With the recent commitment of Campbell Fighting Camels outfielder Carlos Lugo, two key contributors returning to the Forty Acres, and all four signees who were selected in the 2026 MLB Draft now headed to professional baseball, Texas Longhorns head coach Jim Schlossnagle and his staff have assembled the 2027 roster heading into fall practice as the immediate focus turns towards the ability to contact 2028 recruits starting last Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re excited about our roster at this point,\u201d Schlossnagle said<\/a> last week. \u201cNeed to get these guys on campus and and start figuring out who they are and and start putting together a team \u2014 right now we\u2019re a group of players, and we have to become a team, and that takes time.\u201d<\/p>\n Putting that roster together happened during a whirlwind six weeks after Texas exited the College World Series in mid-June, the busiest time of the year in college baseball.<\/p>\n \u201cThe people that don\u2019t understand college athletics or college baseball think that when the season\u2019s over you can go on vacation. It\u2019s actually the opposite. The hours increase, they don\u2019t decrease,\u201d Schlossnagle said.<\/p>\n While four of the six high school signees ranked in the MLB.com\u2019s top 250 prospects aren\u2019t going to make it to campus \u2014 a poor hit rate compared to some other SEC schools \u2014 the Horns did have six players ranked in Baseball America\u2019s top 250 players in their signing class withdraw from the draft entirely, ensuring immediate post-draft roster certainty for the coaching staff.<\/p>\n Combined with the returns of senior first baseman Casey Borba and senior second baseman Ethan Mendoza, the overall draft results were favorable for Texas, especially for the 2027 season \u2014 while getting another elite high school prospect like third baseman Beau Peterson to campus would have help the program\u2019s long-term outlook, the experience of Borba and Mendoza raise the floor for Schlossnagle\u2019s third season on the Forty Acres.<\/p>\n Scholarship increases, NIL opportunities available to baseball players, and new eligibility rules all made the returns of both players more possible than in past years, notably so in comparison to the 40-round draft that was eliminated in 2020, as the leverage of a potential fifth season boosted their demands.<\/p>\n Another clear area of success for the Horns came in executing a portal strategy that took fewer risks with draft-eligible players. After losing three portal additions to last year\u2019s draft, including two outfielders, Texas only took two draft-eligible players \u2014 UCLA transfer outfielder Peyton Brennan and Middle Tennessee State transfer right-hander Gavin King \u2014 and both went undrafted.<\/p>\n That ensures that the entirety of the seven-man portal class, ranked No. 3 nationally by Baseball America<\/a> and including three top-25 transfers, will suit up for the Longhorns next year.<\/p>\n