The last two weeks we have started to see news start to leak out about a couple of Cal Baseball players starting to make their transfer plans for the spring semester. The biggest news was that Eric Jaffe is expected to become a member of the UCLA baseball team at the end of the semester break after being a 19th round selection by the Oakland A’s in the 2010 MLB Draft. (Link)
I thought this was an interesting decision as I have seen throughout the years many players stay true to the school until the end of the program.
We were able to talk with Mike Scott who was a redshirt sophomore when Providence College decided to cut their baseball program back in 1999. Scott ended up being named Big East Rookie of the Year and All-Big East First Team while picking up several All-American awards. He ended up being named to the All-Big East team twice more after transferring to UConn for the 2000 and 2001 seasons.
He stated the following about his decision to stay:
I felt that I owed it to my teammates and the coaching staff to play the last season out. The night our program was cut we made a decision as a team that the only way to get back at our administration was to win as many games as possible. My teammates were my best friends at the school, and I thought that I would be letting them down by jumping ship mid – year. I had also committed to playing for Coach Hickey and the rest of his staff, and wanted to honor my commitment to play for them – they had taken a chance on me out of high school and it was not their fault that the program was eliminated. We truly felt that we had a team that was built to compete with anybody going into the season (the 1998 team fell just short of the Big East title game: we returned the core from that team and felt that the new faces on the roster in 1999 were upgrades at almost every position), and the fact that we would be playing with our backs against the walls gave us extra motivation. Staying for the 99 season was one that I certainly don’t regret; in fact it was the best decision that I could have made.
10 comments
Scott was a starter. Eric Jaffe is an incoming freshman. Jaffe needs to make a career decision about what he thinks is the best thing for him to do personally….both academically and for athletic purposes. The Cal system is in serious financial trouble so asking a kid to stay with the “sinking ship” for simple things such as “loyalty” or “getting back at the administration” is to pull on emotions that aren’t fair to the young person.
I don’t want to see Cal Baseball get cut but to show your already looking to go to UCLA IMHO is sad. It would be sad if Jaffe could be a member of a Cal squad that made a huge run into the NCAA Tourney to get the story even more press.
we will have to see how it all works out.nGo Bears!
we will have to see how it all works out.nGo Bears!
Yep, we will see how it works out. I just wanted to get an opinion of someone that had never played for a school and why he stayed. Scott was redshirted that freshman season and then became an All-American/Big East Rookie of the Year.rnrnrnBrian FoleyrnSent on the Sprintu00ae Now Network from my BlackBerryu00ae
Will Eric Jaffee be able to transfer freely if program is truley disolved after his freshman year and not miss a year? Would he become draft eligible again if program is disolved after 2011 season? Any thoughts NCAA! rnMany players have been run off and had to sit a year to return to diamond.!rnThe ball is in his court! Go Bruins!
Yes, he will get a free transfer. That is what happened to the kids from Vermont that left after the program was dissolved including Matt Duffy who was the America East player of the Year in the final season of the program.
I 100% side with Jaffe and anyone else who wants to transfer out of Cal. The University didn’t keep their end of the bargin and the sooner the players leave the better opportunity they will have at other programs. If player X and Y are of the same ability, you better believe a coach is going to play who he has feels more comfortable with and has seen more on the practice field.
Also, not necessarily the case with Jaffe, but when these kids transfer schools they lose academic units. So, if these kids want to finish with a degree in 4 years and play college baseball they are better to leave and get started with the academic requirements of a new school.
Do we really want to talk about academics and college baseball? Most MLB squads don’t even have a single player with a bachelor’s degree.
Brian Foley
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
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