Baseball America names 3 SEC powers among ‘winners’ of 2026 MLB Draft
By Andrew Olson
Published:
The 2026 MLB Draft wrapped up on Sunday evening. Around the SEC, coaches are starting to get a feel for which players will be around for the 2027.
College baseball coaches deal with all kinds of uncertainty regarding the draft. Returning players, transfer portal commitments and high school signees are all in the same pool for a 20-round. It can feel like the entire roster is deciding on whether to play in college or in the minor leagues next season.
With the dust settled on the draft, Jacob Rudner of Baseball America has weighed in on which college programs came away the strongest after the draft. He lists Tennessee, LSU and Vanderbilt as “winners” of this year’s draft.
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Signing elite high-school prospects means losing some of them to the draft, but the Volunteers entered Sunday well-positioned for 2027 with numerous top-100 recruits opting to head to Rocky Top. The news got better Sunday as some of Tennessee’s top portal commitments opted for Rocky Top over the minor leagues.
The MLB Draft has concluded.
— Ben McKee (@benmckee14) July 12, 2026
Tennessee transfer commits not picked:
– UC Irvine LHP Ricky Ojeda
– Louisville RHP Parker Detmers
– Clemson RHP Hayden Simmerson
– Baylor infielder Travis Sanders
– FIU SS Mario Trivella
UT signees who received draft buzz, but weren't picked: Jack…
Things played out similarly for LSU and Vanderbilt. The top talent of their recruiting classes went early in the draft, but the Tigers and Commodores will have some impressive newcomers on their 2027 rosters.
In LSU’s case, there were also key retentions as Steven Milam and Cooper Moore went unselected, as well as Florida transfer Cade Kurland. Rudner notes that 12 LSU signees went unselected, Cooper Sides and Kolby Stringer, plus Coleton Brady and Parker Loew.
Vanderbilt had Baseball America’s top-ranked 2027 class entering the draft. The Commodores saw some big names come off the board, but top-60 prospects Joseph Contreras and outfielder Noah Wilson notably went undrafted. Talented pitching prospects Eli Herst and Bo Holloway also went undrafted.
Tim Corbin also saved a couple of key draft-eligible pieces in catcher Colin Barczi and 3rd baseman Chris Maldonado. Rudner notes that Wake Forest transfer Matt Conte also appears campus-bound.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
