u/Critical-Crow-9717

I thought this might be an interesting discussion. I'm going to describe 3 players competing for 2 MIF positions, and you predict what happens to each next season:

Player one: current sophomore. Starting varsity 2B as a freshman. Lost job midway through the year over bat. Starting varsity 2B sophomore year. Lost job midway through over bat. Best defender, fastest runner, best pure athlete. Swing and miss hitter, despite profiling as a contact/speed guy. Most power of the three, despite being slightly smaller. Two sport athlete, star in second sport but prefers baseball.

Player two: current sophomore. Varsity roster, plays on JV for games. Coach indicated he should aim to start MIF next year. Candidate for JV MVP this year. SS/2B, swapping positions with player three below. Most polished of the three, but a tick behind other two defensively, and no single "loud" skill - but no weakness. Solid pitcher, though projects as varsity RP. Single sport athlete with heavy investment in offseason development. Similar speed to player three below, a full step behind player one.

Player three: current freshman. Only lefty of the three. (Edit: lefty hitter, throws right.) Meteoric rise. Played JV, and along with Player two above, candidate for MVP. Biggest of three, but all three are similar. Three sport athlete. Flip flops SS/2B with player two above, but has the edge in SS starts. Pitches but not as well as player two. Similar performance to player two this season, but has the edge in fielding and hit for a tick more power. Same speed as player two, a full step behind player one. Added varsity practice team near end of season.

Assume 3B and OF are blocked, so it's truly three players for two positions. How does this play out next season.

I don't know if anyone will find this helpful, but I hope someone does.

When my HS sophomore was a 6th grader, he had two coaches: a middle school coach and a rec coach.

The middle school coach would shout and swear. He once sacrificed my son's at bat to expedite the inning ending to avoid a strange scoring rule that would have turned our win into a tie - which is fine, except he never bothered to tell my kid who found himself alone at the plate, confused and embarrassed, while everyone else left the field.

He wanted to quit the sport.

I called his rec coach, who was a knowledgeable baseball guy and ran an academy. He got in the phone with my kid and made him laugh, then invited him to practice with the academy.

We moved at the end of the season, unrelated to baseball. I still talk routinely to the rec coach, 4 years later. Yet I often wish that school coach could see my son today - varsity roster, raking, starting pitcher in PG finals - but not so he could be proud, but rather out of spite.

And that's my problem. I should spend all of that emotional energy instead thanking the rec coach one more time.

The coach picks the kid before the season, but we have the power to pick the coach we remember after it.

I have to remind myself of this. Maybe some of you do too?

Any thoughts on why there's so little talk about extending Abreu relative to higher pedigree prospects like Mayer now, and guys like Rafaela and Campbell in the recent past? Heck, I even remember a time when the media was frothy over a potential Casas extension. (Anthony was a bit of a special case, so I'm leaving him out.)

What is more challenging to make (taking out academics): a NESCAC varsity team (Bates, Colby, Wesleyan) or a big time D1 club team (Michigan, UT Austin, Florida)?

It would be cool if this sub had "ISO" flair for those who are "In Search Of" specific gloves.

The #1 glove I want is the Rawlings Pro Preferred Brandon Crawford Gameday 57. I know this is a longshot so I would expect to pay a meaningful premium. The glove would be gamed, so it doesn't need to be NWT. New, broken in, or lightly used would all work.

If anyone has a new or broken in Pro Preferred TT2 11.5 available, let me know. I'll consider that too.

Does anyone have advice for selling a personalized glove (name on thumb)? Is it better to just sell it as is, try to remove the thread (seems like a bad idea), or apply a patch over the name? Even with the patch, we'd tell the buyer the glove was personalized. Any suggestions?