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Texas A&M baseball sees key players hit transfer portal following Jim Schlossnagle’s departure
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Texas A&M looks to be losing more than its coach from the 2024 College World Series team.
Following Jim Schlossnagle’s departure for Texas, the Aggies have seen some big names hit the NCAA transfer portal.
According to Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball, Texas A&M’s Jace LaViolette, Gavin Grahovac, Hayden Schott and Caden Sorrell have entered their names into the portal.
A 6-6, 230-pound outfielder, LaViolette will be a junior in 2025. He had a career year in 2024, hitting a team-leading 29 home runs while slashing .305/.449/.726 with 78 RBIs. He was also a sure glove, posting a fielding percentage of 1.000.
Texas A&M star Jace LaViolette hit 29 HRs this season and has 50 in 2 years. He's the best player in the portal, top prospect in 2025 MLB Draft. If he transfers to an SEC school, he'll have a good chance to break Eddy Furniss' SEC career HR record of 80.pic.twitter.com/VN5BnAy1cg
— Saturday Down South (@SatDownSouth) June 26, 2024
Grahovac, 6-2, 220 pounds, was a 67-game starter as a first-year player. Named SEC Freshman of the Year, Grahovac hit .298 on the season, with 23 home runs and 66 RBIs.
Schott is no stranger to transferring. He played at Cypress College in 2019 before junior (2022) and senior (2023) seasons at Columbia. In 2024, his first year at A&M, Schott slashed .335/.418/.498, collecting 63 RBIs with 88 hits, including 8 home runs.
A 6-3, 205-pound outfielder, Sorrell had a strong start to his career as a freshman in 2024. Sorrell made 62 appearances for the Aggies, including 48 starts. Sorrell slashed .275/.369/.555, logging 43 RBIs and 50 hits including 11 home runs.
Carter Karels of 247Sports adds that Jack Bell, Kaedent Kent and Max Kaufer are also in the portal. Kent is the headlining name of that group. He played in 51 games (24 starts), slashing .327/.414/.491 to produce 36 hits and 28 RBIs.
Aggies get some good news
It wasn’t all bad news for the Aggies on Wednesday. Shane Sdao, a standout arm lost during the postseason due to injury, announced that he is staying put at A&M.
Some interesting news on the portal front. @AggieBaseball LHP Shane Sdao annnounced he will be staying put at Texas A&M. Sdao suffered an injury in the Super Regional but should be ready to roll in the spring. Is a first-round talent with a FB up to 94-95 mph. #MLBDraft
— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) June 26, 2024
Texas A&M’s next coach will certainly be glad to have Sdao back for the 2025 campaign. The season outlook could improve if the new coach is able to reverse some of the above portal decisions.
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.
