Baseball thread for 2026 and going forward

[Sirhornsalot]

 

[Sirhornsalot]

 

[david ficken]

Texas finished ranked #5 in both Baseball America and D1 baseball.

 

[david ficken]

4 longhorn players ended up on the D1 baseball all-American teams:

Volantis and Cozart on the 1st team.

Tinney and Robbins on the 3rd team.

 

[david ficken]

Luke Harrison joins fellow Longhorns Cozart, Pack Jr, and Volantis to compete in the 2026 USA baseball collegiate national team training camp.

This is a 56 player field. There is more on this on texasports.com.

I'll try to get more info posted later.

 

[david ficken]

4:29am? Dude, get some sleep! But thanks!

Haha. I'm actually usually up Tuesday thru Thursday at 4 AM. One of the companies I co-own has health screenings on the East Coast which means some events are starting at 5AM there and is 4 AM here.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Borba returns!

 

[david ficken]

Wow!!!! They finally selected these 2 Longhorns to the National College Baseball Hall of Fame.

Bobby Layne and Houston Street to be honored on February 11, 2027 in Overland Park, KS.

Layne had a career 35-3 record with a 28-0 record in the SWC play. He was a 4-time All-SWC honore. He will anks in 7 of the top-10 career ranks. He is tied for the 4th most strikeouts in program history.

In 1946, Layne had 2 no hitters against Southwestern (16 strikeouts) and gaggy(14 strikeouts). He also recorded 4 shutouts, a school record that stood for a quarter-century.

The other is Houston Street. Street was a 3 time all-American. He is considered one of the most dominant relief/closer pitchers in college baseball history. Street helped led Texas to 3 straight trips to Omaha. Winning it all in 2002, finishing 3rd in 2093,and 2nd in 2004.

Street holds a school record 41 saves. He has an ERA of 1.31 2nd all-time at Texas. He was freshman of the year in 2002 in the Big 12 and was first team All-Big 12 3 times.

He was the 2002 CWS Most Outstanding Player in 2092 when he got a record 4 saves as Texas won it's 5th national title. After 2004 he left Omaha as the all-time leader in saves and is recognized as part of the CES Legends Team.

BTW, for those that don't think relievers are drafted high. Street was a 1st round pick and won AL rookie of the year in 2005.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Texas is set to hire Oregon assistant coach Jack Marder and former Texas/Texas A&M assistant Caleb Longley, per OTF

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Westlake kid

 

[Sirhornsalot]

 

[Sirhornsalot]

 

[david ficken]

Okay. The MLB draft is this weekend. It starts on NBC around 2 PM, I believe. After that it's on MLB TV, MLB.com, peacock streaming.


What we are losing:

J. Duplantier Sr.

Temo Becerra R-Sr

Josh Livingston Grad.

Cal Higgins Grad.

Conner McCreery Sr.

Max Grubbs Sr. To bad he had an injury this past season.

Cody Howard R-Sr

Pendergrass R-Sr

Ethan Walker: did the sr walk listed as a R-Jr

Luke Harrison Grad.

Ruger Riojas Sr.

I would expect a few of these guys getting drafted.

Others that are eligible for MLB draft:

Carson Tinney: top 3 rounds

Aiden Robbins: top 2 rounds, but could be in the 3rd round

Thomas Burns: not certain, but possible he gets drafted

Haiden Leffew: could be drafted. Not certain.

Ethan Mendoza: could be drafted. Not certain.

This covers that current team. Not certain means it's 50/50 on the draft.

Now, let dive into the freshmen class coming in.

 

[david ficken]

We are getting closer to the end of the regular season. So, as I said I would do, let's start talking about the 2026 HS signees.

These are the 3-4 that I don't believe will make it through the MLB draft in July and go unsigned by the MLB team.

1. Grady Emerson a SS and is considered the #1 or #2 draft pick. He has been the top national player for 2 yrs. He hits left handed, but throws right. He may not have the power, but can hit to any part of the field.

2. Beau Peterson a 3rd baseman, bats left side throws right handed. He may not be a 3rd baseman in the pros. He is to good of a draft prospect to not get drafted. He may be a 1st baseman or corner outfielder in the pros.

3. Trey Rangel RHP. With 4 pitches and the fastball at 96-99 mph. Haven't really seen any issues for him.

4. Brody Bumila a 6'9" 245lbs. Lefty. He has a 4 pitch with a fastball that goes from 96-100 mph. The change up closer to 90. Curve ball and slider that are in the 80s. His only issue seems to be control as he has currently 8 HBP in 19 innings.


An outside chance of being drafted is

5. Jax Robinson. Catcher great throwing arm. Works with pitchers really well. Solid at bats.


Again just a guess on my part, but most outlets that are non Texas outlets say these 5 are possible, but it's up to scouts and teams seeing who is possible in signing.

This is just 5 of the 20 signees.

Again I didn't think that Crossland and a couple of others from this freshman class would be on campus. So, the 5 listed could make it on campus.

I be getting to more of the 2026 class over the weekend.

Some interesting notes for this weekend draft.

Emerson is a top 3 pick, highly unlikely he makes it in.

Peterson has dropped, now not certain why or so if he has put something out about wanting to be playing at Texas for a couple of seasons.
AGAIN this is a BIG IF HE CHOSE to do it.

Another BIG IF IS
Trey Rangel. He has all the tools to be a starter or stopper in college. But he should be a drafted player, unless he has stated he wants to be at Texas with Coach Weiner and Coach Schloss. This would be nothing less than an awesome win for the staff.

Brody Bumila: unless he slides out of 1st rd. to maybe the 4th rd. or later he should sign with the team that drafts him. But he would need to slide down far enough for him to consider going to Texas and red shirting for a full year with the UCL/Tommy John's surgery. As he needs that brace that is a internal removed and the Tommy John's surgery done with the UCL fixed. Either Texas or a team that drafts him is sitting him for at least a full year.

Outside of these guys I don't believe or think that any others get drafted.

I need to finish the rest of the 2026 class.


Now, as for the 2027 season. We need to wait and see what happens with the MLB CBA and how certain players feel after the season.

I go over what we might lose after next season on Thursday or Friday

 

[TB14]

Okay. The MLB draft is this weekend. It starts on NBC around 2 PM, I believe. After that it's on MLB TV, MLB.com, peacock streaming.


What we are losing:

J. Duplantier Sr.

Temo Becerra R-Sr

Josh Livingston Grad.

Cal Higgins Grad.

Conner McCreery Sr.

Max Grubbs Sr. To bad he had an injury this past season.

Cody Howard R-Sr

Pendergrass R-Sr

Ethan Walker: did the sr walk listed as a R-Jr

Luke Harrison Grad.

Ruger Riojas Sr.

I would expect a few of these guys getting drafted.

Others that are eligible for MLB draft:

Carson Tinney: top 3 rounds

Aiden Robbins: top 2 rounds, but could be in the 3rd round

Thomas Burns: not certain, but possible he gets drafted

Haiden Leffew: could be drafted. Not certain.

Ethan Mendoza: could be drafted. Not certain.

This covers that current team. Not certain means it's 50/50 on the draft.

Now, let dive into the freshmen class coming in.

Of those in the "could be" drafted, I expect to lose Burns. I think he can get enough of a bonus to make it worth it. Stuff is electric. An MLB team will think they can fix the control.

I think Mendoza should get enough NIL to make it worth getting his degree and signing next draft after an improved and healthy season.

Leffew may leave if he gets a decent offer because I don't think he gets a much bigger role on the team next year. But will an MLB team find it worth it to draft him?

 

[TB14]

Some interesting notes for this weekend draft.

Emerson is a top 3 pick, highly unlikely he makes it in.

Peterson has dropped, now not certain why or so if he has put something out about wanting to be playing at Texas for a couple of seasons.
AGAIN this is a BIG IF HE CHOSE to do it.

Another BIG IF IS
Trey Rangel. He has all the tools to be a starter or stopper in college. But he should be a drafted player, unless he has stated he wants to be at Texas with Coach Weiner and Coach Schloss. This would be nothing less than an awesome win for the staff.

Brody Bumila: unless he slides out of 1st rd. to maybe the 4th rd. or later he should sign with the team that drafts him. But he would need to slide down far enough for him to consider going to Texas and red shirting for a full year with the UCL/Tommy John's surgery. As he needs that brace that is a internal removed and the Tommy John's surgery done with the UCL fixed. Either Texas or a team that drafts him is sitting him for at least a full year.

Outside of these guys I don't believe or think that any others get drafted.

I need to finish the rest of the 2026 class.


Now, as for the 2027 season. We need to wait and see what happens with the MLB CBA and how certain players feel after the season.

I go over what we might lose after next season on Thursday or Friday

Agreed that Emerson will and should go pro. Sucks but is what it is.

A lot of speculation on Bumila this week. I could genuinely see this being 50/50 right now with MLB teams weighing the medical.

Peterson has dropped a lot due to the high strike out rate in the showcases against top competition. Sounds like he could be similar to a Borba. Ton of power but bad against breaking balls. Saw Keith Law's write-up on him. But MLB teams will love the power trait so IDK if he falls too far. If I'm Texas I'd sell him to come to Texas and have an Ivan Melendez career path over taking 4th round money.

I've seen Rangel ranked anywhere from 150-200 in the rankings. If he gets picked at 150 overall he would get $500k or so for the slot. I would think he'd head to college and try to raise that rank over 3 years.

A couple of players I think you missed:
1 is Cooper Harris. The LHP has a good chance to go in the top 3 rounds and become a millionaire. MLB ranks him 76 overall and ESPN has him at 119.

Another is James Jorgenson. RHP from Dallas projects more of a 5-6 Rounder which usually isn't enough money nowadays to skip college. However, his grandfather is a former scouting director and comes from a pro family. It may be enough to persuade him to go that route.