THE ISSUE:
College baseball and professional baseball are very different. For example, college baseball is played with metal bats, while professional baseball is played with wooden bats. Therefore, MLB teams need to develop their players themselves, regardless of their college experience. That’s why the MLB installed the minor league system, to develop players for a few years after they’re drafted. Until recently, MLB players were paid very well, minor league players were paid very poorly, and college players weren’t paid at all. As a result, to get to the MLB money quicker, most top high school prospects would skip college and draft right out of high school. Even the few that went to college, would leave as quickly as possible. In accordance, college baseball lacked talent and wasn’t very entertaining. In July of 2021, all of that changed.
THE SOLUTION:
On July 1st, 2021, NIL money became legal for college athletes. NIL stands for N-Name, I-Image, and L-Likeness. What this means is that while colleges still cannot pay athletes directly, the athletes are allowed to sign brand deals to make money off of their popularity, or in the words of the NCAA: their name, image, and likeness. In accordance, the colleges are allowed to work with brands to get their players better NIL deals.
NIL deals earn these kids much more money than they would earn playing in the minor leagues. As a result, many more of the top high school prospects have begun playing college baseball. Not only are they playing college baseball, but they’re also sticking around for multiple years. This has caused the level of play in college to spike. This spike has forced a lot of programs to up their games and develop their players in a more professional style. This has resulted in the players coming out of college much more “pro-ready”. The 2023 MLB draft is living proof. Prospects usually spend multiple years in the minors, yet 2 of the first 3 college kids selected in July of 2023 are already playing for their big-league clubs (Pick 1: Paul Skenes, Pick 4: Wyatt Langford). The AL MVP frontrunner, Aaron Judge, spent almost 3 years in the minors, while these kids only spent a couple of months. Altogether, NIL allows ballplayers to make more money in college and shortens the lowest-paying part of the process.
THE STARS:
As I mentioned above, the level of play in college baseball has spiked. The 2023 tournament was incredibly entertaining, and so far, the 2024 tournament has been even better. The top prospects who chose to play college ball have made a large impact. The stars choosing to stay for multiple years have been equally impactful. Rhett Lowder and Jac Caglianone are a perfect example of each.
In 2020, Rhett Lowder was one of the top high school pitchers in North Carolina. Since there are over 600 picks in each MLB draft, he could’ve easily been drafted, instead, he chose to play college ball for Wake Forest. Last June, Wake Forest faced LSU in the college baseball World Series semi-finals. The two teams split the first two games of best of 3 series. In the winner-takes-all game 3, Rhett Lowder took the mound for Wake Forest. His matchup was LSU’s ace, arguably the best college pitcher ever, future first-overall pick, Paul Skenes. Lowder and Skenes put on a battle for the ages. In the greatest pitchers' duel college baseball has ever seen, both starters threw over 7 scoreless innings. While LSU did eventually win the games in extras, Rhett Lowder had made a huge contribution to the game. The pitchers' duel was noticed across America and drew thousands to watch the Finals. Sure enough, the next week, college baseball broke its record with 3.6 million viewers tuning in for the third game of the finals.
On the mound to start that very game for the Florida Gators was their two-way superstar, Jac Caglianone. The 20-year-old Sophmore had been great all season, both on the mound and at the plate. Caglianone put up a .323 batting average while launching 33 home runs in only 71 games, in total a ridiculous 1.126 OPS. Meanwhile, on the mound, he pitched 75 innings over 18 starts and struck out 87 batters. Caglianone and junior outfielder, Wyatt Langford were the best one-two punch in college baseball and had carried the Florida Gators all the way to the College World Series Finals. Florida got crushed by LSU in game 3 and fell one win short of winning the national championship. After their season ended in heartbreaking fashion, the Florida duo were expected to both be top 10 picks in the upcoming MLB draft. Langford was selected 4th by the Texas Rangers, but Caglianone elected to return for another season in Florida. In November, Caglianone signed a record-breaking NIL deal with Rapsodo. I imagine that the NIL money had a major impact on his decision to stay. In Caglianone’s junior year, he became one of the most entertaining college baseball players we’ve ever seen. So far, he’s batting .411, with a 1.392 OPS, and has already matched his home run total from last year in only 62 games. This past weekend, Florida faced Clemson, the 6th-best team in the country, in a best-of-three series with a trip to the College Baseball World Series (8 teams qualify) on the line. Clemson showed why they were ranked so high by scoring 4 runs in the first 3 innings. In the 5th inning, down 4-2, Jac Caglianone stepped to the plate with a pair of runners on base. With one swing, Caglianone put the Gators ahead 5-4. Florida never looked back and went on to win 10-7. The next night, Caglianone took the mound for Florida. He ensured he’d get run support by hitting a home run himself in the first inning. He pitched 6 solid innings and struck out 6 batters. Unfortunately, Florida’s bullpen let Caglianone down, and Clemson scored 5 runs between the 8th and 9th, to send the game to extra innings. Fortunately, in one of the greatest back-and-forth battles I’ve ever seen, Florida prevailed 11-10 in the 13th inning.
These games were incredible, entertaining, and historic. None of them would’ve ever happened if it wasn’t for NIL. Until recently, college basketball was electric, college football was electric, but college baseball was dull and unwatchable. However, times have changed. College baseball now has superstars and they’re must-watch television. The College Baseball World Series tournament in Omaha starts this weekend. The tournament will feature exciting stars, such as Jac Caglianone, Christian Moore, Braden Montgomery, and many more. I would not want to miss it. Claim your team now, before it’s too late! I’m going with Christian Moore and the Tennessee Volunteers.
Here are links to recaps of the two incredible games I mentioned above:
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