HawgBeat – Arkansas baseball offseason roster tracker

The 2023 season came to a close for the Arkansas baseball team in a 12-4 loss to TCU on Monday in the Fayetteville Regional final at Baum-Walker Stadium.

With the book closed on one season, it’s already on to the next for Razorback head coach Dave Van Horn.

“You know how it is every year now with the way everything is set up with the portal and kids coming in,” Van Horn said. “You rebuild your roster every summer. It’s not going to change. That’s the way it is. If you don’t like it, you better find a new job if you’re going to coach at this level. That’s the way I look at it.

“There are some coaches that don’t like it and they got out. It’s hard to bring in a freshman and keep him happy if he’s not playing. You hope they come back, but I’m looking forward to getting this recruiting in.”

Van Horn and his staff have already done some heavy lifting towards next year’s roster by securing the No. 1 ranked 2023 class in the nation, according to Perfect Game. Of the 20 total commitments in the class, 13 are Top 100 players. The next closest team is UCLA, which has seven Top 100 players.

With those elite prospects comes the fact that most of them will be selected in the MLB Draft and most of them will sign with whatever team drafts them.

“We’re going to get smoked in the draft and we know that,” Van Horn said. “We’re going to make sure that we have it covered. The guys that get through, I hope those freshmen can help us next year.

“The guys that come back, they’ve got a lot of experience and we’ve got to get the right other guys. The grad transfers, portal guys. We’ve got to get just the right ones. It’s not about getting the superstars all over the country. It’s about getting guys that are good players and good teammates.”

Arkansas also currently has one transfer commitment — Hutchinson Community College transfer Will Edmunson. It’s to be expected that the Razorbacks will add plenty more transfers as decisions are made over the coming weeks.

Players will be coming and some will be going, whether it be to the transfer portal or the MLB Draft, which will be held on July 9-11.

Per an NCAA one-year waiver, Arkansas can have a 40-man roster and spread 11.7 scholarships between a maximum of 32 players for the 2023-24 roster. These numbers are different than the usual 35-man roster and 11.7 scholarships spread between 27 players. Returning super seniors do not count towards roster numbers, as was displayed this season with Brady Slavens for Arkansas.

With all of that said, below is an in-depth breakdown of the roster, including who the top draft prospects are, who is out of eligibility and who still has eligibility. The year classification for each player is based on what Arkansas Athletics lists them as on the official roster.

This is a fluid story that will be updated as roster changes are made. For the latest intel on Arkansas baseball roster news, subscribe to HawgBeat for access to The Trough premium message board.

Freshmen (MLB prospect ranking for 2023 draft)

~ INF Aidan Miller – No. 12

~ INF Walker Martin – No. 28

~ INF Nazzan Zanetello – No. 52

~ OF Kendall George – No. 60

~ LHP Adam Hachman – No. 97

~ LHP Hunter Dietz – No. 139

~ RHP Barrett Kent – No. 150

~ RHP Gabe Gaeckle – No. 158

~ C Ryder Helfrick – No. 197

Could Return (MLB prospect ranking for 2023 draft)

~ Junior OF Jace Bohrofen – No. 61

~ Junior LHP Hunter Hollan – No. 83

~ Junior RHP Jaxon Wiggins – No. 99

~ Junior OF Tavian Josenberger – No. 114

Unranked Players That Could be Drafted

~ Junior INF Caleb Cali

~ Redshirt junior RHP Will McEntire

~ Junior RHP Cody Adcock