The Aggie ace spurns the MLB to return for one more season at Texas A&M
Texas A&M baseball has gotten a ton of good news over the past month when it comes to players returning for the 2025 season, but they may have gotten the biggest piece of news on Wednesday night. Ace LHP Ryan Prager, who was drafted in the 3rd Round of the of the MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Angels last week.
Aggieland, let’s run it back. See y’all in Omaha! pic.twitter.com/eVqujHBC3X
— Ryan Prager (@ryanprager10) July 24, 2024
There had been murmurs that Prager’s threshold of how high he’d need to be taken in the draft in order to leave was higher than many expected, but once he was selected as the No. 81 overall pick, it was hard to imagine him turning that down. The slot value for that pick was $948,600. But Prager is indeed running it back with head coach Mike Earley at the helm, and in the process, gives the Aggies a rock solid starting rotation heading into the 2025 season.
The assumption is that Prager will resume his Friday night starter role, with Shane Sdao and Justin Lamkin taking the Saturday/Sunday roles. Obviously there are other players in the roster who could challenge for one of those spots should they prove themselves, but bringing back your weekend starters from last season is fantastic news for a team who also returns a ton of offensive production as well. I think D1 Baseball’s Kendall Rogers summed it up best:
Sheesh. @AggieBaseball All-American LHP Ryan Prager is spurning the Angels as a third rounder to return to the #Aggies for another season.
What a ridiculous offseason for the #Aggies post Schlossnagle. https://t.co/13WD7q665L
— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) July 24, 2024
It’s a big reason why the Aggies are projected to be one of the top teams in the country yet again in 2025.
What do you think of our ‘Way Too Early’ College Top 25? https://t.co/cqtGItG7ps pic.twitter.com/8289nnkAl6
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) July 24, 2024