re: LSU Baseball 2026 (and beyond) Recruiting Thread

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The older I get the more I try to temper my expectations when it comes to almost everything in life but it’s getting hard to not be really excited about next years team. Snag a couple more pitchers who can throw strikes and we will be in for some fun

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Honestly same. Baseball is the only sport I truly am 100% invested in. I want the others to do well but if they don't they don't.

That's weird. So Milam, Park, and Kurland are all going to change positions??

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FWIW Jason Armstrong believes Milam could play 2B next year.

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that’s a pretty bad take for him and I like his pod. Milam is probably the best fielding shortstop in school history and has been one of the best in the country the last two seasons. Also I don’t he would come back to change positions. Also i didn’t know this but it seems like milam and kurland were travel ball teammates for a couple of years.

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I don't see how Jay would work hard to get Milam back and then not place him at SS when he has talked about him being the best defensive SS at LSU.

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The only legitimate reason where moving Milam moving from SS to 2B makes sense is if there’s truth to rumors about Milam’s health (rumblings about playing thru a labrum issue which may require surgery. I’m not saying this is established as fact).

I listened to Jason Armstrong’s video on this and neither point he tried to make is persuasive to me. They’re both easily debunked by simple baseball logic.

The first reason he cited is that Milam is protectable as a 2B in pro ball, not a SS. While I don’t disagree with that statement by itself, I find it hard to believe that such a fact being true is the reason or even a reason to move him from SS to 2B in college. First of all, Milam already played an entire year of college ball at 2B and did so at an elite level. Pro teams don’t need more “tape” on Milam playing 2B to know whether or not he could stick there in pro ball. That’s his natural landing spot on a professional field. Few, if any, pro teams are going to give him a look at SS due to his stature. Secondly, unlike SS, even if Milam had never played 2B in college, pro teams still do not need to see a player play at 2B in his senior year in order to project Milam at 2B, especially after he played back to back stellar years defensively at a much more difficult position in SS. This happens with countless players every year. Milam is already projected at 2B, likely universally, and has been pegged at 2B for quite some time now. More “work” at that position will not move the needle from a projectability standpoint.

The second reason he cited is because Park is a natural SS who also projects as a SS in pro ball. Again, I don’t disagree with that statement by itself. However, I find it hard to believe that it is a reason or the reason to (1) promise the SS position to a player transferring from a mid major program with a questionable off the field concern when you (2) already have an existing and returning player who is, at least at the collegiate level, objectively elite defensively at the SS position. While Park would not doubt stand to gain something personally to his professional projectables by playing SS at the power conference level, that reason doesn’t benefit the collective team of LSU. And I highly doubt Jay would do that as he is a team before me guy every day of the week. It flies against team-focused logical decision making.

This is all aside from the fact that Jay also has repeatedly stated Milam is the best defensive SS in LSU baseball history. The stats back that up. Jay would not cast that aside for the reasons cited by some of these social media pundits.

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Just for fun talk I would like to know opinions on where Milam would rank if he was on the list of current transfer portal players list if he was in the portal

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im biased but right there with Watters.

Career .300 hitter with a ~.950 OPS and 10 HR/year in the SEC, elite bat to ball with a sub 10% k rate, elite defender at the most important defensive position, CWS experience, objectively better hitter in the post season.

I don’t really see who could top that in the portal thus far.

Remember when Burrreauxxx said he wasn’t a “star”?

Some dude on Rant claiming we are aggressively pursuing his nephew - 3B from GA St with a number of SEC teams in play. Not sure where that would leave Park.

Maybe Park is like Simpson and taking a chance on himself with no leverage due to how he ended things at TXST. Thought I saw where Parks is highly rated for 2027 draft as well.

All very interesting.

With that being said Im still pulling for Wachs and some RP.

Can Park play CF?

Yeah.

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Milam moving from SS to 2B

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He's not. The plan is for Park to play 3B. Of course, he may now feel differently than he did a few days ago. With that said, here's your middle infield as far as Milam's mom is concerned. There is no coincidence that these two withdrew their names from the draft at the same time.

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Here's something cool I found when Milam and Kurland were playing together back in 16U
https://www.usabaseball.com/news/top-tier-roos-american-claim-16u-national-team-championships-nc-gold-in-extra-in

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Neither team was able to bring across a run in the eighth but a Steven Milam leadoff double in the ninth scored Ben Oosterbaan with international tie-breaker rules in effect to give Top Tier as 8-7 advantage.
Cade Kurland finished the scoring in the top of the ninth by providing two insurance runs with a double that scored Walley and Milam for the final 10-7 score.

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