Arlington, Texas-The Texas Rangers today announced that the club has agreed to terms with both of its first round selections in the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft, outfielder Bubba Thompson from McGill-Toolen High School in Mobile, Alabama and shortstop Chris Seise (pronounced seese) out of West Orange High School in Winter Garden, Florida.
The club also announced that it has agreed to terms with its second round selection, right-handed pitcher Hans Crouse (pronounced krouse) out of Dana Hills High School in Dana Point, California.
All three players will be assigned to the Arizona League Rangers.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Thompson hit .429 with 11 home runs, 35 RBI, and 18 stolen bases, while posting an .857 slugging percentage this season as a senior at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School in Mobile, AL. The right-handed batter and thrower was named the Alabama Sports Writers Association (ASWA) Player of the Year and was a First Team All-State selection. Baseball America rated Thompson as the top prospect from Alabama, the 8th-best outfielder, and the 25th-best prospect overall. Thompson, a two-sport star in baseball and football, had committed to the University of Alabama for baseball. On the gridiron, Thompson led the Yellow Jackets to the 2015 Class 7A state football title and had scholarship offers from SEC schools.
Seise batted .413 (31-for-75) with 31 runs scored, 24 RBI, and 16 extra-base hits this season at West Orange High School in Winter Garden, FL. The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Seise was rated the 12th-best high school position player and 46th-best draft prospect overall by Baseball America. He is a former high school teammate of 2016 third round pick and current Spokane Indian Kole Enright. The 18-year-old Seise also played for the Orlando Scorpions travel team, the same team as Texas Rangers 2016 first round pick Cole Ragans. Seise had committed to the University of Central Florida.
The 18-year-old Crouse was a Rawlings-Perfect Game 1st Team All-American as a senior, compiling a 0.88 ERA over 67.0 innings while recording 99 strikeouts. Crouse also pitched for Team USA in the under-18 gold medal-winning game against Cuba and recorded 11 strikeouts over 7 scoreless innings. Baseball America tabbed the right-hander as the 37th-best prospect in the draft, while MLB.com had him ranked at 31. He had committed to the University of Southern California.