A few Thursday afternoon updates:
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(Signing info courtesy Dustin McComas at Orangebloods.com)
Players (underclassmen or commits) who have agreed to terms with their MLB teams
- Jones has agreed to sign with the Royals. He's gone.
- Pflughaupt has agreed to sign with the Rays. He's gone.
Players (underclassmen or commits) who have not yet agreed to terms:
- Cooper: he will sign with the Dodgers
- Kennedy: high probability he will sign with the Rockies
- Johnston: high probability he will sign with the Nationals
- Boswell: he will sign with the Rockies
- Schimpf: high probability he will sign with the Giants
- Mathis: high probability he will sign with the Astros
- Mayes: high probability he will sign with the Royals
- Lutz: he will sign with the Brewers
- Leach: he will sign with the Twins
- Diaz: wavering at this point about signing with the Red Sox
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My take-
From the looks of things, all 11 of the current UT players that were on the roster and got drafted will probably sign major league contracts. Mathis may be the one that
could return, but that's a very small percentage.
So, about that rebuild.......
Pierce and Co. have several JUCO players lined up to fill the pipeline and will need solid production immediately from them. (This is a very smart move IMO, and shows that this staff has been thinking ahead of the immediate season when they were hired last summer.)
Newcomer Kamron Fields could make an early impact as well, depending on how the staff wants to utilize him. There still may be a few late adds with the opening of additional roster spots vacated by the departure of Sosa and the players listed above.
Let's look at the possible lineup for next year:
P: Kingham, Ridgeway, Henley, Shugart, McKenzie, O'Hara, Robinson, Bocchi, Fearon, Ivey, Quintanilla, Stevens
C: McCann, Cantu, Gauntt (FR)
1B: Hibbeler, Zubia (FR)
2B: Kody, Baker
SS: Hamilton
3B: Reynolds
OF: Todd, Shaw, Fields (FR), Hibbeler
There will also be some other frosh that are coming to The 40 that could challenge for time.
The keys to 2018 will be three-fold
- Leadership; with the departure of Kacy, Jones and possibly Mathis, this team will have to find new leaders. Look to Kody, Baker, Shaw, McCann and Cantu to step up. Any combination of that group will have to.
- Pitching; losing so many arms to the draft creates a need for innings, and not just a body on the bump. The remaining staff of Shugart, Ridgeway, Henley, Kingham, McKenzie, O'Hara and Parker Joe Robinson will have to produce. The JUCO and FR arms will also need to come in and be productive immediately.
- Team; with so many additions of new faces and personalities, these guy will have to gel as a team early in the fall. We should see how this is working out by the time we get to the Orange/White Fall World Series.
Stay tuned, Seamheads, this is gonna be a brand new Longhorn team, and I think there is a lot to be excited about!
HookEm!
