FSU softball might've made the smartest move possible with letting its two stars walk

The world for Florida State softball as we know it changed drastically on Monday morning as Isa Torres announced her plans to enter the transfer portal. This news was on the heels of Jaysoni Beachum announcing the same intentions last week out of the blue.

The two best players on the team leaving originally looked like a parade of the top players exiting. However, shortly after Torres made her announcement, FSU orchestrated social media posts from All-American Ashtyn Danley and ACC Pitcher of the Year, Jazzy Francik, regarding their excitement about returning to FSU for the 2027 season.

The pictures show Francik hugging Coach Lonni Alameda, and the other of Danley facing the Florida State fans from the circle inside Joanne Graf Field. We all know what Coach A means to FSU softball and the fight she has fought with cancer over the past couple of years.

We know how much Florida State fans love the softball program. It was only fitting that two of its best players announced their return in the wake of the negativity.

In hindsight, as the emotions die down and logic begins to kick in (sorry, I’m a Virgo). Florida State softball might have made the smartest decision by letting its two best players walk. Here’s a thought. FSU never made the Women’s College World Series with Isa Torres or Jaysoni Beachum on its roster.

Florida State allowing Isa Torres and Jaysoni Beachum to leave might be the best move for the program in the long run

They got ousted from the Tallahassee Regional and didn’t even make Super Regionals with them this past year. Clearly, they are two of the best players nationally, but would paying them whatever they wanted be a smart return on that investment? If FSU did that, they likely couldn’t pay for any proven talent from the transfer portal.

Florida State probably needed at least two more offensive bats with Torres and Beachum in the lineup, and another pitcher that can shut opposing offenses down. I don’t know what their asking price was, but it’s likely over one million dollars for both.

Let’s say it’s $750,000 for each, or $1.5 million. How many quality players can FSU get from the transfer portal for that amount?

If they paid six quality transfers $250,000 each, that would likely fill a lot of needs on the roster. That’s probably a better use of the money than spending on two players leading the program that you haven’t had much success with in the postseason.

They might be able to find more talent for a more affordable price if they really do their homework in the portal. They could take some of that money that’s leftover and continue to invest in high school talent, just like they did with Torres, Beachum, Kennedy Harp, and Ashtyn Danley.

Florida State has signed some excellent players over the past few high school recruiting classes, and the freshman class from the past season was no different. It hurts to know that two players the coaching staff developed from the high school ranks into two of the top players nationally don’t want to finish their senior season in Tallahassee.

At the same time, FSU hasn’t won much with them, except for two ACC titles and one ACC Tournament title that nobody respects anymore. If they didn’t really want to be in Tallahassee anymore, it might be best for both parties to do what they did.

We wrote about some of the changes that must take place, and some have already gone into motion. Now, it’s up to the coaching staff to fill the holes on the roster the best way they can to compete at the highest level.

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