The five former WVU baseball players who were drafted during the 2025 MLB Draft are not the only Mountaineers from last season's team to land spots inside an MLB organization this summer.
Two former Mountaineers, right-handed pitcher Jack Kartsonas and infielder Sam White, have signed free agent deals with the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays, respectively. Kartsonas inked his free agent deal with the Rays on July 14, and White signed his contract four days later on July 18.
Another Mountaineer turning pro!
— WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) July 15, 2025
Kart is set to sign a free agent deal with the Tampa Bay Rays!@JKartsonad | @RaysBaseball pic.twitter.com/s4HcTHWsZo
Signing with the hometown team!
— WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) July 18, 2025
Sammy has agreed to a free agent deal with the Toronto Blue Jays!@samwhite116 | @BlueJays pic.twitter.com/x1cNyEv4Et
Kartsonas transferred to WVU for his final season after spending three seasons pitching for the Kent State Golden Flashes. Kartsonas spent the fall semester recovering from an arm surgery and had a slow start on the season to build him up to be able to increase his in-game pitch count. By the end of the season, Kartsonas made nine starts with 66.1 innings pitched, second on the team only behind recently drafted Griffin Kirn. Kartsonas finished with a 6-4 record with a 3.66 ERA, adding 77 strikeouts in 66.1 innings pitched.
As for White, he spent all three of his collegiate seasons at WVU before signing his MLB contract. White played in 161 games, starting 148 of those 161 games. A .310 average career hitter, White racked up some impressive stats in his three years, including 111 career RBIs in three years. Despite missingsome time due to an injury, White made the most of his junior season as he posted a .361/ .426/.529 slash line and added five home runs and 46 RBIs. White will be heading back up north towards his hometown. White is originally from Aurora, Ontario, Canada, which is less than an hour outside Toronto.
Kartsonas and White join Kirn, Logan Sauve, Kyle West, Robby Porco, and Skylar King on the list of Mountaineers who will begin to take the next step in their professional baseball journey. That is a very impressive class, and is well-deserved considering how important these seven players were to WVU's success during a historic 2025 season.
WVU baseball fans are excited to see seven new players potentially start their professional baseball careers, if the draft picks all sign their contracts. Seven new players that will be in at various levels of the minor leagues will give Mountaineer fans plenty to follow and keep up at the professional level.