2nd Round - Jason Esposito - 3B - Vanderbilt University

[Stotle]

Curious, I know things have changed in the 20+ years since I played college ball, where are you getting this info? I got a full ride and most of my team had scholarships, not all full rides.

Scholarships cut down to 11.7 total scholarships a while ago (and in large part due to Title IX). in 2008-09 the NCAA placed further restrictions on minimum size of scholarships for baseball, as well as total roster spots available and total persons that can receive a partial scholarship. Coaches hated it because 1) they could no longer give out 5%, 10%, 20% scholarships to kids, and 2) big programs were no longer able to rely on a stable of "invited walkons". Rosters that used to be 35-40 people deep with walkons can now be no deeper than 30, with no more than 27 of those kids getting partial scholarships. It has spread the talent out some, but has also made it more difficult on coaches to convince kids to come to school rather than turn pro.

Call me crazy, I think it's ridiculous that women's equestrian gets more scholarships (I believe 15) than baseball, but then again I don't have all the studies in front of me that show how important it is to make sure people can be paid to ride horses in college.

[rickyrozay]

Call me crazy, I think it's ridiculous that women's equestrian gets more scholarships (I believe 15) than baseball, but then again I don't have all the studies in front of me that show how important it is to make sure people can be paid to ride horses in college.

I think they might have rodeo scholarships too, but that might not be NCAA

[mark_beckens]

Scholarships cut down to 11.7 total scholarships a while ago (and in large part due to Title IX). in 2008-09 the NCAA placed further restrictions on minimum size of scholarships for baseball, as well as total roster spots available and total persons that can receive a partial scholarship. Coaches hated it because 1) they could no longer give out 5%, 10%, 20% scholarships to kids, and 2) big programs were no longer able to rely on a stable of "invited walkons". Rosters that used to be 35-40 people deep with walkons can now be no deeper than 30, with no more than 27 of those kids getting partial scholarships. It has spread the talent out some, but has also made it more difficult on coaches to convince kids to come to school rather than turn pro.

Call me crazy, I think it's ridiculous that women's equestrian gets more scholarships (I believe 15) than baseball, but then again I don't have all the studies in front of me that show how important it is to make sure people can be paid to ride horses in college.

Thanks, things were alittle different when I played in the late 80's.

[bobmc]

Thanks, things were alittle different when I played in the late 80's.

But as far as Espo goes, do we just pray for a "Casey Blake" type career at best? Ya know - sniff it with the O's and head elsewhere for a decent MLB career...

[Frobby]

The idea of having an above average defender at 3B appeals to me. I made an analogy to Joe Crede earlier in the thread. Stotle said Esposito would swing and miss more. I haven't compared numbers, but maybe Brandon Inge is a better comp?

[TakebackOPACY]

Scholarships cut down to 11.7 total scholarships a while ago (and in large part due to Title IX). in 2008-09 the NCAA placed further restrictions on minimum size of scholarships for baseball, as well as total roster spots available and total persons that can receive a partial scholarship. Coaches hated it because 1) they could no longer give out 5%, 10%, 20% scholarships to kids, and 2) big programs were no longer able to rely on a stable of "invited walkons". Rosters that used to be 35-40 people deep with walkons can now be no deeper than 30, with no more than 27 of those kids getting partial scholarships. It has spread the talent out some, but has also made it more difficult on coaches to convince kids to come to school rather than turn pro.

Call me crazy, I think it's ridiculous that women's equestrian gets more scholarships (I believe 15) than baseball, but then again I don't have all the studies in front of me that show how important it is to make sure people can be paid to ride horses in college.

Umm, you're arguing that hitting a ball is a more important college skill than riding a horse. (Just giving you a hard time; the NCAA rules are the enemy of many sports.)

Thanks, things were alittle different when I played in the late 80's.

Mark, the NCAA D1 baseball scholarship limit was 13 when you were in school. The 11.7 comes from a 10% cut from 13. The bigger difference as Stotle mentioned is how those scholarships are allowed to be divided up. And there's a touch more potential regulation on how schools give non-athletic scholarships to athletes, but that's still a large loophole.

[mark_beckens]

Mark, the NCAA D1 baseball scholarship limit was 13 when you were in school. The 11.7 comes from a 10% cut from 13. The bigger difference as Stotle mentioned is how those scholarships are allowed to be divided up. And there's a touch more potential regulation on how schools give non-athletic scholarships to athletes, but that's still a large loophole.

I think my freshman year we had 25-30 players, we were a really young team, alteast half the team was freshman. And most of us started. Of my closest 4-5 teammates, they all had full rides. I have no clue what the other ones got, or any of the returning players.