The NCAA Baseball transfer portal has been open for a little over a week now, and a lot has happened during that span. Let’s get right to it with all the latest from a busy ten days.
LSU Geauxing all in
You had to know it was coming. Great coaches never waste a loss or missed opportunity as motivation for what’s next. Jay Johnson didn’t, either.
It was pretty clear before the season ended what LSU’s transfer portal strategy for 2026 would be. Jay Johnson even addressed it after one of the team’s regular-season losses. What he’s done in the portal so far has been impressive.
LSU missed on the top left handed pitcher in their backyard, Brody Trosclair, from Northwestern State. He responded by getting the No. 1 overall player in the portal, Notre Dame OF Bino Watters.
If LSU didn’t land a single other player in this cycle, the class would still be one of the best in the country and a massive success. What fans should love most about this edition of roster construction for the 2027 team is how similar it is to the football team. You’ve got elite, top end talent that you’ve acquired from the portal after landing the No. 1 player in both sports.
You also have a top recruiting class of high school studs coming in. And, this year, losing some of that talent to the MLB Draft won’t cripple your roster like it did a season ago. That’s mainly because of the retention part, which again, is just like this year’s football team.
Kiffin landed the No. 1 portal class, that’s compounded with returning talent and production from guys like Whit Weeks, Trey’Dez Green, DJ Pickett and Harlem Berry, to name a few. Jay’s roster for next year already has a foundation, especially when it comes to hitters and the lineup. Cade Arrambide, Mason Braun and Omar Serna all return for 2027, and Serna and Arrambide are legit threats to go over .300 at the plate and 20 home runs.
South Carolina Command V
That means copy paste.
That’s been the MO for coaches finding new homes lately when it comes to football and baseball portal classes. Curt Cignetti did it at Indiana when he brought 13 players with him from James Madison to Indiana and won a national title two years later. Kevin Shcnall was named the head coach at South Carolina on Tuesday, and he appears to be attempting something similar. Since his departure from Conway to Columbia has already seen 19 players leave Coastal with six of them pledge to South Carolina to follow him.
By the Numbers
The portal opened on Monday, June 1. Within 24 hours 1,400 players entered the portal. After ten days that number has ballooned to 2,239. So far just 149 players have found a new home. The portal doesn’t close until June 30, so expect this number to increase especially once the College World Series is over.
Keeping it Local
With 12 Division I baseball programs in the state, here’s a look at how many players have entered from each D1 school in the state of Louisiana, so far.
Grambling: 3
Louisiana Tech: 6
Louisiana: 9
LSU: 6
McNeese State: 7
Nicholls: 12
Northwestern State: 6
Southern: 3
Southeastern: 2
Tulane: 8
UL Monroe: 9
UNO: 14
SEC Team Totals
After day one the SEC had 49 players enter the portal. That number more than doubled over the first ten days up to 107 around the league. As of Thursday, 15 of the 16 teams in the league have had at least one player enter the portal with the lone exception being Alabama who has zero.
Here’s a look at how many players from each team have entered so far.
Alabama: 0
Arkansas: 6
Auburn: 5
Florida: 3
Georgia: 1
Kentucky: 12
LSU: 6
Mississippi State: 4
Missouri: 13
Oklahoma: 3
Ole Miss: 1
South Carolina: 22
Tennessee: 17
Texas: 3
Texas A&M: 4
Vanderbilt: 7
