Betts: The transfer portal; an easy out or a necessary safety net?
Langley Blaze alum Justin Thorsteinson used the transfer portal to move from Oregon State University to the University of Minnesota in 2024. Photo University of Minnesota Athletics
February 14, 2025
By Matt Betts
Canadian Baseball Network
The world of college athletics is changing.
Some of which is for the better and some of it, depending on who you ask, might be for the worse.
In college baseball, the transfer portal has become a hot button topic over the past several years.
Those in favour often see it as a chance to create opportunities for players. Those opposed sometimes feel like it’s an easy out when things aren’t going a players way.
But the reality is, it’s much more complicated than that.
And what do the people being directly impacted by it think? Well, I asked.
I spoke with five Division I college coaches, four of whom are Canadian, about the system and how they view it.
Here’s what they had to say:
Rob McCoy, head coach at William & Mary
“There’s a lot of misconception about it. The thousands they always say (that are in the portal) isn’t that shocking when you think about how many per team it is. Every level, D1, D2 and D3 have to go into the portal.
“The second misconception is these kids don’t always get the choice to leave, they’re being told to leave. What do you want them to do? Stop playing baseball? Some of the conversations I have are, listen, you can stay here but you’re just not going to play, there’s not going to be an opportunity for you. Then the kid chooses to do what's best for the kid. That’s fair, it’s all fair.
“You also have situations with coaching staffs. Look around and are there situations where there’s 10-12 guys leaving every year? Maybe we have to do better there. Kids get recruited and it’s not what they’re told?
“The number of kids that go into the portal because they’re not loyal and are just trying to better their situation, if that’s 100 kids, I’d be shocked.”
Joey Hawkins (Whitby, Ont.), head coach at Missouri State University
“There’s pros and cons to everything. I think as a college baseball coach, if you want to be competitive, your biggest enemy is the unwillingness to adapt. I think we went through a phase in baseball where some coaches maybe didn’t want to adapt to technology or analytics and they got passed up.
“If you’re not looking at every area of recruiting and how it can make your program better, you’re going to fall behind.
“We have a philosophy, we build this program around bringing in high school talent and developing them. We’ve also added some kids from the transfer portal that are going to be big pieces for us this year.
“Some of that’s dealing with the draft, you lose a player, you have to add a player. Some guys leave and sometimes it’s not a good fit. You have to be honest with a kid, we don’t think you’re going to play here very much, that’s why the transfer portal is great.
“There’s negatives to it, there’s tampering, things behind the scenes. Some rosters are just straight transfer portal teams and I don’t love that. There’s no rules saying you have to do it one way. That’s what makes college baseball fun, you get to have your own plan, own philosophy and you get to see who and what works. I like how we’ve done it.”
Mike McRae (Niagara Falls, Ont.), associate head coach and pitching coach at Rutgers University
“The portal has created a form of free agency that in all honesty is absurd. I don’t think anyone originally signed up for this.
“Again, you better adapt or die in the game right now. It’s here and it’s here to stay, unfortunately.
“I think about guys I’ve had in my programs over the years and I’ve gone to their weddings, they show up and they didn’t play as a freshman. You know? Get better? You went back to work the next year and they usually got better. Now, those guys run.
“It’s both, there’s schools getting rid of those guys, as well. It’s not one sided by any means. That’s really changed the landscape of the game.
“The other aspect of it is social media. I don’t think there’s secrets anymore like there used to be. Social media has put everybody in front of every college in the country. Some players may just blossom later and be a late bloomer and their attention comes at a different time, but I just don’t think there’s any secrets anymore.”
Matt Spatafora (Scarborough, Ont.), head coach at Niagara University
“I think the portal is a good thing because it allows the kids to have a choice, whether they’re leaving your school or not.
“The grass isn’t always greener, that’s a choice everyone has to make. Sometimes you get a better opportunity, we had three pro guys this past season and all three came from the portal. They weren’t playing at the schools they were at, they needed more development and they had to get on the field a little more and now they’re pros.
“The other side is you develop guys and they leave to go to bigger programs. In that aspect, you just have to run a strong program where guys don’t feel like they need to leave all the time. They’re getting what they need, they’re fulfilled, they see that they have a chance to play pro ball, they’re getting a good degree. There’s pros and cons to both sides of it.”
Lars Davis (Grande Prairie, Alta.), assistant coach at Georgia State University
“We like the transfer portal as it gives guys an opportunity that might be locked at a different program where they’re stuck behind somebody. They’re very talented players but unfortunately they’re not getting the playing time to develop.
“The flip side of the coin is we’ve done our job, we’re a mid-major, and they want to see if they can go play at Georgia, Georgia Tech, Tennessee or Florida. I’ve told every one of our guys that comes through my office that wants to enter their name in the portal, best of luck to you. I understand it. If the Toronto Blue Jays are going to call me, I’m probably going to entertain that, as well.
“There’s good, there’s bad. The hardest part sometimes is the misconception that the grass is always going to be greener on the other side of the fence. There have been some players that have gone in that haven’t landed, which is unfortunate.
“I think it’s a very beneficial thing, I just think it’s become a bit of the wild west.
“I do think there needs to be more guard rails in place. I did particularly like the one year rule. You could transfer one time, the next time you wanted to go in, you had to sit out a year and it limited the amount of times guys went in. I think that was a great thing.
“The best way we’ve done it here is establish our culture and have guys want to come back. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side, it’s greener where you water it.”