WVU Transfer Portal Signee Owen Henne Unlikely to Make it to Morgantown

One of the top players West Virginia landed in the transfer portal, shortstop Owen Henne (Seton Hill), is expected to pass on his opportunity with the Mountaineers and sign with the St. Louis Cardinals. He has until July 27th at 5 p.m. ET to sign his contract with St. Louis.

Henne was selected in the sixth round of the 2026 MLB Draft (175th overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday. The slot value for that pick is $383k, so assuming he gets an offer close to slot value, he won't be in a Mountaineer uniform next season.

WVU head coach Steve Sabins may have hinted at Henne's likely decision in a congratulatory post on X, stating, “Didn’t get to coach Owen Henne, but he gets to join the other Mountaineers with the Cardinals. Congrats to Seton Hill baseball. Those guys do an incredible job developing great players.”

Henne burst onto the scene in 2024 when he hit .375 with eight home runs and 54 RBI. This past season, he increased his average to .401 and hit five homers with 39 RBI.

If, for some reason, Henne surprisingly turns down the Cardinals' offer and comes to Morgantown, he would almost certainly start at short, bumping Matt Ineich over to second, which is probably the best spot for him defensively anyway.

There are multiple ways to replace Henne for WVU

Option 1: Move third baseman Tyrus Hall back to his original position (short), start JUCO product Ryan Piekutoski at third, and move Matt Ineich to second.

Option 2: Keep Hall at third, Piekutoski as the DH, keep Ineich at short, move Armani Guzman to second.

Option 3: Move Guzman back to third, move Hall to short, bump Ineich over to second, and Piekutoski as the DH.

Option 4: Keep Hall at third, move Guzman to short, slide Ineich to second, and Piekutoski as the DH.

Option 5: Keep Hall at third, Piekutoski as the DH, keep Ineich at short, start Matthew Robaugh OR Colton Sims at second.

There are several other ways to sort this thing out, but it's not like losing Henne would leave West Virginia in a tight position. They have a ton of versatile players who can play multiple positions, giving Sabins a ton of flexibility. Sure, having Henne in the lineup would sure be nice for Sabins, but this team is still in good shape. The coaching staff knew when they recruited him that this was a possibility, so it's far from a surprise.

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