Transfer Portal Tracker: Florida Bolsters Roster, as MLB Draft Looms

With the college baseball transfer portal officially closed for new entrants, the Florida Gators wind up losing seven players to the portal from this season’s roster.

Five of the seven were pitchers and the other two were catchers Brock Clayton and Cole Bullen. While players are no longer able to enter the portal, Florida can continue to add players who have already entered.

So far, the Gators have added six new pieces to the roster, all at positions of need. This includes right-handed pitchers Ricky Reeth (Notre Dame) and Russell Sandefer (UCF), who add much-needed depth for a pitching staff that could be losing more pieces to the MLB Draft later this month.

That would include Jake Clemente, Pierce Coppola, and incoming freshman Aaron Watson, who is the 45th-ranked prospect according to MLB.com.

Reeth went 4-2 with a 4.31 ERA in 22 appearances this season, all in relief, and had a 43-and-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Reeth has one year of eligibility remaining. Sandefer toed the rubber 18 times for the Knights, with a 2-3 record and 3.38 ERA. Most of Sandefer’s time came in relief, but he did start six times. He will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Maybe the best pitcher added was Freshman Big West Pitcher of the Year Cooper Walls (Hawaii). The 6-foot-5 righty was phenomenal for the Rainbow Warriors this season, posting a 3.73 ERA with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 45-to-16 in 60.1 innings pitched. Walls will have three years of eligibility remaining.

The Gators needed to address another position behind the plate, as catcher Luke Heyman could leave for the draft if he decides to forego his senior year. So to be safe, Florida went out and added a pair of two-way catchers – AJ Malzone (Wabash Valley College) and Karson Bowen (TCU).

Malzone, a catcher/DH, hit a whopping .372 as a freshman at Wabash and will come to Gainesville with three more years of eligibility. Bowen on the other hand, a catcher/first baseman, comes over from the Big 12 where he hit .333 with four homers and 28 RBIs. Bowen is draft-eligible and could sign with any MLB team in the upcoming amateur draft.

One of the better additions was speedy outfielder Jaden Bastian from Jacksonville University, who was one of the best mid-major players to hit the portal. Bastian brings that missing speed element, something Florida lacked significantly this season. His 36 stolen bases ranked 17th in the nation, which is an instant upgrade for a team that was 78th in stolen bases.

Speed is not the only thing Bastian brings to the field – he also has some juice in that bat of his, slugging .302 on the year with 11 homers and 33 RBIs. He will enter Florida as a junior with two years of eligibility.

Florida currently ranks 26th in the transfer portal class, according to 64Analytics, but the coaching staff still has work to do. Many of the Gators’ top performers have a chance to return for another run, but they’ll wait to see if their names get called in the draft later this month.

The staff may try to go out and snag another pitcher or two, along with an outfielder to add depth at injury-plagued positions. They also might explore adding another infielder to strengthen the roster.