2026 baseball roster thread

Yost signed, just one of those things with how his stock soared in the last few months.

 

Maybe someone else knows more but he was committed to FSU for awhile and even signed. I'm not sure what happened but he flipped to us. Few highlights are in the link, can never have too many lefty pitchers.
The Gators flip Rivers Kurland from FSU

 

From the "Slim leaves town" files, Luke Heyman signs with Seattle for $230k:

I would have been thrilled to have him back, but -- UF-FSU rivalry aside -- going into the organization that gave the world Cal "Big Dumper" Raleigh seems like a great path for him to chase his dream.

 

I'm sure he has or will sign, but anything official yet on Watson?

 

This article is from earlier today. Watson still unsigned. I read somewhere else that his slot value is $1.9 million.
Three Gators Sign Pro Contracts

 

According to the MLB.com signing tracker, he hasn't signed yet.

 

Surowiec had a good showing in the NW League all-star game.

Ethan Surowiec, 3B, Florida
Surowiec played for Ole Miss during the spring, recently entered the portal and announced he was transferring to SEC rival Florida. The Gulfport, Miss. native didn’t get a ton of playing time in the spring but he did hit .375 with a pair of home runs in 11 games, accumulating 16 at-bats. Listed at 6-foot-1, 220 pounds, Surowiec is a barrel-chested righthanded slugger with no shortage of strength. I didn’t get a great look at his defensive abilities at the hot corner, but from what I saw of him there he looked pretty light on his feet with a strong arm. Even if he does eventually slide across the diamond to first base his bat is what’s going to keep him moving up a team’s professional ladder, once he makes it that far.

Surowiec played for Ole Miss during the spring, recently entered the portal and announced he was transferring to SEC rival Florida. The Gulfport, Miss. native didn’t get a ton of playing time in the spring but he did hit .375 with a pair of home runs in 11 games, accumulating 16 at-bats. Listed at 6-foot-1, 220 pounds, Surowiec is a barrel-chested righthanded slugger with no shortage of strength. I didn’t get a great look at his defensive abilities at the hot corner, but from what I saw of him there he looked pretty light on his feet with a strong arm. Even if he does eventually slide across the diamond to first base his bat is what’s going to keep him moving up a team’s professional ladder, once he makes it that far.
A righthanded hitter, the confidence he has in his swing and ability to square the ball up are impressive. In addition to his strength, he has very good bat speed generated by strong hands and wrists with the bat exploding through the zone. In his first at-bat he just missed a home run to left-center field, instead sending a deep flyout right up to the wall to his pull-side gap. During his second at-bat he did not miss, sending a missile on the first pitch he saw to straightaway center field that bounced off the scoreboard for a solo home run and tying the game 1-1 in the top of the fourth inning.

Surowiec’s summer ended with him leading the league in hitting (.412), second in homers (11) and tied for the lead in RBIs (50). He was especially hot in the days leading up to the all-star break, hitting four of his 11 in-season home runs in a three-game stretch from July 10th to the 12th. The biggest of those games was a 4-for-6, two-home run, seven-RBI performance against Waterloo.

Surowiec’s summer ended with him leading the league in hitting (.412), second in homers (11) and tied for the lead in RBIs (50). He was especially hot in the days leading up to the all-star break, hitting four of his 11 in-season home runs in a three-game stretch from July 10th to the 12th. The biggest of those games was a 4-for-6, two-home run, seven-RBI performance against Waterloo.​

 

BaseballAmerica has Gators at an early #21

College Baseball 'Way Too Early' Top 25 Rankings For 2026

21. Florida (39-22, 15-15 SEC)
2025 result: Eliminated in Conway Regional
End of season ranking: 23rd

Florida’s outlook in early April 2025 was bleak, and it looked as if it would miss the tournament for the first time since 2007. However, the Gators’ sweep of Missouri served as a “get right” series and they proceeded to win each of their last six SEC series.

Coach Kevin O’Sullivan and his staff would like 2026 to be far less stressful than this spring, and they have the personnel to accomplish that and then some. Freshman Brendan Lawson has blossomed into a star and could be the No. 1 overall pick in 2027, while Blake Cyr, Hayden Yost and a healthy Kyle Jones and Cade Kurland make for a high-level group of returners. Columbia standout Sam Miller will also be a regular in O’Sullivan’s starting nine, while former Jacksonville outfielder Jaden Bastian is a plus defender in center field whose offensive skillset profiles well at the top of the order.

Liam Peterson and Aidan King are about as good of a rotation duo to build around, and there are a handful of viable options to join them. Luke McNeillie could be elevated to a starting role, Jackson Barberi could do the same after showing flashes as a freshman, or Central Florida transfer Russell Sandefer could earn the third starter spot. It’s a good problem to have as Florida looks to make its third College World Series appearance in the last four seasons.
​

 

That projection is 10th in the SEC and also behind FSU and Miami

 

Watson signed today, about $850k over slot:


Also, Boser signed for $150k (maximum value in Round 11-20 that doesn't burn bonus pool):

 

Afraid it will be tough next season

 

*!#?$—CHIT!

 

What the heck. He wouldn’t have been able to pitch until the end of next season anyway so my thought is maybe Sully told him he would sit the whole year in order to conserve roster spots.

 

Yeah, heard that was coming and was part of my concern. Too many people in these kids ears

 

All depends on the further development of the pitching which quite frankly has taken a major step back the last few years. Peterson is a potential top-5 pick next year and King should be a first rounder in 2027 but they both need to develop and show they can be dominant Friday and Saturday guys in 2026. With the arms returning plus the guys signed in the portal, we have to find another six or so guys who can command the strike zone and give us good innings either as a starter or out of the bullpen.

If Jones and Kurland are 100%, the offense should be pretty solid. Larson is another potential high first rounder and I believe Cyr can get back to the form he showed as a FR at Miami. The key will be the production of the transfers as the kid from Ole Miss, SS Miller, C/1B Bowen and OF Bastian all need to play well. Add in Yost, Nedeau and Caden McDonald (who is having a really good summer offensively in the Cape) and that is 11 veteran guys who can contribute.

And that is not including the FR joining the team this season. Losing the Watson kid hurts but there are six more pitchers coming in and again, Kopp needs to develop a few of those guys to be contributors not only next season but also in future years. Finally, really like the two OF’s we are bringing in, Jacob Kendall and Cash Strayer, and believe both can be really good SEC-level players.

 

@stingbb—
You make good points throughout your post but I will be extremely hesitant to put anyone in the performing at 100% category.

I agree, it would be nice to see Kopp develop somebody. I just don’t know if we’ve seen that yet or not.

 

The gap between the floor and the ceiling for next season is very wide. Four of our five best bats from last season are gone. Aside from Lawson our most promising hitters are coming off of injury (Kurland and Jones) or a huge down year (Cyr). Surowiec could end up being a key contributor if this summer is anything to go by but he didn’t get many ABs at Ole Miss. As a whole I was much higher on last year’s position player portal recruits going into the season and the only one who really panned out was Boser. I like our portal pitchers a lot more but with how disastrous pitching has been recently who knows if they’ll properly develop. Same with our vast number of returners. Pitching in theory should be our strength and they will determine our ceiling. But if it’s another rough year on the mound then I don’t know if I trust this offense to bail them out.

 

You're right about all of that, and I'm usually a glass half full type fan.....but, there is some much that has to go right and very little I am extremely confident about