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Texas Baseball Eyeing Elite ACC Catcher in Transfer Portal

Originally posted on Texas Longhorns on SI
By Connor Zimmerlee | Last updated Jun 16, 2025 9:36 PM ET

As the offseason continues to progress, teams looking ahead to next season do so with their eye firmly on the transfer portal. For the Texas Longhorns, it has been an aggressive approach to the portal in the early stages of its opening.

Jim Schlossnagle wasted no time bringing in elite players to The Forty Acres. So far they have landed Wichita State's Josh Livingston, Butler's Jack Moroknek, Georgia State's Kaleb Freeman and Mississippi State's Luke Dotson.

On Monday, however, another potential name to watch emerged following a report from Pete Nakos at On3Sports. According to Nakos, the Longhorns are one of three teams aggressively pursuing Notre Dame catcher Carson Tinney, alongside the Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs -- who is in the portal with a no-contact tag.

With the potential departure of Rylan Galvan to the upcoming draft, landing a catcher of Tinney's caliber would ensure the Longhorns don't miss a beat the position. Tinney, like Galvan, is one of the three finalists for the Buster Posey Award, which is awarded annually to the best catcher in college baseball.

He was far and away the best hitter for the Fighting Irish in 2025, as his slash line of .348/.498/.753 were all tops on the team. Not stopping there, the star backstop led the way in a number of other major offensive categories including total bases (119), home runs (17), RBI (53) and walks (34).

This also was not the only report to come from Nakos on Monday about a potential portal target for the Longhorns. They were also linked to Virginia's Henry Ford, who is both the best bat in the portal and a potential high draft pick in next month's MLB Draft.

Of course, Schlossnagle and his staff would love to land both Tinney and Ford to go with an already exciting group of transfer additions. However, there is no way to predict the future and tell where they'll ultimately land. Until those decisions are made, though, Texas fans can rest easy knowing this staff is going to be aggressive about making the roster better ahead of next season.

This article first appeared on Texas Longhorns on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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