Why the Texas Rangers won’t have a second- or third-round draft pick
After selecting their first-round pick, outfielder Wyatt Langford, the Texas Rangers do not have another draft selection until Monday’s fourth-round selection.
What happened?
The Rangers forfeited the two spots because they signed two “qualified free agents” during the offseason.
Jacob deGrom was the first qualified free agent that kept the Rangers from their next two picks. This one hurts, because the right-handed pitcher was dominant while he was with the New York Mets, but his career has been riddled with injuries, which carried over to Texas.
It was announced in early June that deGrom would undergo Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career. He only started six games, throwing 30.1 innings in 2023 and picking up 45 strikeouts while maintaining a 2.67 earned run average.
The Rangers took a big chance on signing deGrom with his high injury risk, and the bad news of him being out for the rest of this season hurts a little bit more knowing the Rangers won’t be able to get a young prospect in the draft because of the singing.
Nathan Eovaldi was the other qualified free agent the Rangers signed that prevented them from keeping their early-round pick.
This move looks better in hindsight as Eovaldi could be the starting pitcher for the 2023 MLB All-Star Game after two-way star Shohei Ohtani announced he wouldn’t start on the mound for the American League All-Stars.
For the Rangers, Eovaldi has thrown 117.2 innings in 18 starts, racking up 109 strikeouts while holding a 2.83 earned run average.
After picking fourth overall, the Rangers’ next pick will be the 108th overall, the seventh pick in the fourth round. They’ll pick after the Detroit Tigers.
The Rangers will continue to pick seventh in the fifth round and all remaining rounds after that. Rounds 3-10 will occur on Monday and rounds 11-20 will occur on Tuesday.
