Jay Johnson couldn’t see it happening.

Steven Milam’s return to LSU for his senior year felt implausible. Surely, no MLB club would pass up the chance to take a shortstop who posted a .939 on-base plus slugging percentage and committed only four errors all season.

“Somebody’s going to give him $2 million,” Johnson said.

But the only money Milam will be taking next year is name, image and likeness dollars. Milam announced Friday he is returning to LSU for the 2027 season.

“When I thought about the next chapter, one thing became clear: I want another shot,” Milam said in a video message released by LSU on Friday. “Another shot at leaving my mark, to go out my way and hold that trophy in Omaha.”

With the decision, LSU gets back a second-team All-SEC selection who posted his best season against Southeastern Conference competition in 2026. Milam hit .308 with a .949 OPS in conference play, blasting seven home runs and drawing more walks than strikeouts.

Including his superb defense, Milam heads into next season as one of the top shortstops in the country.

“He’s a great player, I love him,” Johnson said. “One of those guys you can’t picture not having him. And we’ve been fortunate to have a few of those guys here.”

Milam’s return comes at an interesting point in the offseason, as the Tigers already have added two middle infielders out of the transfer portal in Florida second baseman Cade Kurland and Texas State shortstop Dawson Park.

Kurland helped guide Florida to the College World Series final in 2023, hitting 17 homers as a freshman before injuries limited him the last two years. Despite being draft-eligible, he is taking his name out of the draft and will play at LSU next season as a fifth-year senior, a source confirmed to The Advocate.

Park, meanwhile, excelled in his first year as a starting shortstop this past spring. He had a .962 OPS and showcased a strong arm and excellent range.

“He’s an explosive athlete,” Johnson said in an interview with WBRZ-TV. “Like we were just talking about, he can contribute on both sides of the ball. He hit 13 home runs (and) has power to all fields.”

How Milam, Park and Kurland fit together next season has yet to be determined. None of them has ever played third base in a collegiate game, and sticking any of them in the outfield would be wasting their skills on the infield.

Milam, given his stature in the program and decision to pass up pro baseball, will almost certainly be the shortstop. Kurland, leaving a longtime SEC rival and passing up MLB for LSU, likely means that second base will be his to lose.

That leaves Park as the likely third baseman. Although he hasn’t played the position before, his success at shortstop and strong arm give him the tools to thrive at the hot corner.

LSU has done this before, moving Michael Braswell off of shortstop and moving him to third base in 2025. That tactic helped deliver a national championship.

For the lineup, Milam’s return provides another top-of-the-order option for Johnson alongside Omar Serna, Cade Arrambide and Mason Braun. They were four of LSU’s top five hitters by the end of last season.

Johnson has since added Kurland, Park and Notre Dame outfielder Bino Watters to that mix out of the transfer portal. Watters, who mostly played left field, hit .362 with a 1.057 OPS as a sophomore and was the top hitter available in the transfer portal, according to Baseball America.

LSU still has needs to fill in center field and right field, but Milam’s return helps settle an LSU lineup that needed to replace Derek Curiel, Jake Brown and Chris Stanfield.

Johnson still has a lot of work to do before his 2027 roster fully takes shape. The Tigers have two outfield positions to fill and need to reload their pitching staff after a tumultuous end to last season.

Some of those questions will be answered in the portal, but the roster won’t be settled until after the MLB draft on July 11-12. The Tigers have numerous draft-eligible players and a deep high school recruiting class that has 13 players in MLB.com’s top-200 prospect rankings.

But given how many holes LSU needed to fill heading into the summer — after the program’s worst season since at least 2007 — Johnson already has delivered on multiple fronts, even with a month to go before the start of the draft.

But no offseason move has been more significant than Milam’s decision to return to Baton Rouge.