiate baseball league financially lure a star player to join their league over another? Here are my thoughts.

The college athletics transfer portal is a hot button issue right now in college sports. Just this past weekend, I watched college football games which showcased players, important position players, suiting up for their “new” team. Some have played 1, maybe several years at another school and are looking for a leg up situation with a more widely recognized school. Some played for a big time school, couldn’t handle the situation for whatever reason, and transferred to a smaller, less exposure type school that fit their needs. Some players, I kid you not, have transferred 3 even 4 times in their college eligibility lifetimes. And this is just one sport amongst a sea of college sports that this is happening in.

One of the more famous transfer portal athletes on the baseball side was Paul Skenes. Skenes was a star baseball player at the Air Force Academy, transferred to LSU (a bigger name school, SEC exposure), played lights out for LSU, and became the #1 prospect in college baseball and subsequently the 1/1 draft pick in the 2023 MLB draft. His bump in exposure from the lesser attended and lesser televised Air Force Academy games to the SEC juggernaut of media and exposure that is LSU baseball was legendary. That being said, Skenes put in the work, he deserves every bit of credit for his success. And probably would have been MLB selected at least in the top 10 if he had stayed at the Air Force Academy. Probably, but why chance it if you have an opportunity to transfer from a school that has a 2 rating on TV to a team that has a 20?

Which brings me to my question and hopefully some dialogue from people in the know. Could a summer collegiate baseball league (SCBL) find the cash, open up their pocket books somehow through a sponsor, and provide the incentive to lure a star player to come play for a team in their league as opposed to another league? Could a sponsor of an SCBL team, say a car dealership or local restaurant or auto glass company incentivize a team in a not so prevalent league nationally to bring in a star player, thus potentially increasing the number of fans in the stands, and thus potentially improving his sponsorship’s return on investment? Could a struggling league, perhaps on the verge of bankruptcy or contraction to a neighboring league, take on a booster’s “gift” and bring in a star manager or a star pitcher or a star hitter to help boost sales and exposure? Is it being done right now?

Here is a scenario to consider. A fantastic baseball player who plays for Chesapeake Bay University, lives in neighboring Virginia Beach, Virginia has entered his sophomore year as a Pre-Season All American. His college baseball coach, like many, has a relationship with a local SCBL, which features teams in Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Maryland. During the fall baseball season at CBU, the CBU Head Coach (HC) has already made calls and connections for his CBU player for the following summer in the Mid-Atlantic area league. Fast forward to Spring…During his first 10 Spring NCAA games, this CBU player rockets to national prowess by hitting 10 home runs and stealing 10 bases. A summer collegiate baseball league in New York calls the CBU coach and inquires about this player coming to Upstate NY for the summer, no money is offered, just an opportunity for more exposure. Another summer collegiate league team from New England contacts the family and offers them $50,000 for him to play in their league. Another summer collegiate league from Iowa calls CBU and offers the school $50,000 to lure the player to play further west.

Each SCBL league attempting to lure this player has far more exposure nationally than the league the CBU HC would like his player to join. These interested leagues have powerful sponsors and national connections to professional baseball teams. They have modern baseball fields and regularly have thousands of fans in attendance. And regularly have tons of MLB scouts in attendance, who are friendly with the coaching staffs of the league’s teams. Each league promises that if this player from little known Chesapeake Bay University comes to Maine or Milwaukee or Elizabeth City or Dallas for the summer, the league’s generous sponsors will make sure he is taken care of. And by the way, get to play in a prestigious summer league against the top collegiate baseball players from all over the United States.

Could a summer collegiate baseball league lure a star player to come play in their league as opposed to another? How about this scenario…Could a startup SCBL league pop up, sort of like the LIV Tour in professional golf? Their pitch – We are a super well funded league of teams with brand new stadiums, apartments for the players, new training facilities, baseball complexes with every modern amenity, and we pay you to come play for us next summer. I’ve seen it with youth baseball complexes built like small villages with every single modern amenity known to the baseball world. SCBL games bring in a ton of money to local communities’ economies, what is to stop some super rich company from forming their own league and providing what most cannot – free housing, free meals, and a summer stipend to go with it. Sounds enticing doesn’t it?

What is a player to do? What is a coach to do? What is a university program to do? Money tends to change people’s ideas on things, like important decisions. If the right amount of money was offered to a player to join a sub-standard league exposure wise, would that be enough to lure them? If the right amount of money was offered to sway a player’s decision on where to play, what kind of precedent would that set? Heck, if it worked with the CBU player, let’s try this school or that university next. With so many SCBL choices now every summer, could a stronger SCBL league financially outbid another less financially solid league for the services of an All-American player from CBU? Will the network of SCBL teams begin to engage in bidding wars for the top collegiate baseball players, sort of like what is happening in college athletics and the transfer portal?

Fact is, I have no proof that it does right now. Another fact, I hope it doesn’t happen in the future. Fun fact, I love summer collegiate baseball almost as much as I love professional baseball. Final fact, this is just a question that popped into my head while watching two collegiate football teams with completely new QB’s face off against each other in a transfer portal world of college athletics. What are your thoughts on this subject? Send me your comments, your observations, and feel free to remain anonymous. As a potential follow up to this story, I plan on reaching out to several summer collegiate baseball leagues for their comments on this hypothetical situation as well.