2021 Season

[ChooChooCat]

The thing that bothers me is JJ left because he thinks LSU is better. How did we let it get to that point. Heeke needs to answer that IMO

LSU has more money, more resources, and better fan support than we do. There is plenty that is Dave Heeke’s fault, but none of that is.

Jay is a workaholic who has no children. LSU needs a guy like that because the demand on the coach there is beyond ridiculous. The last coach is retiring because he’s worked himself to death. Jay also doesn’t know wtf to do with pitching so he needs the most money possible to afford the best pitching coach he can. Arizona can’t match that. It is what it is and it’s not changing until George Kliavkoff can do something about our finances.

[azcat49]

Javier Morales
@JavierJMorales
·
2h
I got feel that Dave Heeke was a riled up a bit today about Chip Hale’s qualifications to be head coach at Arizona and the program’s lofty place in national landscape of college baseball (with Johnson leaving to LSU). I picked that up more than just general talk about a hire.

[azcat49]

The thing that bothers me is JJ left because he thinks LSU is better. How did we let it get to that point. Heeke needs to answer that IMO

LSU has more money, more resources, and better fan support than we do. There is plenty that is Dave Heeke’s fault, but none of that is.

Jay is a workaholic who has no children. LSU needs a guy like that because the demand on the coach there is beyond ridiculous. The last coach is retiring because he’s worked himself to death. Jay also doesn’t know wtf to do with pitching so he needs the most money possible to afford the best pitching coach he can. Arizona can’t match that. It is what it is and it’s not changing until George Kliavkoff can do something about our finances.

I know you weren’t excited about a HiCo remodel but how many more fans would we get if you didn’t have to sit your butt on those hard aluminum bleachers?

I wholeheartedly agree about JJ and his use of the pitchers. That’s why I give Lawn a pass for 2019 because that was all on JJ and how he used the scholarships in recruiting.

Not sure anyone noticed but JJ hired a pitching coach at LSU. He is the pitching coach at ASSU, Kelly. Interesting hire I think

At the CWS an article said JJ was the second highest paid coach there so while our programs do suffer because of the poor leadership our salary here was pretty impressive given the participant schools (3 from the SEC and Texas)

[ChooChooCat]

The thing that bothers me is JJ left because he thinks LSU is better. How did we let it get to that point. Heeke needs to answer that IMO

LSU has more money, more resources, and better fan support than we do. There is plenty that is Dave Heeke’s fault, but none of that is.

Jay is a workaholic who has no children. LSU needs a guy like that because the demand on the coach there is beyond ridiculous. The last coach is retiring because he’s worked himself to death. Jay also doesn’t know wtf to do with pitching so he needs the most money possible to afford the best pitching coach he can. Arizona can’t match that. It is what it is and it’s not changing until George Kliavkoff can do something about our finances.

I know you weren’t excited about a HiCo remodel but how many more fans would we get if you didn’t have to sit your butt on those hard aluminum bleachers?

I wholeheartedly agree about JJ and his use of the pitchers. That’s why I give Lawn a pass for 2019 because that was all on JJ and how he used the scholarships in recruiting.

Not sure anyone noticed but JJ hired a pitching coach at LSU. He is the pitching coach at ASSU, Kelly. Interesting hire I think

At the CWS an article said JJ was the second highest paid coach there so while our programs do suffer because of the poor leadership our salary here was pretty impressive given the participant schools (3 from the SEC and Texas)

Oh Hi-Co needs a renovation desperately, but I don’t make my coaching hire based on that. I make it based on who wins the most and then the money will naturally follow for the Hi-Co renovations.

Btw I fully expect Chip to have a very good team next year. He will have a very good season with what was left for him. The key to how good he actually is is how much he wins in years 3,4,5.

[ChooChooCat]

Javier Morales
@JavierJMorales
·
2h
I got feel that Dave Heeke was a riled up a bit today about Chip Hale’s qualifications to be head coach at Arizona and the program’s lofty place in national landscape of college baseball (with Johnson leaving to LSU). I picked that up more than just general talk about a hire.

The butthurt over Jay leaving for a “better program” was very very intense and was the predominant reason the only two guys considered for this job were AZ guys.

[azcat49]

That’s the million dollar question isn’t it. Can he recruit or maybe it’s will he.

Maybe that’s why Heeke kept calling us “iconic” and “best” as a way of the program recruiting itself in some way for awhile.

I am hoping that Heeke is so upset at being the AD that let a baseball coach use us as a stepping stone that he goes all in on making sure Hale has everything he needs to succeed and he shoves it right down JJ’s a$$

[azcat49]

Javier Morales
@JavierJMorales
·
2h
I got feel that Dave Heeke was a riled up a bit today about Chip Hale’s qualifications to be head coach at Arizona and the program’s lofty place in national landscape of college baseball (with Johnson leaving to LSU). I picked that up more than just general talk about a hire.

The butthurt over Jay leaving for a “better program” was very very intense and was the predominant reason the only two guys considered for this job were AZ guys.

Now that clears it up perfectly Choo, thanks.

I do wonder how instrumental Byrne was in recommending JJ to Woodward?

[Postmaster]

Title 9 is stupid for causing a sport with 40+ players to only have 11.5 scholarships.
There has to be a better solution.

But, now maybe Click or Moreno can offer each player an endorsement equal to tuition.
Oh, wait....

[AzCatFan2]

There are three areas that make up college coaching in my opinion. Recruiting, teaching, and then game management. A coach doesn't have to be great in all three areas to succeed, but it certainly helps. Being poor in one area, and success is difficult.

Recruiting is said to be the lifeblood of college sports, but if you can't coach 'em up and make good game decisions, you still won't win. See Sumlin at TAMU. Consistently recruited top 25 classes, but had teams that rarely finished in the top 25. Why? Poor teacher of the game, and questionable in-game decisions. When Sumlin got to Arizona with less talent, we got even less wins, which really isn't a surprise.

And while kids entering college now have more experience playing sports than ever, they still have a lot to learn. Lute was a great recruiter, but always thought his strength lied in his ability to teach the game at an expert level. I was fortunate to be able to attend Lute's practices back in the day before they were closed, and each one was a master class. Also why many of Lute's player went on to have successful playing careers, because they had an incredible, solid foundation in the game.

Third and final is making the right, in-game decisions. This is the skill that pro coaches/managers need the most, as there is little to no recruiting, and not a lot of teaching going on the pros. Also why a lot of college coaches struggle in the pros, because you can be a great recruiter, great teacher, and above average in-game coach and win in college. But same guy will struggle in the pros, because his/her best attributes aren't being used.

Which brings us to Chip Hale. Pretty much everyone has said he is a great teacher of the game. Probably why he did well in the minors. Tough to say about in-game decisions, because with the D-Backs, he didn't have that much to work with. But again, he seemed to push all the right buttons during his minor league tenure, and has been trusted enough to by third-base coach/top assistant for major league clubs. The big question, of course, is can Hale recruit and handle a roster that is extremely underserved by the number of scholarships available?

Good news is we don't need a master recruiter for Arizona Baseball. It's a top program that has 4 National Championships and several, recent World Series appearances. I hope Hale can keep most of the roster together, because nothing helps a program recruit like winning. And if Hale is truly the great teacher many believe, then this can be a really good hire. If not, let's hope Heeke and Robbins are gone before we have to hire somebody else.

[azcat49]

So I saw an article where Heeke supposedly looked and talked to 10 candidates. Would love to know who those guys were.

Also was trying to go some math with the roster. Assuming each position player gets the minimum .25 of a scholarship and pitchers get .50. If we have 10 arms then that is 5 ships and assuming we get 5 to return that would be 2.5

Assuming we have 12 position players returning that would be 3 ships so We have another 6 ships where we could add 4 arms (2 ships) and several other position players.

Not sure how we divide the scholarships but I know they have to get at least .25 of a ride. I would assume certain players like Susac or a Berry might get .50 but JJ often talked about putting more ship money into pitching. Would love to learn the method to that madness

[Merkin]

Title 9 is stupid for causing a sport with 40+ players to only have 11.5 scholarships.
There has to be a better solution.

But, now maybe Click or Moreno can offer each player an endorsement equal to tuition.
Oh, wait....

Men's lacrosse, ice hockey, and track and field have more scholies than baseball.

The women's programs have 14 sports with 12 or more scholies. Rowing has 20!

All due of course to football having 85 and Title IX like you said.

https://scholarshipstats.com/ncaalimits

[ChooChooCat]

So I saw an article where Heeke supposedly looked and talked to 10 candidates. Would love to know who those guys were.

Also was trying to go some math with the roster. Assuming each position player gets the minimum .25 of a scholarship and pitchers get .50. If we have 10 arms then that is 5 ships and assuming we get 5 to return that would be 2.5

Assuming we have 12 position players returning that would be 3 ships so We have another 6 ships where we could add 4 arms (2 ships) and several other position players.

Not sure how we divide the scholarships but I know they have to get at least .25 of a ride. I would assume certain players like Susac or a Berry might get .50 but JJ often talked about putting more ship money into pitching. Would love to learn the method to that madness

The 10 candidates are likely among the group you think they are. It didn’t matter though, it was either going to be Waz or Chip. Once Oregon matched what we offered Waz, it was Chip and that was it.

[ChooChooCat]

There are three areas that make up college coaching in my opinion. Recruiting, teaching, and then game management. A coach doesn't have to be great in all three areas to succeed, but it certainly helps. Being poor in one area, and success is difficult.

Recruiting is said to be the lifeblood of college sports, but if you can't coach 'em up and make good game decisions, you still won't win. See Sumlin at TAMU. Consistently recruited top 25 classes, but had teams that rarely finished in the top 25. Why? Poor teacher of the game, and questionable in-game decisions. When Sumlin got to Arizona with less talent, we got even less wins, which really isn't a surprise.

And while kids entering college now have more experience playing sports than ever, they still have a lot to learn. Lute was a great recruiter, but always thought his strength lied in his ability to teach the game at an expert level. I was fortunate to be able to attend Lute's practices back in the day before they were closed, and each one was a master class. Also why many of Lute's player went on to have successful playing careers, because they had an incredible, solid foundation in the game.

Third and final is making the right, in-game decisions. This is the skill that pro coaches/managers need the most, as there is little to no recruiting, and not a lot of teaching going on the pros. Also why a lot of college coaches struggle in the pros, because you can be a great recruiter, great teacher, and above average in-game coach and win in college. But same guy will struggle in the pros, because his/her best attributes aren't being used.

Which brings us to Chip Hale. Pretty much everyone has said he is a great teacher of the game. Probably why he did well in the minors. Tough to say about in-game decisions, because with the D-Backs, he didn't have that much to work with. But again, he seemed to push all the right buttons during his minor league tenure, and has been trusted enough to by third-base coach/top assistant for major league clubs. The big question, of course, is can Hale recruit and handle a roster that is extremely underserved by the number of scholarships available?

Good news is we don't need a master recruiter for Arizona Baseball. It's a top program that has 4 National Championships and several, recent World Series appearances. I hope Hale can keep most of the roster together, because nothing helps a program recruit like winning. And if Hale is truly the great teacher many believe, then this can be a really good hire. If not, let's hope Heeke and Robbins are gone before we have to hire somebody else.

Great post. Jay Johnson for instance was successful because he is a fantastic teacher of how to hit and he was a fantastic recruiter. His game management skills left a lot to be desired, but when you can teach bats and recruit you’re going to have a good team. He just needed someone to work on the arms and insert Yeskie and voila! CWS team.

I’m not sure what Chip is good at. Can he teach bats like Jay? Can he recruit? So many fricken questions to answer that were absolutely unnecessary going into this hire. Arizona could’ve landed a proven recruiter and a proven pitching or hitting guy. Instead it went for all question marks because Arizona guy is all that mattered to the boosters/alums. Such a stupid decision. It may work out and I hope it does, but that doesn’t make this hire any less moronic. I haven’t even gotten into hiring Dave Lawn to coach pitching again. Good luck…

[ekat]

I haven’t even gotten into hiring Dave Lawn to coach pitching again. Good luck…

This right here is my biggest issue. As a pitching coach, Lawn was demoted to defense whatever title they gave him, and we promptly rocketed to last place in the conference in fielding percentage. I am having a hard time seeing an upside to keeping him, much less promoting him back to pitching coach, which makes me seriously question this whole hire.

I can agree that Arizona is going to recruit itself in many ways. Just look at the talent assu brought in despite how bad Tracy Smith was at the whole teaching, managing a roster, in game decisions, etc. and they haven’t sniffed a CWS a in a very long time. But historically they’re a good program. And now they’re a good program with a new coach because Smith was that bad.

If I weren’t a Wildcat, I would be fascinated to watch which alumni hire will be more successful, Hale, or Bloomquist.

[Postmaster]

I listened to part of the press conference.
I heard chip reference doing things the right way at least twice.
As in not cheating. I thought that was odd.

[AzCatFan2]

There are three areas that make up college coaching in my opinion. Recruiting, teaching, and then game management. A coach doesn't have to be great in all three areas to succeed, but it certainly helps. Being poor in one area, and success is difficult.

Recruiting is said to be the lifeblood of college sports, but if you can't coach 'em up and make good game decisions, you still won't win. See Sumlin at TAMU. Consistently recruited top 25 classes, but had teams that rarely finished in the top 25. Why? Poor teacher of the game, and questionable in-game decisions. When Sumlin got to Arizona with less talent, we got even less wins, which really isn't a surprise.

And while kids entering college now have more experience playing sports than ever, they still have a lot to learn. Lute was a great recruiter, but always thought his strength lied in his ability to teach the game at an expert level. I was fortunate to be able to attend Lute's practices back in the day before they were closed, and each one was a master class. Also why many of Lute's player went on to have successful playing careers, because they had an incredible, solid foundation in the game.

Third and final is making the right, in-game decisions. This is the skill that pro coaches/managers need the most, as there is little to no recruiting, and not a lot of teaching going on the pros. Also why a lot of college coaches struggle in the pros, because you can be a great recruiter, great teacher, and above average in-game coach and win in college. But same guy will struggle in the pros, because his/her best attributes aren't being used.

Which brings us to Chip Hale. Pretty much everyone has said he is a great teacher of the game. Probably why he did well in the minors. Tough to say about in-game decisions, because with the D-Backs, he didn't have that much to work with. But again, he seemed to push all the right buttons during his minor league tenure, and has been trusted enough to by third-base coach/top assistant for major league clubs. The big question, of course, is can Hale recruit and handle a roster that is extremely underserved by the number of scholarships available?

Good news is we don't need a master recruiter for Arizona Baseball. It's a top program that has 4 National Championships and several, recent World Series appearances. I hope Hale can keep most of the roster together, because nothing helps a program recruit like winning. And if Hale is truly the great teacher many believe, then this can be a really good hire. If not, let's hope Heeke and Robbins are gone before we have to hire somebody else.

Great post. Jay Johnson for instance was successful because he is a fantastic teacher of how to hit and he was a fantastic recruiter. His game management skills left a lot to be desired, but when you can teach bats and recruit you’re going to have a good team. He just needed someone to work on the arms and insert Yeskie and voila! CWS team.

I’m not sure what Chip is good at. Can he teach bats like Jay? Can he recruit? So many fricken questions to answer that were absolutely unnecessary going into this hire. Arizona could’ve landed a proven recruiter and a proven pitching or hitting guy. Instead it went for all question marks because Arizona guy is all that mattered to the boosters/alums. Such a stupid decision. It may work out and I hope it does, but that doesn’t make this hire any less moronic. I haven’t even gotten into hiring Dave Lawn to coach pitching again. Good luck…

Hale is supposed to be a good teacher of the game. The evidence offered is his success in the minors, which are made up of rosters mainly of college aged kids. Especially in the lower levels.

Hale's success in the minors also suggests he's a decent in-game manager. Being a third base coach and top assistant also suggests trust for his in game decision making.

That's two out of three where Hale supposedly excels. Recruiting is the biggest question mark.

[ChooChooCat]

Hard money on Sergio Brown coming back and being Chip's other assistant.

[azcat49]

Good stuff Choo. He was solid when he was with Lopes. Andy’s influence there?

[ChooChooCat]

Good stuff Choo. He was solid when he was with Lopes. Andy’s influence there?

He wasn't here with Lopes. He was here the early years of Jay Johnson's tenure, before he hired Yeskie.

[ChooChooCat]

Guys who are getting drafted for sure today:

Branden Boissiere
Ryan Holgate
Donta Williams
Chase Silseth

Guys who may get drafted today:
Kobe Kato
Tony Bullard
Garrett Irvin

Recruits likely to get drafted:
Tyler Whitaker
Damiano Palmegiani

Recruits who may get drafted today:
Josh Randall
Anthony Susac

If a guy gets drafted in the top 10 rounds then he is signing. There's only a handful that don't year in year out. So keep your fingers guys like Bullard and Susac, who will both be very important, don't get drafted today.

[Irish27]

Ryan Holgate was just picked 70th overall by the Cardinals.

[Irish27]

Branden Boissiere picked 82 overall by the Nationals.

[Irish27]

Donta Williams picked 106th overall by the Orioles.

[azcat49]

Really hoping Donta makes it to the show. Love his story and a very good rep for our program. All those guys are good

That slot value for Holgate was over 900k so all three should have a nice paycheck/signing bonus soon

[AzCatFan2]

Donta was a player I really enjoyed watch grow as a player. You could tell he really put in the work to make himself a better player. So happy it paid off with a good draft slot! And I too hope he makes it to the show.

[ekat]

I freaking love Donta’. I wish him (and the others) the best.

[84Cat]

Gil Luna went in the 9th round (275th overall) to the Chicago White Sox

[ChooChooCat]

Chase Silseth taken in the 11th round.

[azcat49]

Choo, any info on the reception of Hale with the current players? All JJ guys and I also wonder how they felt about his leaving the program.

Any thoughts on why he didn’t take Yeskie to LSU?

[ChooChooCat]

Kobe Kato taken in the 13th round by the Astros

[ChooChooCat]

Choo, any info on the reception of Hale with the current players? All JJ guys and I also wonder how they felt about his leaving the program.

Any thoughts on why he didn’t take Yeskie to LSU?

The guys that stayed were and are still very pissed at Jay. I’m not sure how the reception of Hale has been, but obviously he’s going to get every shot to win their hearts.

Yeskie wasn’t married to working with Jay and preferred the situation at A&M.

[ChooChooCat]

Damiano Palmegiani was just selected in the 14th round by Toronto (he’s also from Canada). We really need him next year, so we’ll see what happens.

[Irish27]

[Chicat]

Trip Couch

Why did his parents have to do him like that?

[azcat49]

Damiano Palmegiani was just selected in the 14th round by Toronto (he’s also from Canada). We really need him next year, so we’ll see what happens.

Have to assume this is a recruit? Position
Player or pitcher?

I would like to think these guys might see they would get at worst minor league training with Hale and could improve their draft position. Might be a first tell on what he does with respect to Hale and the program.

I don’t know this SC guy and ge would come all the way across the country to coach and recruit? Must have known Hale when is was in the Dbacks organization

[UAEebs86]

Trip Couch

Why did his parents have to do him like that?

They were big fans of the Dick Van Dyke show I'm thinking.

[ChooChooCat]

Damiano Palmegiani was just selected in the 14th round by Toronto (he’s also from Canada). We really need him next year, so we’ll see what happens.

Have to assume this is a recruit? Position
Player or pitcher?

I would like to think these guys might see they would get at worst minor league training with Hale and could improve their draft position. Might be a first tell on what he does with respect to Hale and the program.

I don’t know this SC guy and ge would come all the way across the country to coach and recruit? Must have known Hale when is was in the Dbacks organization

Sorry, yes he’s an incoming JUCO guy who belted 26 homers last year. His position is a bit in question, but good chance his future is at 1B and we have a hole there that he would slot in right away.

The SC guy is a former DBacks scout and coached predominantly at University of Houston. I don’t believe he’d come as a coach, he’s more likely to be the recruiting coordinator/player development guy.

[Chicat]

Trip Couch

Why did his parents have to do him like that?

They were big fans of the Dick Van Dyke show I'm thinking.

Not Three’s Company?

[Merkin]

Trip Couch

Why did his parents have to do him like that?

They were big fans of the Dick Van Dyke show I'm thinking.

[ChooChooCat]

Austin Smith was taken in the 18th round. No more recruits were drafted. These guys have until August 1st to sign, so we wait and see what decisions Kato, Smith, and Palmegiani make.

[azcat49]

Kato is in the portal right? Not sure why he would transfer. Seems like limited options. I didn’t see where anyone said he was drafted

[84Cat]

Kato is in the portal right? Not sure why he would transfer. Seems like limited options. I didn’t see where anyone said he was drafted

Kobe Kato taken in the 13th round by the Astros

[ChooChooCat]

Kato is in the portal right? Not sure why he would transfer. Seems like limited options. I didn’t see where anyone said he was drafted

Kato is not in the portal.

[Irish27]

[azcat49]

I will defer to those in the know (Choo) but it seems like a solid hire. Guess we will know in 4 years or so

[Irish27]

From the South Carolina website, it says Trip helped recruit the 2020 signing class at Carolina, which was a consensus top-10 class and ranked as high as No. 4 by Perfect Game. He also coached the outfielders the past two seasons, including Brady Allen, who was a fifth-round pick by the Miami Marlins in the 2021 MLB Draft. Under Couch's tutelage, the Gamecocks advanced to the 2018 NCAA Fayetteville Super Regional, was one win away from Omaha in that season and hosted the 2021 NCAA Columbia Regional.

[ChooChooCat]

I will defer to those in the know (Choo) but it seems like a solid hire. Guess we will know in 4 years or so

At this point it isn’t clear if he’s the second assistant hire or more of a recruiting coordinator hire. I will say if he is the second assistant, it’s absolutely a bold move to have a staff that’s made up completely of old white guys in their mid-50s. Couch is also predominantly a Texas area guy, which isn’t out of our territory or anything, but is far from our bread and butter. I’m not saying he and this staff can’t recruit, but recruiting is a young man’s game typically. I dunno…it just seems like so many unnecessary risks being taken in this program. Fingers crossed it all works out.

On another note, Chip landed his first recruit and he’s a highly regarded local out of Salpointe.

[Irish27]

I will defer to those in the know (Choo) but it seems like a solid hire. Guess we will know in 4 years or so

At this point it isn’t clear if he’s the second assistant hire or more of a recruiting coordinator hire. I will say if he is the second assistant, it’s absolutely a bold move to have a staff that’s made up completely of old white guys in their mid-50s. Couch is also predominantly a Texas area guy, which isn’t out of our territory or anything, but is far from our bread and butter. I’m not saying he and this staff can’t recruit, but recruiting is a young man’s game typically. I dunno…it just seems like so many unnecessary risks being taken in this program. Fingers crossed it all works out.

On another note, Chip landed his first recruit and he’s a highly regarded local out of Salpointe.

I think Chip will be able to recruit Arizona and California pretty well. Many of these recruits dads know who he is.

[Irish27]

[azcat49]

He should be known in the Phoenix area and that is a recruiting hot bed. SoCal as well, so I agree Irish.

I do also agree with Choo concerning recruiting being a young guys game. Have to wonder how much he wants to pound the phone and watch meaningless baseball games just to show young kids you want them in your program