You asked, so here goes...
Ya, Erstad offered 4-year scholarships which at one time was "mandatory" (it wasn't for baseball though) by the B1G. So what happened was, if Johnny High School recruit signed with a MLB team, we (B1G teams) would lose that scholarship % for x-number of years. I believe it was 2 years, but I'm not 100% positive. So Darin never went after those guys, the risk was too big - see Cole Stobbe from Millard West in 2016 as a prime example. If Johnny Husker baseball player got drafted and signed before his 4 years was up - we lost that scholarship % as well for the remaining years left. Typically it was only 1 year but if you have multiple guys, it all adds up. Towards the last couple years of Erstad's tenure, the current players signing with MLB teams rule was laxed. Heck, to go even further, at one point the B1G required "offers" and "players returning" never to exceed 11.7. Yes - ridiculous. However, it was Erstad's choice not to dig deeper to find loopholes. Status quo, not a surprise...
When Bolt took over, he found out quickly the 4-year scholarship guarantee the B1G mandated was only for full scholarship sports (football, volleyball, MBB, WBB, etc?) only, which meant baseball was exempt from the rule. So Bolt offered 1-year scholarships, regardless of who you are. It cost us a couple guys over since Bolt took over as other programs are offering 4 year scholarships without realizing that coach will pull his scholarship and punt his ass if he isn't performing. Especially in the SEC & B12. It's even worse now with NIL.
Very few schools (<15 is my best guess) turn a profit in baseball. The expenses have increased so much over the years.
Our contract with the Saltdogs runs thru 2035. It is 100% on them Hawks Field (stands, concourses, etc) is what it is. I've heard mixed reports on the locker-room and who's at fault, but knowing Osborne, Moos & Alberts love for facilities - I can't imagine it's on Nebraska, as they're in horrible condition. Not having a better on-site facility is 100% on the Saltdogs too as they want the available space for fans at their games. It's bullshit.
1890 has no interest in baseball. There are 24+ home games per season. If they really wanted to raise money for baseball then they would be present at baseball games, have advertisement (and not just Bolt on a radio spot) throughout the stadium besides the pisser and actively pursue opportunities during games. Heck, after our win against Vanderbilt - why not make a public push to generate revenue? I don't care if it's only $4,000 or $2,000 - do something to show interest! LSU's NIL sent out a blast after winning the Frisco Classic. I have no way of verifying, but I heard it raised them close to $50,000. Beating Kansas State, Nebraska & Sam Houston fucking State returned them a good number. (And they're NIL is off the charts; including scholarship guarantees to all players on the roster). All Bolt has asked for is $1M/year so every single player on the roster is on a full ride.
As far as former players with money, I had an update in this thread on page 33 or so. They want their money going elsewhere within the program & I can't blame them. Our staff is asking for all players to be on full rides. 18 is the rumored number for baseball scholarship so we're 12 short, which is around what - $400,000 give or take? Pretty sad we can't earmark this going forward to we can be somewhat competitive.