Rangers eager to strengthen org teeming with top Draft picks

ARLINGTON -- Looking at the Rangers’ roster midway through the season, it’s littered with recent top Draft picks.

Take Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker, the former Vanderbilt teammates who went in the first round in 2021-22. Or Josh Jung and Justin Foscue, the infielders who went in the first round in 2019-20. Even Cole Winn, the starter-turned-reliever who the Rangers selected in the first round in 2018.

And Wyatt Langford, who made his MLB debut less than a year after being selected at No. 4 overall in the 2023 MLB Draft.

For as much money as the Rangers have spent in free agency over the last six years, with Corey Seager, Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi, drafting and developing continues to be as important as ever when creating a roster that can compete at the big league level. And for the second straight year, the Rangers will be picking right in the middle of the pack at No. 16 when the MLB Draft starts next Saturday.

MLB Pipeline’s latest mock draft has the Rangers selecting Jared Grindlinger, a two-way player out of Huntington Beach (Calif.) High School, though expert Jonathan Mayo indicates that Texas would prefer him with the bat (OF) rather than the mound (LHP). Grindlinger is ranked No. 16 in the Draft Top 250.

It’s also worth noting that the Rangers aren’t scared of two-way prospects, despite little success for them at the big league level. They currently have a pair of two-way players in the farm system in Josh Owens and Seong-Jun Kim.

• Day 1 picks: 16, 54, 89, 117
• Bonus pool allotment: $10,219,200
• Last year’s top pick: Gavin Fien, SS, pick 12 ... The 6-foot-3 right-handed slugger was the Rangers’ first high school first-round draftee since 2018. The California prep standout was among the top high school hitters in the Draft class. He played just 10 games in the Texas system before he became the highest ranked prospect included in the trade package that landed the Rangers MacKenzie Gore from the Nationals this offseason.
• Breakout 2025 pick: AJ Russell, SP, pick 52 ... The Tennessee right-hander dropped to the second round due to injury concerns following an internal brace surgery in 2024, though he thrived whenever he did pitch for the Volunteers. Now the Rangers’ No. 3 prospect, Russell has posted a 3.06 ERA in 14 games (13 starts) between Single-A Hickory and High-A Hub City.

Quality players can be found anywhere in the Draft, not just in the first round. The Rangers picked Evan Carter in the second round in 2020. Cam Cauley, who was recently called up to make his MLB debut, was picked in the third round in 2021. The club’s lone All-Star representative Jacob Latz was picked in the fifth round in 2017.