Report: Texas A&M RHP Chris Cortez enters NCAA transfer portal

According to Kendall Rogers of D1 Baseball, Texas A&M RHP Chris Cortez has entered the NCAA transfer portal. Cortez was somebody who struggled at times for the Aggies last season under head coach Jim Schlossnagle. However, there is still a ton of untapped potential for whoever is able to land him.

“TRANSFER NEWS: @AggieBaseball RHP Chris Cortez has entered the Transfer Portal, @d1baseball has learned,” Rogers said. “Cortez is a 6-1, 205-pounder, who has a massive arm but who also struggled immensely in 2023. Fastball is up to 98-99 mph w/ promising SL at times.”

Cortez made 19 appearances for Texas A&M last season, finishing with an ERA above 7.00. In 41.2 innings pitched, the right-handed pitcher gave up 39 runs, 34 of which were earned. He struggled walking batters as well, giving out more free bases (40) than strikeouts (39).

As Rogers mentioned, somebody is going to want Cortez due to his impressive fastball. A “promising” slider helps the cause as well.

Some work will need to be done though, no matter where he winds up.

Transfer portal background information

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.

The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.

Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.

The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.

A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.