Rangers are staying true to their Draft philosophy

This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ARLINGTON -- The MLB Draft has changed more and more over the years, but the Rangers longtime senior director of amateur scouting Kip Fagg has stuck with one philosophy throughout his time in the role.

“I think we're all about what's best for the Texas Rangers, who's best fit for the organization and who is the best player we can take,” Fagg said.

With the 2023 Draft just under a week away, Fagg and the amateur scouting group are deep in the trenches. They are narrowing down who the Rangers will select with the fourth overall pick. This is the third straight year Texas has a top-five pick and the sixth consecutive time the club has had a top-15 Draft selection.

Texas has spent its last four first-round selections on college players in Josh Jung (No. 8, 3B, 2019), Justin Foscue (No. 14, 2B, '20), Jack Leiter (No. 2, RHP, '21) and Kumar Rocker (No. 3, RHP, ‘22). Even so, Fagg denied that the Rangers intended to become “college oriented” in the first round. He emphasized, again, the need for the group to select the best players for the organization -- no matter where they come from.

And as for who the Rangers may pick? It’s a top-heavy crowd of prospects and a near consensus top five across all prospect publications.

The LSU duo of Dylan Crews and Paul Skenes are not likely to fall to Texas, but at least one of the three top outfielders in Florida’s Wyatt Langford and high schoolers Max Clark and Walker Jenkins will be available when the Rangers are on the clock.

TCU infielder Brayden Taylor and Wake Forest right-hander Rhett Lowder round out the top seven in MLB Pipeline’s most recent mock draft.

“We've narrowed it down quite a bit,” Fagg said. “I'd say probably up in that room, probably there's five-to-seven guys we're talking about. Not to get too specific on who those players are, but it’s probably that range of players.”

The Rangers don’t have a second- or third-round selection due to the signings of Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi. They were in the same situation last year, but ultimately came out on top. The club took Rocker under slot value in the first round and drafted Top 100 prospect Brock Porter in the fourth.

Texas always tries to maximize the picks it has, but the organization isn’t expecting the same situation to arise again.

“I think they're all one-of-a-kind scenarios,” said general manager Chris Young. “I think that last year, we certainly had a unique Draft with Kumar and then the way Brock lasted, we were able to get him. What that means moving forward, I can't say.

“There are three teams that pick in front of us that will dictate what happens with our fourth pick. I am confident in our amateur scouting group, our R&D department and our front office. Kip and his team have done a tremendous job preparing and putting the Texas Rangers in the best position possible for the Draft. I'm very confident that we will know the players when the time comes to select them.”