Texas Rangers love to take risks in MLB draft, but is this the year to play it safe?
The MLB draft, all five rounds of it, arrives this week, and it will look nothing like it has or should.
The 30 team owners decided it would best serve their interests to trim 35 rounds from the typical 40 to lighten their debt load amid the coronavirus pandemic, never mind the ripple effects.
And, with money being the driving force, it’s no surprise that somehow MLB has managed to manufacture two days of programming out of only five rounds.
The first round is Wednesday, when the Texas Rangers will select 14th overall. They’re only two years away from stripping down their MLB roster to launch into a rebuild that resulted in them selecting eighth overall in 2019.
For the umpteenth consecutive draft, they said they selected the best player on the board, which last year was Texas Tech third baseman Josh Jung. He is the only the fourth college player selected by the Rangers with their first pick since Jon Daniels became general manager after the 2005 season.
That means the Rangers have selected 10 prep players with their first pick. The Rangers have definitely earned their reputation of selecting high-upside, high-risk prospects, and too often they have seen those player not pan out.
With only five rounds and the prospect of the minor-league season being canceled, this might seem like the year they should take the safe route with an advanced college player.
Or not.
“I think we’ve always been of the mindset with the direction from JD and the leadership group that it’s always been best player,” said Kip Fagg, the Rangers’ director of amateur scouting. “Obviously, with the way this draft is shaped, you’re going to have more comfortability with the college guys just for the fact we have history and we’ve seen them a lot more.
“I think the college group is a little deeper this year than the high school group as a whole, so maybe you might think we’d lean that way, but there’s still a lot of good high school pitchers and players, too. I believe we’re going to have opportunities on both ends.”
Various mock drafts have the Rangers picking a college player. They have been linked to Tennessee left-hander Garrett Crochet, North Carolina first baseman Aaron Sabato, and UCLA center fielder Garrett Mitchell. Some believe that Mitchell has the best tools in the draft.
Flower Mound right-hander Cam Brown is considered the area’s best prospect and a top 75 draft prospect. He is also committed to TCU, and could forgo playing in college if he is selected high enough.
The fact that all but $100,000 of a draftee’s bonus can be deferred hasn’t seemed to deter players’ intentions.
“I think just like anything else, these guys that we’re talking about in that part of the draft, this is what they’ve been working for all their lives so to speak,” Fagg said. “If they have a little of a deferred bonus, I don’t think it’s going to be a hindrance for them to sign. I have not heard any push back on that at all.”
The Rangers remain confident that they have done the due diligence required to get to know the amateurs they might be interested in drafting despite the changes in their preparations.
Area scouts lost evaluation time once high school seasons were canceled. Some prep players in the northern part of the country didn’t even play one game this year. Scouts lost time getting in front of families and coaches to get a clearer picture on players’ makeup.
But all teams are in the same spot, and the Rangers believe they are ready to take the best player on the board.
“I don’t think our process has changed from what we have done in the past,” Fagg said. “In every draft, the better you know people, families, the way the kids are wired, kind of the background of it, it’s going to make you feel more comfortable when you take them. I don’t think that is going to change in this draft. Our guys do a tremendous job of getting out there and pounding the pavement.”
This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 12:48 PM.
