GatorCountry brings you a new podcast as we recap how the MLB draft went for the Florida Gators baseball team.
Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre break down what the baseball team will look like next year, plus we talk the recent news around the football team.
Andrew and Nick talk about how things are going since the football team has reported back to campus, plus we talk recruiitng.
TRANSCRIPT:
Andrew:                 Guys, we’re back. Nick de la Torre, Andrew Spivey. Here with the Gator Country podcast. Nick, MLB Draft came, and the Gators did pretty well. For a split second, I thought baseball was back, Nick, but they took it away from us. You and I, we love our MLB Draft, even it’s only five rounds. It was cool by me. I think Sully was over there just sipping on some Kool-Aid saying, okay, okay.
Nick:                         Yeah. The Draft couldn’t have gone any better for the Gators than it did. If you look at it, heading into the Draft everyone knew Zac Veen, the #1 kid in the class, was going to get drafted in the top 10. He was going to go. You only lose one other recruit in Coby Mayo. Then you look at it, and you’re going to get Jack Leftwich back. You’re going to get Tommy Mace back. I had joked with Tommy before last season. I said, if you just redshirt this year, you can come back and open the new ballpark. He laughed and gives me a smile, like I’m not turning down millions of dollars.
Then, obviously, the way things work out with Coronavirus and everything and the season being cancelled, doesn’t have to redshirt. He gets to open up the new ballpark. If you look at it, with Jack and Tommy coming back and waiting to hear back from Austin Langworthy, you’re looking at getting back a team that started 16-0, with a top 2 recruiting class added to it. You’re looking at getting them all back. I’m ready for the baseball season to start now.
Andrew:                 Run it back, Nick. That’s what they’re doing. They’re saying, run it back. You know, on MLB the show, where you have a great game with your buddy, and you just want to hit that rematch button and go again. Listen, I’m the first person, and I am very, very biased, because this baseball team, in my opinion, Nick, was everything I love about baseball times 100. I love a scrappy bunch of guys who go out there, and if they’re down 10-0 in the ninth inning, they still have three outs to go.
I was so looking forward to watching this team, not only covering the team with you and talking about it, but honestly, I was looking forward as a fan, because I enjoyed watching this team night in and night out just be scrappy, be aggressive, and never be out of a game. It was just, for me it was fun. I’m looking forward to it, like you said. A couple of new additions, it’ll be interesting to see. Sully’s got his work to do. We’ve seen a signee and a couple transfers already leave.
But for me, if I’m Tommy Mace, I have the best of both worlds. I had the chance to go in the Draft. I had a number. You and I know that number, but we’ve been asked not to say that number. It was, in my opinion, very realistic. He had a number that said I’ll bypass my junior year to go to the MLB for this number. If not, I’m going back, and like you said, I’m going to open the new ballpark. I’m going to be a part of one of the best teams in the country next year. I’m going to be, he should be close to graduating then. Then guess what? I’m going to back in the MLB Draft and be right back in the same position, if not higher up. He’s a year older.
Nick:                         Absolutely. The way that it works is, we talk about it, but it’s when you are a senior, like he and Jack Leftwich get to come back as juniors next year. You still have that bargaining chip of I can come back to school again for another year. You’re going to be able to bargain and negotiate for yourself in terms of next year’s Draft, and you get to come back,