Florida State came a game away from returning to the College World Series for the second-straight year, but fell short, and now a bevy of offseason questions need to be answered.

For starters, the Seminoles should lose a chunk of the roster that carried them deep into the postseason, similar to what happened in 2024. Jamie Arnold should be a top-five pick when the Draft rolls around in June, Alex Lodise and Max Williams should also be early-round selections, and quite a few other veterans will need to make a difficult choice of staying in school or turning pro.

There are also obvious needs within the roster that must be addressed in the transfer portal if Florida State wants to remain in the upper echelon of college baseball teams. The bullpen in general, but specifically, a left-handed high-leverage arm, should be one of the first priorities for Link Jarrett in his staff. The Noles could not dictate matchups with their right-handed-heavy bullpen in 2025 and need to increase their options next season. FSU also needs to add a power right-handed bat in the outfield. Max Williams’ departure opens up a spot and the Seminoles were too left-handed dominant in their lineup last season. With Myles Bailey, an LHH, headlining FSU’s lineup in 2026, he needs to be protected by an RHH either behind or in front of him.

What the portal looks like as a whole for college baseball will be fascinating. On the one hand, it should be a madhouse with 14 of the 16 SEC teams who did not make it to Omaha looking to course correct and break through in 2026 by throwing gobs of money at players. However, college baseball will be the first sport operating under the new House settlement guidelines. Could that make it a fairer and normal market? Only time will tell.

A season ago, Link Jarrett saw how his team lost in Omaha and tried to plug those holes in the portal. Outfield defense became a struggle to end the year, so he grabbed Chase Williams and Gage Harrelson to give him three center fielders in the outfield. He realized that to defeat high-quality SEC lineups, he needed more velocity in the bullpen, so he found Peyton Prescott and Maison Martinez to run up the radar gun. The direction he takes this offseason will reveal a lot about what the manager feels his team fell short on and what FSU must do to get over the hump.

Roster Departures:

TRANSFER PORTAL
6’1 200lbs
LHP, 1B OF
RS freshman (Spent last 3 seasons at FSU had TJ during the first 2 years)
All Years of eligibility left.
Fb 87-88 T90 CH 78-80 CB 72-74
Pitching video, and swings from yesterday summer ball (Harrisonburg Turks ~ Valley league)
813-727-3735 pic.twitter.com/yPbOiCpQnz

— Mason McDougall (@MasonMcDougall7) June 2, 2025

Transfer Portal Additions:

– INF Eli Putnam (Davidson): 64Analytics and Noles247 reported last Wednesday that Eli Putnam would transfer to the Seminoles for his redshirt senior season. Putnam was named First-Team A-10 in each of the last two years and went .349/.419/.660 in 2025 with 19 homers. Putnam mostly played 1st base with the Wildcats, but with that position filled by Bailey, he will most likely move somewhere else on the infield.

High-School Recruits: