Mississippi State baseball in contention for Florida LHP

The Bulldogs are one of two reported teams to be in contact with a recent transfer portal addition, but red tape may be an insurmountable hurdle.

Florida pitcher Frank Menendez (31) looks on from the mound during the sixth inning of an NCAA baseball matchup at 121 Financial Ballpark in Jacksonville, Fla. Florida State defeated Florida 14-3. | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

Mississippi State baseball’s top-ranked transfer portal class might about to be even better.

Florida lefty Frank Menendez entered the transfer portal Thursday under the Designated Student-Athlete tag (more on that in a moment) and reports have already surfaced that Mississippi State has been in contact with him.

In two seasons with the Gators, Menendez made 22 appearances, posting a 3.86 ERA in 23.1 total innings and allowing 10 earned runs, 16 walks and 26 strikeouts. Over that time, opponents had a .250 batting average.

Menendez’s 2025 season was cut short when he suffered a season-ending arm injury after five appearances. He’s ranked No. 313 overall in the transfer portal by 64 Analytics.

Designated Student-Athlete Tag

Because of the recent House Settlement, teams are able to apply the DSA tag to a player that allows the player to enter the transfer portal. The official transfer portal closed on July 1, but a special portal is open from July 7 – August 5 for players with the DSA tag.

Baseball teams have a roster limit of 34 players and this tag is a way to allow teams to get under that limit and allow those players to transfer to another school. Players can also receive the DSA tag for any number of reasons, like coming off an injury such as Menendez.

However, there are restrictions and rules that will make it a lot harder for Menendez to come to Starkville than a non-SEC school.

According to reports, a DSA-tagged player from a SEC school will have to receive a waiver to transfer to another SEC program. Knowing how some coaches can be in the SEC, obtaining that waiver will be difficult and likely rarely to happen.

Mississippi State Baseball Roster Tracker

Outgoing Transfers

RHP Will Passeau (Auburn University at Montgomery)
RHP Eli Walker
RHP Gavin Black
INF Dylan Cupp (Dallas Baptist)
INF Lukas Buckner (Coastal Carolina)
LHP Wes Pritchard
RHP Mikhai Grant
OF Landis Davila
OF Michael O'Brien (Arkansas-Little Rock)
OF Nolan Stevens (Oklahoma)
C Jackson Owen (Return to Mississippi State)
C Steven Spalitta (Louisiana Lafayette)
C Ross Highfill (Purdue)
RHP Kevin Mannell (Nebraska)
RHP Cade O'Leary (Florida State)
LHP Robert Fortenberry (Kansas State)
LHP Luke Dotson (Texas)
LHP Bradley Loftin
RHP Duke Stone (Return to Mississippi State)
RHP Jacob Pruitt

Incoming Transfers

LHP Tomas Valincius (Virginia)
OF James Nunnallee (Virginia)
C/INF Chone James (Virginia)
INF Vytas Valincius (Illinois)
OF Aidan Teel (Virginia)
INF Ryder Woodson (NC State)
RHP Maddox Webb (The Citadel)
RHP Jackson Logar (James Madison)
UTL Blake Bevis (Ball State)
RHP Tyler Pitzer (South Carolina)
C Kevin Milewski (Seton Hall)
LHP William Kirk (Virginia)
RHP Brendan Sweeney (South Carolina)
RHP Davion Hickson (Rice)
SS Drew Wyers (Bryant)
C Andrew Raymond (George Mason)