Texas Rangers sign 2nd rounder Aaron Zavala, lure 18th rounder Kyle Larsen with big bonus
The Texas Rangers signed second-round pick Aaron Zavala just before the signing deadline Sunday.
He signed for $830,000, well below the slotted value of $1.95 million. Part of the lower signing amount might be because of a medical issue that surfaced during his physical with the Rangers.
The Oregon Ducks outfielder/third baseman was taken with the 38th overall pick. The deadline to sign picks was 4 p.m. Sunday. The draft was July 11-13.
“During Aaron’s routine physical as part of the signing process, a medical anomaly was discovered,” Rangers team president Jon Daniels said in a released statement. “The Rangers will work closely with Aaron and the relevant doctors on the next steps from both a medical stand point and return-to-play program for him. We are thrilled to reach an agreement today and excited about Aaron joining the organization. We look forward to watching his development as a member of the Texas Rangers family.”
Zavala, 21, was a consensus first-team All-American this season.
He had a .392 batting average with nine home runs, 38 RBIs, 11 steals, a .525 on-base percentage, and earned Pac-12 Player of the Year honors.
The Rangers also signed 18th round pick Kyle Larsen, a Florida high school right-hander for a $575,000 signing bonus, well above the slotted value of $125,000, according to ESPN. Larsen was committed to the University of Florida.
College catcher and 14th round pick Tucker Mitchell also signed for a $325,000 signing bonus.
The Rangers signed 18 of their 20 picks. The lone holdouts were 16th-round pick Ryan Ure and 19th-round pick Will Taylor. Both were high school players. Taylor is headed to headed to Clemson and Ure is headed to Oklahoma State. The Rangers did not expect Taylor, who was requiring a first-round level signing bonus, to sign.
This story was originally published August 1, 2021 at 4:41 PM.
