The transfer portal always brings a little chaos, but Tuesday gave Ole Miss a reminder that not all departures hit the same.
Tate Sirmans and Brayden Randle both entered the portal, and while one is more of a footnote, the other is a real loss.
Sirmans is the easy one to process. He slashed .178/.356/.275 with a .631 OPS, scored four runs, and had eight hits all season. He worked some walks, popped a couple of homers, and played hard, but this isn’t the kind of departure that rocks a program to its core.
Randle is much closer to that.
Losing him stings, even if the reasons make sense for both sides. He wants to play shortstop, according to Rebels247’s Chase Parham, and he wants that guaranteed. Ole Miss can’t offer that with Owen Paino back and Dom Decker locked in at second. And the Rebels aren’t going to pay shortstop money for someone they still project as a likely left fielder.
That’s the business side of the portal era.
The baseball side is just as complicated. Randle was hitting .200 on April 21 and didn’t have many quality at-bats to point to. Then the postseason arrived, and he turned into one of Ole Miss’s hottest hitters. Some team is going to pay him like that version is the full-season version. He believes he’s an infielder. Ole Miss believes his best fit is in the outfield.
Ole Miss INF Brayden Randle is entering the Transfer Portal
Randle posted a .458 batting average during the Rebel postseason run pic.twitter.com/nBhqTLVvvT
— Sidelines – Ole Miss (@SSN_OleMiss) June 16, 2026
It’s a tough situation, but not a surprising one.
And while all that was unfolding, the portal rumor mill kept spinning.
Air Force infielder Wyatt Hanoian was reportedly choosing between Ole Miss and Tennessee, and then he committed to Tennessee on Tuesday. But even that came with a twist. Parham reported that Ole Miss never felt it had much of a chance, despite On3’s Pete Nakos framing it as a two-team battle. Same player, same timeline, two very different reads.
BREAKING: Air Force transfer INF Wyatt Hanoian has signed with Tennessee, @PeteNakos reports🍊
Hanoian batted .357 with 6 HRs this past season. https://t.co/xs1diSFTRk pic.twitter.com/1sh6xJ5Cvs
— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal) June 16, 2026
Which makes the next part even more interesting. Those same two reporters are now aligned on something: Ole Miss is the leader to land TCU catcher Brady Dallimore. He hit .270 with eight home runs and 23 RBIs this spring, and he fills a clear need.
The portal closes June 30, at least for players entering it. Players can commit or sign with a team anytime.
The MLB Draft runs July 11-13. That’s the real window that will shape what Ole Miss looks like next season. Randle leaving hurts, but it’s not a program-breaker. Sirmans leaving is manageable. The bigger story is whether the Rebels can add the right pieces while navigating draft decisions and NIL realities.
This is the part of the offseason where nothing is settled and everything is connected. And Ole Miss is right in the middle of it again.
Ole Miss Baseball Transfer Portal Tracker
Outgoing Transfers
- Blake Ilitch, RHP
- Brayden Randle, UTL
- Tate Sirmans, OF
Incoming Transfers
- Trey Hawsey, 1B (LSU)
- Mavrick Rizy, RHP
- Brent Stukes, RHP (USC Upstate)
