Summer is long gone, and sports enthusiasts are shifting their attention to football, hockey and basketball. But some of the best deals come during the off-season, and a Vineyard collegiate summer baseball team is one of them.

With seven months until opening day, the Carminucci Sports group announced yesterday that Island resident Gerry Murphy has been named general manager of the new baseball team, while Norton High School baseball and football coach Ted Currle has been tapped to coach the team. Mr. Currle led his baseball team to the state championship last year, and will begin recruiting as soon as possible.

“We’re going to go out for top level players,” Chris Carminucci said yesterday in a telephone interview. “Many will be from Massachusetts . . . and we’ll be able to showcase them to their family and friends.”

He said a contest is being planned to come up with a name for the team. “The biggest thing is this is a Martha’s Vineyard team. We want people who live here to come up with this name . . . we want this to come from the people,” he said.

Vineyarders are encouraged to e-mail their ideas to mvbaseballgroup@gmail.com. The winner will be given VIP seating for the season, which includes personalized Adirondack or anti-gravity chairs, stored at the field for convenience. VIP seating will be available to others in the community as well.

The Carminucci Group received permission from the high school committee in September to enter into a lease arrangement with the school to use the field during the summer. High school baseball coach Gary Simmons and committee member Bob Tankard were prime backers of the plan; Mr. Tankard will be vice president of baseball operations.

Mr. Carminucci and his partner Darren Harrison-Panis are still working to secure a league for the new team; the Cape Cod League and New England Collegiate Baseball League are out, but they are exploring other options.

“We’ve spent a lot of time on the Island talking to people and what they want to see there; it’s going to be extremely family friendly,” Mr. Carminucci said. “We come from a minor league world.”

The next step is recruiting volunteers for the season, slated to begin around June 15 and last through mid-August.

“Volunteers are a huge component to this and getting the community involved,” Mr. Harrison-Panis said. “Everything from grilling to host families to bringing kids to the game. We want everyone to get involved as much as they want.”