Texas A&M’s baseball program is under new management. Aggies athletic director Trev Alberts made his first critical move at the helm, hiring former hitting coach Michael Earley to replace Jim Schlossnagle, who left the program to head the Texas Longhorns.
While Schlossnagle’s departure led to 14 players entering the transfer portal, including Jace LaViolette and Gavin Grahovac, nearly every key contributor during the Aggies College World Series Finals run voiced their support for Earley through social media. After a strong interview coupled with his recruiting/development success within the program over the past three years, the choice was clear as day.
After Sunday’s announcement, seven of the 14 Aggies who entered the portal, including up-and-coming sophomore pitcher Kaiden Wilson, have withdrawn their names since Earley’s new job title became official.
On paper, the roster is all but set, sporting a ton of power at the plate with LaViolette and Grahovac returning to the lineup, paired with transfer Gavin Kash and Wyatt Henseler putting the lineup over the top.
Pitching-wise, sophomore lefty Justin Lamkin joined Shane Sdao and Josh Stewart to make new pitching coach Josh Kelly’s life easier, but added depth in the bullpen with elite closer Evan Aschenbeck’s Aggie future still in question is still a need. Well, more help could be on the way. On Friday, D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers stated on X that more help is on the way:
“I’m expecting A&M to land 2-4 strong arms in the coming days. There’s also a position player in the mix there that I don’t think you can say no to.”
For context, Rogers tweeted this before Kaiden Wilson’s announcement, but a name to keep in mind is former Washington right-hander Grant Cunningham, who remains one of the best arms in the portal. Cunningham ended the 2023 season with a 3-4 record, striking out 56 with a 2.86 ERA.
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