Cal Baseball: The Transfer Portal
How do the California Golden Bears look after the transfer portal blessed and raided Berkeley's baseball program?
Welcoming Five New Faces to California! While it is easier to loom over the departures of big names to the program, it is still important as fans and writers to highlight those who believe in what can be built in the weird city called Berkeley, and while five incoming players may seem small for an ACC baseball team: it is important to note that Cal has the No. 56 overall incoming class for 2025 out of 300 DI baseball programs (via PerfectGame), and the No. 44 class for 2026 - all with incoming recruits within the state of California.
Mike Neu and the Cal staff are bringing in five players from DI programs, with the JUCO players expected to be announced at a later date, as JUCO athletes are not required to enter the NCAA transfer portal. They can enroll as transfer students at UC Berkeley without the portal by having direct contact with the school/program during their transfer enrollment. The five players that the California Golden Bears will be welcoming to Berkeley are:
Andre Modugno, INF/OF/P: Alabama. Modugno is an incoming Sophomore right-handed pitcher from Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, and a graduate from IMG Academy who appeared in one lone plate appearance for the Crimson Tide in his freshman season, where he drew a walk in the bottom of the 8th of a 19-3 win against Bradley University. Modugno was the No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2024 out of the state of New Jersey and the No. 2 overall 3B in the nation, with a national ranking at 30th overall (via PerfectGame).
Modugno stands at 6’5” and 215lbs with an exit velocity of over 105 mph, and a fastball velocity that tops out at 97 mph. A promising signing for the Golden Bears as starting 3B Cade Campbell enters his Senior year, and Cal’s middle infield currently lacks power and athleticism with the departures of Advincula and Moutzouridis.
Tristan Head, INF: Georgetown. Tristan Head is coming off a Sophomore year of mixed usage with Georgetown, where he started in 30 out of the 56 games for the Hoyas due to a hamate bone injury, as they went 16-40 with only three conference game wins all season. Head began his college baseball career at the University of Virginia, where he was named to the ACC Honor Roll as a freshman in 2024 before transferring north to Georgetown. In his Sophomore season, he batted .277, had a .349 OBP, hit 4 home runs, 26 RBIs, and 6 doubles in 112 at-bats while stealing 8 bases and only being caught twice.
Originally from Clarendon Hills, Illinois, Head graduated from high school in the 2023 recruitment class out of Jupiter, Florida, where he attended The Benjamin School in Palm Beach Gardens. He committed to UVA as the No. 22 shortstop in the state and the 172nd in the nation (via PerfectGame). Head joins the California Golden Bears baseball squad as a Junior with two years of eligibility remaining.
Josh Hanson, IF/OF: USC. A homecoming for Hanson, as the San Francisco native redshirted his freshman year at Southern California and announced his commitment to Cal on June 20th via X. A San Francisco Seagull during his offseason summer woodbat league days, Hanson was the No. 6 ranked outfielder in the state of California in his graduating class (2024) and the No. 32 nationally. At 6’1” and 205 lbs, Hanson graduated from IMG Academy in Florida with Modugno, where he played four seasons of varsity baseball and had a slash line of .396/.539/.669 (AVG, OBP, & Slugging%) in his Junior and Senior years.
(video footage from the SF Seagulls Director of Advanced Scouting, @ransom_lew on x)
With Seth Gwynn graduating after the 2025 season, Hanson could see a prominent role in his R-Freshmen season with the Golden Bears at center field, as his summer with the Seagulls was packed with dominance at the plate, as he put up a .348 AVG and .483 OBP in 58 plate appearances.
Gannon Snyder, INF/OF: Wichita State. Gannon Snyder started in 27 games for the Shockers in his Sophomore season, where he put up a .252/.325/.387 slashline in 39 games and 111 at-bats. He regressed slightly from his true freshman season, where in 10 starts and 25 games, he had a .343 AVG with a .415 OBP. A solid defender with the ability to play anywhere, Snyder was the No. 2-ranked 3B out of the state of Missouri in the high school class of 2023 and ranked No. 57 nationally.
He was a four-year varsity starter at Parkway West High School, where he was also named to the All-Conference and All-District teams three times in his career. Snyder also spent three seasons as a starter on the football team as a quarterback, linebacker, and safety.
Garrett Mackowiak, LHP: Georgia Southern. Wesley Chapel, Florida, native and P27 Academy alumn Garret Mackowiak announced his commitment to California via X on July 15th. Mackowiak saw limited usage in his Sophomore season with the Georgia Southern Eagles, as he went from 23 appearances and 18.1 IP in 2024, to 7.0 IP in 7 appearances in 2025. Nonetheless, in those 7.0 innings pitched, Mackowiak faced 29 batters and allowed a BAA of just .174 with an ERA of 3.86.
Mackowiak was the No. 19-ranked LHP in the Florida high school class of 2023 and ranked No. 124 nationally. His father is former MLB player Rob Mackowiak, who played 9 seasons with the Pirates, White Sox, Padres, and Nationals.
"The portal giveth, and the portal taketh away": The California Golden Bears baseball program was not spared from the devastating blows of the modern NCAA transfer portal. After Cal football saw 37 players depart from the team during the offseason, including East Bay household names like Jadyn Ott, Fernando Mendoza, and Jack Endries, the latter two of whom had 0 Power 5 offers out of high school- and the basketball programs saw departures from big name players such as Andrej Stojakovic, Jeremiah Wilkinson, and Marta Suarez.
Cal Baseball will head into the 2026 season without marquee names such as Jarren Advincula, PJ Moutzouridis, and Dominic Smaldino, as part of the 16 players who have left Berkeley, either through transfer portal exits or graduation as seniors. Here is the updated list of where each former Cal player has committed to since entering the portal:
Jarren Advincula, 2B: Georgia Tech. After putting up a career .334 batting average for the Golden Bears, Advincula was one of the most sought-after second basemen in the transfer portal this summer. Rumors spread back in early June that Advincula was headed to Knoxville, TN, to join Tony Vitello and the Volunteers, but Georgia Tech ended up landing him even after the retirement of longtime head coach Danny Hall. GT’s new head coach, James Ramsey, took over for Hall after the Yellow Jackets lost in the 2025 Oxford Regional and immediately made a splash by landing one of the top players on the West Coast over last season’s national champions and SEC powerhouse.
Advincula is from the Bay Area and played high school ball out of Archbishop Mitty in San Jose before committing to the Golden Bears in 2023. He was originally committed to the CSUF Titans and San Diego State before flipping to Cal, which was his only Power 5 offer out of high school. He leaves Berkeley with a first-team All-Pac-12 selection in his freshman season and a second-team All-ACC selection in 2025 as a sophomore.
PJ Moutzouridis, SS: Arizona State. PJ Moutzouridis entered the portal not long after Advincula, and while his offense took a step back in 2025 for his sophomore season, he finished the year strong and made the All-ACC Championship team after hitting .462 (6-13, 3 R, 2 2B, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 3 SB) in three games against Miami, Wake Forest, and Georgia Tech.
Originally committed to Cal Poly, the Willow Glen native and Valley Christian alum flipped to Cal and started all 110 regular-season games for the Bears at shortstop before announcing his departure from the program. Moutzouridis announced on June 26th via Instagram that he had committed to Arizona State University to play under Willie Bloomquist after the Sun Devils went 36-24 in their inaugural Big 12 season.
Dominic Smaldino, 1B: Arizona State. After leading the team with 46 RBIs this season, Dominic Smaldino entered the transfer portal on June 18th. Smaldino began his career at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano before committing to Cal in September of 2021 and signing in November of 2022. Smaldino had no other D1 offers out of high school and is transferring to his mother’s alma mater, Arizona State University, along with Moutzouridis. He will join the Sun Devils as a Junior.
Ryan Tayman, C: Cal Poly. Tayman saw a lot of action for the Golden Bears in his sophomore season, as the 6’3” catcher started in 33 games (playing in 39) with 17 behind the plate, 14 at DH, and two in left field. Tayman allowed only one passed ball in his appearances at catcher while also hitting 5 home runs, 9 RBIs, batting .274, and striking out only 35 times in 124 ABs. Tayman committed to the Bears on July 27th, 2021, from Arroyo Grande High School, and announced his return home to San Luis Obispo County via his Instagram on June 13th.
Logan Piper, P: San Diego. Logan Piper graduated from UC Berkeley in two years after transferring from Sacramento City College and announced his commitment to the University of San Diego via Instagram on June 7th. Piper pitched in 42 games for the Golden Bears in his career, where he went 3-0 with a 5.28 ERA. He made one start in that span and struck out 43 batters on 44.1 innings pitched. Piper is listed as a current Junior on D1Baseball, meaning he would have two seasons of eligibility remaining (senior and grad year).
Nico Button, C: San Diego. Nico Button played in 43 games for the Golden Bears, starting in 25 and putting up a .253 AVG with 1 HR, 13 RBIs, and 24 career hits. Button’s role on the team was heavily diminished with Alex Birge behind the plate for the 2025 season, as Button saw only 5 appearances and 1 start on Senior Day after posting back-to-back seasons with 19 games played (2023 - 2024). The San Mateo and Junipero Serra alum was hitless in his 6 at-bats this season and announced his commitment to the University of San Diego via his Instagram and Twitter bios after entering the transfer portal when the regular season concluded in May. Button enters the portal after his senior year and will have one year remaining as a graduate transfer at USD.
Elijah Clayton, INF: Campbell. From Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village, Freshman infielder Elijah Clayton came to Berkeley as the No. 4-ranked SS in the state of California for the class of 2024 (PerfectGame), and No. 44 overall. Clayton saw 13 plate appearances in 21 games (starting in three), where he batted .167, scored 9 runs, and stole 6 bases without being caught. Rather than potentially backfilling the departures of Moutzouridis and Advincula in the middle infield, the son of former Major Leaguer Royce Clayton announced his commitment to Campbell University through On The Clock on X and will join the Fighting Camels for his sophomore season.
Joey Donnelly, UT: Fordham. Joey Donnelly saw only two at-bats in his Redshirt-Junior year at Cal last season, striking out against Clemson and flying out to center field against San Jose State before entering the transfer portal as a graduate student and announcing his commitment to Fordham University on his social media accounts. Donnelly finished his career in Berkeley with a .179 AVG, 1 home run, and 3 RBIs. At De La Salle High School, he batted .324 with three home runs, 18 RBIs, and 35 runs scored as a senior in 2021, with a .505 on-base percentage.
Matthew Thomas, OF: CSUN. In two seasons with the Golden Bears, Matthew Thomas saw 23 starts in 44 appearances, where he batted .136 with 5 home runs and 11 RBIs. In his sophomore season, he only hit one home run, which came against Santa Clara in early March, and he did not see any playing time during the final 21 games of the season. Thomas announced his transfer commitment to the California State University, Northridge Matadors on July 22nd via X.
Jake Guardiancic, P: Pepperdine. Guardiancic came to UC Berkeley after splitting his underclass years at San Joaquin Delta College and Los Medanos College. In two seasons for the Golden Bears, Guardiancic appeared in 23 games out of the bullpen, where he posted a 5.94 ERA, went 1-0, and struck out 14 batters over 16.2 innings. He pitched 7.2 innings in 7 appearances during his Senior year at Cal, before announcing his commitment to Pepperdine as a graduate transfer via Instagram.
Returning Players/Uncommitted (as of August 13th, 2025 & subject to change):
Max Murray, P/OF: Returning to Cal (via me… I reached out to him!) Murray redshirted his freshman year and will be returning to Cal for the 2026 season.
Ryan Limerick, IF/OF: Uncommitted. Incoming Junior.
Kaden Taque, P: Uncommitted. Incoming Junior.
Jake Lavin, OF/C: Uncommitted. Incoming Sophomore.
Lucas Alaniz, P: Graduated & Uncommitted. Entered Portal w/ Graduate Year Eligibility.
[Buelchler] earning his first scoop of the season and burying it on the bottom. We see you
Thanks for the summary.