Good fortune had followed Jay Johnson when it came to the MLB draft.
William Schmidt. Derek Curiel. Jake Brown. Jared Jones. They were all high-profile high school prospects who passed up MLB for the chance to play for Johnson at LSU. The Tigers’ streak of luck played a big part in the program capturing two national titles in three years.
But last month, that trend dried up. LSU lost eight high school signees to MLB despite being crowned national champions a few weeks earlier.
“You don’t always have control over those things,” Johnson said Wednesday. “Some guys made a decision that they thought playing for the Chicago White Sox is what they wanted to do.”
LSU entered the draft with the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation, according to Perfect Game, meaning that the losses took a large chunk of what otherwise would have been the core of future teams.
As a result, LSU had to be aggressive in the transfer portal in the days after the draft.
“I feel like we recovered from what that was,” Johnson said. “Professional baseball throwing around $2 million like it’s candy.”
After the draft, LSU added Division II right-handed pitcher Dax Dathe, Kansas transfer right-hander Cooper Moore, Grand Canyon transfer first baseman Zach Yorke and Oregon State transfer third baseman Trent Caraway.
The new veterans, combined with the six transfers Johnson added before the draft, result in LSU heading into next season with an older team.
Dathe is a seven-year senior. Yorke is a senior, as is High Point transfer infielder Brayden Simpson. Kansas State transfer infielder Seth Dardar is heading into his sixth season of college baseball.
“I love talking to (Dathe),” Johnson said, “because he is like 30 years old.”
LSU’s age particularly shows with position players. Besides the incoming freshmen, the only hitter who isn’t draft-eligible in 2026 is sophomore catcher Cade Arrambide.
LSU added five freshman positional players this offseason, including catcher Omar Serna and outfielder William Patrick, who were ESPN top-150 prospects in the 2025 draft. But there is still a better chance than not that LSU will have to heavily remodel its position player group after this season.
Sophomore Derek Curiel, junior Steven Milam and junior Jake Brown should receive plenty of interest from MLB. Senior Chris Stanfield will be out of eligibility. Caraway already has passed up two opportunities to be drafted (he could’ve been picked last month) and likely won’t turn down a third.
“It did turn out that way a little bit,” Johnson said. “I think we’ve shown a good aptitude to develop players and then reload as we need to.
“We’ve got a really good 2026 (recruiting) class. What a great opportunity for them to be the guys that say, ‘I’d rather play at LSU than sign for $1.5 million.’ What a great opportunity for the best players in the transfer portal next year. So I’m going to focus on who we have.”
The balance between veterans and newcomers doesn’t exist as much with the LSU pitchers. A strong sophomore class led by right-hander Casan Evans means the Tigers should have a group of pitchers returning for a third season in 2027. Johnson added only four freshman pitchers.
The Tigers will try to repeat as champions with a team that’s built to win in 2026. As for 2027 and beyond, Johnson likely will have to piece it together with a drastically different looking group.
“I’m going to focus on kind of who we have,” Johnson said.