By: James Gravley | WV Sports Chat
Armani Guzman? Ryan Maggy? Ben Lumsden? Those are just a handful of names that have been tossed around to replace Sam White at third base next season for West Virginia.
White, who was not drafted in the MLB Draft, did however sign a UDFA deal with the Toronto Blue Jays, as it was announced on Friday.
Guzman is an interesting case here. He can play any position with extreme reliability, but I’d expect him to be the starting center fielder in 2026, as I do believe Skylar King, who was drafted by the Boston Red Sox to sign with the club. That though has not been confirmed or denied at the time of this writing.
With infielders Ellis Garcia, Chase Swain, Spencer Barnett, and Alex Marot all hitting the transfer portal this offseason, that leaves a bleak outlook on the third base position.
Also cannot forget that Grant Hussey, who mainly was a first baseman is out of eligibility along with Brodie Kresser. However, Kresser does have one year of eligibility remaining if he wants to use it and return to WVU. Both Hussey and Kresser have not signed UDFA deals, and WV Sports Chat has learned that Kresser likely won’t sign an UDFA contract.
With Guzman potentially taking over in center field, and losing half of the infield to the portal, and only having one commit out of the portal that is a true infielder in Matt Ineich, that leaves the option to three guys.
Ineich, Maggy or Lumsden.
Maggy likely moves over to first base so that takes him out of the equation, for now. He has impressed defensively at third base with the Appalachian League Tri-State Coal Cats this summer.
Lumsden is a primary outfielder but can play other positions as needed pretty solid as well. But expect him to stay in the outfield in 2026.
Ineich, who transferred in from Ohio would be my guess to take over the third base spot for WVU. Last season with Ohio he hit .387 with three home runs and drove in 25 runs in 36 games for the Bobcats last season as freshman.
Photo: Ohio Athletics
