Transfers

[Comebakatz3]

So far there are 6 transfers so far:

Breydon Daniel
Tanner Holen
Chase Bryan
Justin Olson
Jake Tate
Jared Payne
Alex Margot added 5.22.20

Matt Golda
Will Gambino
Sam Wibbels (these three added 5.27.20)

Jaden Brown (6.1.2020)

Post edited to continue updates.

 

[dtjr]

So how does it work for the Seniors who are transferring?

 

[Comebakatz3]

So how does it work for the Seniors who are transferring?

Daniel is a grad transfer. Not sure about Holen. Possibly the same.

 

[BlueStoops]

Daniel is a grad transfer. Not sure about Holen. Possibly the same.

247 just came out with an article with the transfer list from the SEC (so far). It has Holen as a grad transfer.

 

[Comebakatz3]

247 just came out with an article with the transfer list from the SEC (so far). It has Holen as a grad transfer.

Thanks.

 

[dtjr]

247 just came out with an article with the transfer list from the SEC (so far). It has Holen as a grad transfer.

Connor Walsh Ole Miss
Was #27 rated prospect in the Country out of high school.

 

[Comebakatz3]

UK freshman pitcher Alex Margot now in the transfer portal.

 

[MAYHOO22]

Thanks for the updates Comebakatz3.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Well, sadly there are more to add. These are big ones.

Matt Golda - starting shortstop was hitting .294. Helped move Schultz to 2nd, where he was better.

Will Gambino - Was a rookie at pitching when he came to UK as he hadn't pitched much, if any, in high school. Still, showed a ton of potential and a live arm. Had a 2.08 ERA through 4.1 innings and 6 outings.

Sam Wibbels - Most of us likely know his story. He came to UK and found out in the fall that he was suffering from Fibromuscular dysplasia. Had to have emergency surgery and sat out 2020. Was a highly regarded prospect and a 36th round draft pick in 2019.

 

[dtjr]

Where are you seeing all of these?

Why would Golda transfer?

 

[westharris]

Where are you seeing all of these?

Why would Golda transfer?

I was wondering the same thing

 

[Comebakatz3]

Where are you seeing all of these?

Why would Golda transfer?

D1Baseball.

Heard some rumors about Golda having discipline issues from the beginning. Could be just an issue with the staff.

UK I believe has the most transfers in the league.

 

[sluggercatfan]

 

[MAYHOO22]

D1Baseball.

Heard some rumors about Golda having discipline issues from the beginning. Could be just an issue with the staff.

UK I believe has the most transfers in the league.

Imagine a player having an issue with the staff. LOL

 

[dtjr]

D1Baseball.

Heard some rumors about Golda having discipline issues from the beginning. Could be just an issue with the staff.

UK I believe has the most transfers in the league.

This is not good at all.

What can Mitch B be thinking of all of this?

 

[Comebakatz3]

This is not good at all.

What can Mitch B be thinking of all of this?

Well, Barnhart is a bit of a mixed bag. He seems to be okay with some mediocrity as long as the coach is nice and what not. Still, we could have been almost historically bad this year. We played 6 games against teams that made D1Baseballs projected NCAA tournament. We lost all of them by a combined score of 11-40. In SEC play it may have only gotten worse rather than better.

 

[BlueStoops]

Well, Barnhart is a bit of a mixed bag. He seems to be okay with some mediocrity as long as the coach is nice and what not. Still, we could have been almost historically bad this year. We played 6 games against teams that made D1Baseballs projected NCAA tournament. We lost all of them by a combined score of 11-40. In SEC play it may have only gotten worse rather than better.

Just making the SEC tourney was what I was hoping for as this season went on and that’s not a good bar. He’s going to survive and be the coach next season obviously. He’s contracted through ‘22, so if he fails in ‘21, I think he would have been let go after next season as his almost 600k salary typically isn’t much for a place like UK for one year, but that may change now depending on how bad all this gets for college athletic programs. But losing isn’t good, the current/former players don’t seem happy and a brand new stadium all may go against him regardless of how much Mitch likes him and/or how the budget looks.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Adding to the list, UK will also lose Jaden Brown. This is UK's third short stop or middle infielder to go into the transfer portal in a week.

This one, IMO, is a huge loss as well. I thought Brown was going to be a stud. Ranked the 27th best incoming freshman by PG, a top 60 player overall by PG and a top 15 short stop. He was also ranked the best player in Canada.

This is pretty big because UK really doesn't have an established SS. Schultz is way better at second. So, what I imagine happens is that if Curtis is healthy he will play second and Austin will move back to short. Drew Grace and Zeke Lewis will still be on the roster, for now, in 2021. However, you lose three of those guys listed and only have Grace to fill in. We add 3 2020 graduates who play SS, but I am not sure any were as highly ranked as Brown. Not sure if we have any JUCO guys.

 

[dtjr]

Adding to the list, UK will also lose Jaden Brown. This is UK's third short stop or middle infielder to go into the transfer portal in a week.

This one, IMO, is a huge loss as well. I thought Brown was going to be a stud. Ranked the 27th best incoming freshman by PG, a top 60 player overall by PG and a top 15 short stop. He was also ranked the best player in Canada.

This is pretty big because UK really doesn't have an established SS. Schultz is way better at second. So, what I imagine happens is that if Curtis is healthy he will play second and Austin will move back to short. Drew Grace and Zeke Lewis will still be on the roster, for now, in 2021. However, you lose three of those guys listed and only have Grace to fill in. We add 3 2020 graduates who play SS, but I am not sure any were as highly ranked as Brown. Not sure if we have any JUCO guys.

Ugh.

I guess he saw he wouldn't get much playing time next season?
He didn't get any this past part of the year.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Ugh.

I guess he saw he wouldn't get much playing time next season?
He didn't get any this past part of the year.

I don't know. It would seem to me that after Golda left it would bring an opening for either Grace or Brown to fight and win the SS position.

Curtis likely returns in 2021. So, what do you do with him? We are pretty sure that Kessler will catch, TJ will play 1st, Estep will man 3rd, and Anu will likely DH. Then, if tradition holds, Shelby will be in center. Schultz will be out there in some capacity.

So, that leaves you with 3 available defensive positions:

RF - Schultz played the last 6 games of the season in right. How much of this was due to injuries, and how much of it was Schultz finding a new defensive home?
LF - Rhodes at least offensively has locked in a starting role, or so I'd think. However, Hill is coming back off of injury and played this LF spot a year ago. So, will one of those two take to the bench, will they split time, or will Rhodes head to right while Hill stays in left?
SS/2B - The logical part of me thinks Schultz is going to play 2nd. That might mean Grace is at SS. Grace had 4 starts at SS and hit a respectable .273. This would leave Lewis as the odd man out. Lewis a year ago stepped in at second when Schultz moved to RF. Lewis hit an incredible .378, but the sample size was relatively small and he did almost all of his damage against teams with RPIs above 200.

Still, the issue here is that there is not a ton of depth and that almost all of the players other than Rhodes and Grace are eligible to, or must, leave after 2021. So, we very well could have basically and entire roster overhaul after 2021. If you look at the roster there really is just no one waiting in the wings to step up after 2021.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Here is a bit of a breakdown. What we have on roster for 2020 and what we have lost for 2021:

OF:
Anu - Draft eligible
Hill - Draft eligible
Shelby - Graduate
Harmon - Draft eligible

Rhodes - Returning as a junior

(We have lost Daniel and Olson to transfer before 2021)

We have no other OF listed on the roster, so just 1 returning for what will be 2022.

1B:
Collett - Senior
Harmon - Draft eligible

(Again, we lose Olson, who was supposed to be the TJ replacement)

No other 1B listed on the roster.

2B/SS:
Lewis - Graduate
Curtis - Graduate
Schultz - Draft eligible

Grace - Returnee

(We lost depth with Brown and Golda that would have been on 2021 roster, with Brown probably being beyond 2021 had he stayed.)

So, we have just 1 returnee for those two positions for 2022.

3B:
Estep - Returnee

Estep locked down 3B probably through 2022. No others on the roster.

C:
Kessler - Graduate

Hord - Returnee

(We lost two transfers in Payne and Holen).


Overall, we will lose a whole lot after next season and for 2022 we will have to replace basically every defensive position except for maybe a middle infield position and an outfield position.

 

[Comebakatz3]

We also have the draft in 10 days. After that, I think we will see some major changes. Just 5 rounds in the draft this year, but my understanding is that teams can offer free agent contracts that must have a minimum signing bonus of $20,000. That minimum bonus might be better than what many players might receive a year from now. So, they may be eager to jump at the chance to grab as much money as possible. Also, it is very possible that the 2021 could be extremely crowded, so that will make it more difficult to get drafted next year.

If there are people jumping at the chance then our team and its dynamics could look very different. We have a lot of guys who have not really shown that they are draft-able material. Will another year change that?

Collett, Anu, Ramsey, Hazelwood, Hill, Coleman, Kessler, Curtis, Harper, Jordan, Lewis, and Shelby are all guys who are draft eligible in 2020, but none are likely to be drafted in a 5 round draft. Can they do enough to raise their stock in 2021 that they will get drafted and get a bigger signing bonus than 20k, or do they go ahead and get while the getting is good?

Then, let's say that you have Anu and Collett stay... that may convince someone like Harmon to transfer because the two positions he is likely to see time as a junior are both taken by returning players. If both or one of those leave then you see Harmon possibly become a starter at one of their positions, and we rely on newcomers for a lot of depth.

 

[BluegrassBaseball]

I see a golden opportunity in this for someone.

 

[Comebakatz3]

I see a golden opportunity in this for someone.

Very well could be. There could be some crazy shakeups before 2021.

 

[Comebakatz3]

It appears that Justin Olson is headed to Southern Nevada and Tanner Holen is headed to Cincinnati.

I have also heard that Chase Bryan may have removed his name from the transfer portal and intends to return to UK, but I am not sure of that.

 

[RogerIndy]

After a very hopeful first season, it has been nothing but downhill for Mingione since. We have the facilities that are better than most of the SEC now, although Vandy has shown that facilities aren't everything. I am so tired of us being in the cellar of the conference in baseball. We can do better.

 

[MAYHOO22]

I just looked at the 2020-21 roster. No Elliott Curtis.

 

[Comebakatz3]

I just looked at the 2020-21 roster. No Elliott Curtis.

I think he's still hurt and choosing not to enroll at UK this semester. May return in the spring semester? Not sure how that will effect his status with the team and whether it hurts his chances of making the final roster.

 

[CB3UK]

This thread did not brighten my evening

 

[jauk11]

I think he's still hurt and choosing not to enroll at UK this semester. May return in the spring semester? Not sure how that will effect his status with the team and whether it hurts his chances of making the final roster.

Thanks for the rundown, lots of info.

Does our coach know more about the team than you do, lol.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Thanks for the rundown, lots of info.

Does our coach know more about the team than you do, lol.

I know a few things, but in the grand scheme, I barely know anything.