Shortstop Manny Marin, Tennessee baseball starter, to enter transfer portal

Tennessee baseball shortstop Manny Marin will not return to Tennessee next season and is expected to enter the transfer portal, according to multiple reports on June 5.

>Marin, who is a eligible for the MLB draft in July, will be the 13th departure for the Vols to the transfer portal since the season ended. He is the fourth player that made at least 14 starts to make the decision to leave, joining infielder Ariel Antigua — his backup at shortstop — and utility players Chris Newstrom and Jay Abernathy. Relief pitchers Brayden Krenzel and Taylor Tracey are also transferring out, as well as four freshmen who redshirted and depth pieces Finley Bates, Hunter High and Evan Hankins.

>Coach Josh Elander also made a change to his staff, moving on from pitching coach Josh Reynolds after one season.

>Marin was Tennessee's starting shortstop as a sophomore this season, hitting .291 with nine home runs and 43 RBIs. He also stole five bases and had a fielding percentage of of .976 with five errors. He spent the 2025 season primarily as Tennessee's third baseman and hit .283 with three homers and 23 RBIs.

>Marin is from Hialeah, Florida, and was ranked by Perfect Game as the No. 23 shortstop in the class of 2024 coming out of high school.

>Perfect Game ranked Marin as the No. 375 prospect in this year's MLB draft. He was not included in MLB Pipeline's top 200 prospects or Baseball America's top 500 prospects.

Who will be Tennessee's starting shortstop next season?With Marin and Antigua gone, Tennessee doesn't have any obvious returning options at shortstop next season. The only middle infielders that could return are Tyler Myatt, a utility player had just 73 at-bats this season, or Blake Grimmer, who played plenty of second base this season but came to Tennessee as a corner infielder. Neither have announced their intentions and Grimmer is eligible for the MLB draft.

>The Vols have incoming freshmen Cole Koeninger, ranked by Perfect Game as the No. 14 overall player in the 2026 class, as well as Jaxson Wood and Jack Dugan. Trusting a true freshman at one of the most important defensive positions can be risky, though, and those players will also go through the draft process.

>Tennessee's starting shortstop for the 2027 season may be a transfer portal addition.

>This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Manny Marin, Tennessee baseball starting shortstop, to enter transfer portal