There's some really interesting stuff in this article. Here's a sample:
>“We saw a guy in the fall that was better than advertised,” Penders says. “He’s ultra-competitive as a pitcher, really good fastball command, and he can run it up there into the mid-90s. And it’s explosive out of the hand. If he throws it bellybutton or higher, it looks like 100 when it’s 93. He gets a lot of swings and misses on his fastball. He also can make it sink. And he can cut it, so it’s really three different pitches. His breaking ball, his curve, which is more like a slurve, has real depth to it, and his slider, it’s one of the best I’ve seen. Then you put on top of that, a change-up, Josh called it the best right-handed change-up we’ve had in our program. … So there’s a lot to like."
Wait. Six pitches? What might a full season and a conventional MLB draft have brought for Ben Casparius? We only know how it went. Casparius’ attempt to obtain a waiver from the NCAA, and subsequent appeals, were all rejected. The coronavirus shut down UConn’s season after 13 games. No way to work out for scouts in March, April, May or June, and the MLB and its players union agreed to limit the amateur draft to five rounds and cap bonuses for undrafted players signed afterward at $20,000.<
>Nothing about this process is that simple, not in 2020. If Casparius decides to return to UConn, he could position himself to be taken early in a 20-round draft next year, but he would also risk injury and he would be a year older on draft day, which matters to teams. If he takes the 20 grand and goes for it now, he could have his pick of multiple organizations, get a head start on his ultimate goal of reaching the major leagues, but that money would run out quickly, he’d face the uncertainty of a canceled minor league season and, with so little invested in him, risk getting lost in an organization’s shuffle. He has until Aug. 1 to make a decision.<