Free Transfers Revisited
John Granato: A&M story shows serious flaws with NCAA's transfer rules
Aug 23, 2018, 6:50 am
Jimbo Fisher and his A&M staff are in the news. Andy Lyons/Getty Images
A while ago I wrote an article addressing the college transfer rule. The NCAA has been avoiding it for decades. It’s time to get back on that pulpit.
USA Today’s Dan Wolken wrote an article the other day about former Aggie linebacker Santino Marchiol who transferred to Arizona. In an attempt to not have to sit out a year Marchiol came forward with accusations about Jimbo Fisher’s program. Besides being unhappy about how the training staff handled his ankle injury he threw in a couple of stories about assistant coaches watching unauthorized workouts and giving cash to host unofficial recruiting visits.
This offseason the NCAA came up with this exception to the transfer rule to placate Ole Miss players who were disenchanted with the program due to sanctions for cheating: they would be able to play immediately at their new school if they were able to document “mitigating circumstances that are outside student-athlete’s control and directly impact the health, safety and well-being of the student athlete.”
It’s a great idea. If coaches are overzealous, cheat and get caught, why are innocent players punished for it? I never understood that. Good for you NCAA. You got it right.
But…
It also opened the door for a guy like Marchiol to come out and accuse his former team of misdeeds so he can play right away.
First of all, the only thing that impacts Marchiol’s health and well-being would be how the training staff at A&M handled his ankle injury. That’s arguable and will be looked into. The other accusations are headline grabbers and quite frankly weak ones. That coaches watch workouts and throw a few hundred at players to entertain recruits, while wrong, are a pimple on the ass of improprieties.
You want improprieties? Go to Penn State, Baylor, Michigan State or Ohio State. Now those are improprieties.
A&M will have to face the music and pay for its crimes as they should and we will all move on.
But this is only the tip of the iceberg. I talked to a former NCAA official and he says there will definitely be more of this coming. Players only get five years to play four. That year they have to sit when they transfer is valuable, valuable enough to turn in a rogue coaching staff. Here’s an idea. If you don’t want players to snitch on you for cheating, don’t cheat. Novel but pretty simple.
Every coach is on notice now. There are 100 or so potential whistleblowers out there roaming the sideline. “Don’t play me? Guess what. I’m transferring and calling the NCAA.”
I’m pretty sure this won’t sit well with the coaches. But their fight is more with their basketball counterparts than the NCAA. College basketball coaches have been the most adamant about the transfer rule remaining unchanged. With only five starters the bball coaches think they would have total anarchy on their hands if they allowed free transfers.
The only sports that make it penal to transfer are football, hockey, and men’s and women’s basketball. In all other sports the athletes can transfer and play immediately.
This football offseason the NCAA did address the other limitations that were put on the players. On top of sitting out a year, coaches had the ability to block players from transferring to certain schools. They can’t anymore. Now if a player wants to transfer he gives his name to the athletic director who puts it on a website for every coach to see. It’s more or less a waiver wire and it’s a move in the right direction. But it’s not enough.
Two other transfer solutions have been looked at. One was a player with a 2.8 can transfer anywhere and play right away. The thought being that someone with better grades will have a chance to transfer and still graduate which should be priority one in every decision they make. It was nixed because they thought there would be racial overtone backlash. They’re probably right. The ACT and SAT have been catching flak lately. The NCAA didn’t want any part of that.
The other option was that everyone gets one free transfer. Would this create anarchy? Maybe. But we’re asking 18-year olds to make lifelong irrevocable decisions when they choose their college. Wouldn’t it be great to get a mulligan? Not according to coaches.
But having a bunch of potential snitches waiting to pounce as soon as they transfer may be the impetus to change. I’m sure a coach would prefer the player getting that free pass rather than getting turned in and facing minor or major infractions.
If we get a few more snitches to come forward trying to get that free year we may see an emergency NCAA caucus calling for a free transfer policy “which has long been overdue for the student-athlete because after all,” they would say, “all we care about is doing what’s best for the student-athlete.”
Yeah right.
All the NCAA has ever cared about is bringing in that basketball tournament money.
The good news is that if their unintentional attempt to do the right thing for the Ole Miss players turns into all players having the freedom to transfer then so be it.
Even if it takes a few snitches to get it done.
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If the Astros were going to win one series and lose the other on their six-game road trip out of the All-Star break, they got it right in taking two out of three games at Seattle then losing two out of three to lousy Oakland. Had they inverted those results, the Astros would not be alone atop the American League West starting this weekend’s series against the Dodgers at Minute Maid Park.
By the schedule the Astros’ sledding now gets tougher. The Dodgers are rolling toward their 11th National League West crown in 12 years, despite their pitching staff having been battered by injuries every bit as much as the Astros’. The Astros will face three rookie starters this weekend. National League Rookie of the Year candidate (non-Paul Skenes division) Gavin Stone goes Friday. Saturday it’s Justin Wrobleski making his fourth big league start, Sunday River Ryan makes his second. 325 million dollar addition Yoshinobu Yamamoto last pitched June 15. Tony Gonsolin is out for the year without throwing a pitch. Clayton Kershaw’s first pitch Thursday marks the first of his season. Tyler Glasnow’s Wednesday return from the Injured List means the Astros won’t face him this weekend.
Aside: Astros’ fan favorite Joe Kelly is back in the Dodgers’ bullpen. He was activated from the IL out of the break, so the opportunity to welcome him back to Minute Maid Park looms!
After the Dodgers, the Pirates hit town with Skenes slated to pitch Monday opposite Jake Bloss. Gulp. Hey, in one game, you never know. Skenes has been the most electric rookie pitcher since Dwight Gooden with the Mets in 1984.
Sleepless in Seattle
The Mariners’ unraveling has reached historic proportions. It’s not easy losing six straight matchups with the lowly Angels but the Mariners were down to the challenge and pulled it off. The M’s have stumble-bummed their way to a 9-20 record over their last 29 games. That’s actually a better winning percentage than the Astros’ had after staggering from the starting gate to a 7-19 mark. Like the Astros did, the Mariners can right their ship, though if they don’t add quality offense before Tuesday’s trade deadline it seems unlikely. Seattle has scored more than two runs in one of its last eight games, the only win among those eight when the Mariners got to Ronel Blanco and Seth Martinez Sunday to avoid an Astros’ sweep. Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers whipping up on the laughingstock Chicago White Sox this week has their World Series title defense very much alive and a threat to overtake both the Astros and Mariners.
The trade deadline is this Tuesday
Tick-tock toward Tuesday’s 5PM Central Time trade deadline. General Manager Dana Brown is on the clock. Let’s start with starting pitchers. Tarik Skubal! Garrett Crochet! Jack Flaherty! Any would be a fabulous addition. If Brown acquires one, he will have done phenomenal work cajoling the trade partner into thinking the Astros’ offer the best. Frankly it seems impossible. The Orioles are in the starting pitcher market. Their farm system runs laps around what the Astros have. Numerous other teams on the hunt for pitching have higher rated minor league talent. The Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys are having a fabulous season, but until the Astros Thursday moved up soon to be 24-year-old Jacob Melton (who was batting just .248 with a .307 on-base percentage at Double-A Corpus Christi) there was not one non-pitcher of any consequence younger than 25 on the roster. Pedro Leon, Shay Whitcomb, Will Wagner, and include Joey Loperfido: it would be shocking if any of them can be the best player in an offer good enough to land one of the potential big trade fish. All four of them wouldn’t be enough to land a Skubal or Crochet.
On the hitter side, if the Blue Jays shop Vlad Jr. and/or the Rays take offers for Paredes, of course Brown better try. Either would be a sharp upgrade over Jon Singleton, and Guerrero can’t become a free agent until after next season, with Paredes under team control through 2027. Reality check time. Seattle’s offense is in dire straits. The Mariners have four prospects rated higher than any Astros’ prospect. If the Mariners didn’t make a winning offer over what the Astros proposed, Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto would look like a timid clown.
That said, there will be several second and third tier starters and relievers moved who would boost the Astros. If Spencer Arrighetti and Jake Bloss are both still in the Astros’ starting rotation after the deadline, Dana Brown will have failed. That said, the Astros could well stand pat and win the Mild, Mild West. They could also finish third.
Go for the gold!
With the Olympics underway, a medal podium-style ranking of the Astros’ greatest trade deadline acquisitions:
No medal but cannot be omitted: Randy Johnson. It was a brief fling with “The Big Unit” in 1998 but it was spectacular. It elevated Houston as a baseball city. In 11 regular season starts Johnson went 10-1 with a 1.28 earned run average. He threw shutouts in his first four Astrodome starts. He spiked attendance like no other player in franchise history. Even though the San Diego Padres beat Johnson twice (Johnson pitched fine, the Astros scored two runs total in the two games) and bounced the Astros in a National League Division Series, and prospects Freddy Garcia and Carlos Guillen included in the deal both went on to have excellent careers, it was a trade that in hindsight you make 100 times out of 100.
Bronze: Jeff Bagwell. Reliever Larry Andersen was outstanding in helping the Boston Red Sox win the AL East in 1990, but the BoSox got swept in the ALCS and Andersen left as a free agent. Bagwell has the greatest offensive resume in Astros’ history (I know, I know, postseason aside) and is quite arguably one of the 10 greatest first basemen of all-time.
Silver: Yordan Alvarez. He has longevity to prove but to this point in his career, while not the all-around player Bagwell was, Yordan is clearly the more destructive force in the batter’s box. Throw in his three monstrously significant home runs in the 2022 Astros’ title run, and his awesome 2023 postseason, and what could still lie ahead for him and the Gold could be his if we revisit this topic 10 years from now. Imagine the Dodgers if they hadn’t gifted Yordan to the Astros for Josh Fields.
Gold: Justin Verlander. Astros’ World Series championships pre-JV, zero. With him, two. Even though his World Series resume is terrible. The finishing piece to the Astros’ initial championship winner in 2017 with a 1.06 ERA in five starts ahead of winning the 2017 ALCS MVP, a second crown in 2022, two Cy Young Awards and a Cy runner-up. Interesting decision to make for the cap on his Hall of Fame plaque. Much more body of work with the Tigers but the championships and legend cemented with the Astros.
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.