The Cape Cod League and other summer baseball leagues have seen a stark decline in participation over the last four years. College baseball coaches are prioritizing retention over development in the transfer portal era but Brewster Whitecaps field manager Jamie Shevchik wants to be clear that it is a two-way street.
He will happily withhold information from anyone who withholds his players from him.
This latest threat comes amid a concerning trend for summer baseball leagues like Cape Cod. What used to serve as a developmental platform for top college baseball talent has become a feeding ground for high-level coaches in need of a specific position.
The Cape Cod League is in decline.
According to Baseball America, the number of hitters in the Cape Cod League with at least 100 college at-bats dropped from 53 in 2018 to just 29 in 2025. The current pool of hitters lacks experience.
The same can be said for pitchers. Pitchers who threw more than 20 innings on the collegiate level dropped from 58 in 2018 to only 2025 in 2025.
To go even one step further, only 60% of Division-I baseball players who were drafted in the first round of the MLB Draft participated in summer leagues in the summer before their draft. That number is down 18% since 2018.
What is causing the drop?
The transfer portal in college baseball serves as the primary catalyst for this frustrating tend. College coaches used to view summer leagues as an important piece of the developmental pipeline.
Their players would get additional experience against high-level talent, as well as additional perspective. They might even unlock something with their swing or with their windup that would bring them back to campus as a much better player than when they left.
Not anymore. Most college baseball coaches are now choosing to keep their best players at home instead of sending them off to a summer league.
Pitchers only have so many innings on their arms. And with the rise of elbow injuries across the sport, it is probably better for their health not to throw when they are not in season.
Perhaps more importantly, summer league participation allows players an additional opportunity to be seen by other college coaches. A breakout summer could lead to their exit from their current program.
For example, if a school like Alabama or Stanford needs a pitcher, it might encourage a summer league star from another program to enter the transfer portal. The same can be said for hitters.
A first baseman who plays for a school like, say, Bryant could hit .500+ with 15 home runs over the summer. LSU could then offer him with the chance to transfer up.
Summer baseball coaches are fed up.
A large number of college baseball coaches now prefer to keep their players at home to avoid losing them in the middle of the summer. Others might choose to bring one of their breakout players back to campus during the summer league season to avoid too much exposure.
As a result, summer league teams are shuffling through as many as 20 players per season, compared to just nine or 10 a decade ago. Their managers are fed up and fighting back.
Take Jamie Shevchick for example. The field manager for the two-time Cape Cod League champion Brewster Whitecaps will not serve as a resource to any college coaches who hold their players at home.
“Pretty simple, if you are pulling your players early or not sending your players out at all, then don’t call me asking which guys are in the portal,” he wrote. “It’s a 2 way street, I’m not the guy fighting for a front row seat to listen to you speak at the convention.”
Fair enough. Why should he help them if they won’t help him?!