Dom Amore: Though he may never play for UConn, Ben Casparius will eventually play pro baseball as a Husky at heart | The Boneyard

Dom Amore: Though he may never play for UConn, Ben Casparius will eventually play pro baseball as a Husky at heart

Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Messages
17,537
Reaction Score
36,440
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.<
 

uconnbaseball

Hey there
Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
6,733
Reaction Score
8,540
He could be drafted very high next year if he plays with us. 20k is really low for a professional athlete. Imagine if he were pitching against UNC in Omaha...

Will root for him regardless of his choice! Sounds like a good dude.
 
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Messages
17,537
Reaction Score
36,440
He could be drafted very high next year if he plays with us. 20k is really low for a professional athlete. Imagine if he were pitching against UNC in Omaha...

Will root for him regardless of his choice! Sounds like a good dude.

I've said it before, but it seems that MLB is intent on destroying the current minor league structure, something they were trying to do before the pandemic hit. The virus just helped MLB to advance their goals in terms of restructuring minor league baseball. Together with the tug of war between ownership and players over what to do with the current season, it also looks like the minor leagues could totally lose their seasons as well. Minor league players are being released due to the loss of their season. Professional "organized" baseball seems to to be in a total state of flux, chaos now rules. Money is not going to be a big factor for non drafted free agents to sign. Unless these players find themselves in an obviously right fit with the right organization, it would seem to me that until things start to settle down, the best option for for college baseball players is to stay out of this potential frying plan and stay in school. But that is obviously a decision each college player is going to have to make for themselves.
 
Last edited:

gtcam

Diehard since '65
Joined
Sep 12, 2012
Messages
10,924
Reaction Score
28,873
I've said it before, but it seems that MLB is intent on destroying the current minor league structure, something they were trying to do before the pandemic hit. The virus just helped MLB to advance their goals in terms of restructuring minor league baseball. Together with the tug of war between ownership and players over what to do with the current season, it also looks like the minor leagues could totally lose their seasons as well. Minor league players are being released due to the loss of their season. Professional "organized" baseball seems to to be in a total state of flux, chaos now rules. Money is not going to be a big factor for non drafted free agents to sign. Unless these players find themselves in an obviously right fit with the right organization, it would seem to me that until things start to settle down, the best option for for college baseball players is to stay out of this potential frying plan and stay in school. But that is obviously a decision each college player is going to have to make for themselves.
This pandemic has created a perfect storm for anyone in any facet of life to create havoc and force change. What it has allowed the MLB people to do to the lives of those in minor leagues and those who have worked so hard towards a dream is devastating
 
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Messages
17,537
Reaction Score
36,440
Even if Ben Casparius never plays at UConn, his stint with the Huskies looks like it will be a great advertisement to the baseball program and could potentially pay off in future recruiting dividends. At one point in the Dom Amore column Casparius talks very positively about the work ethic he encountered when he first came into contact with the players on the team:

>A year ago, certain he no longer belonged at North Carolina, Casparius arrived on the UConn campus, walked into the weight room a few hours before the Huskies were about to leave for the NCAA Regional in Oklahoma, and saw the entire team working.

“You would have thought they were four games in, not 50 games into the season,” he says. “That environment is what I was looking for.”<

Also in the column, Casparius gives a great amount of credit to the UConn coaching staff for his development as a player during his time in Storrs:

>“It’s a pretty cool feeling,” Casparius says. “It’s one more obstacle to overcome. I can either go back to UConn and start my redshirt junior year, which I’d be extremely excited for, or sign a professional contract somewhere down the road this summer. So it’s all exciting. There’s nothing to be anxious about over the circumstances. In terms of my development as a baseball player up to now, I give all my credit to the UConn coaching staff. Things really turned once I stepped on UConn’s campus. Coming back to Connecticut was probably the best decision I ever made.”<
 

Online statistics

Members online
560
Guests online
3,401
Total visitors
3,961

Forum statistics

Threads
155,762
Messages
4,030,789
Members
9,863
Latest member
leepaul


Top Bottom