‘ <\/p>\n
HOUSTON \u2014 Any year he\u2019s asked, Rangers senior scouting director Kip Fagg will happily explain that the club doesn\u2019t ever prioritize a specific need or a profile when finalizing draft plans, particularly in relation to the first round. It\u2019s about getting the best player. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s also about all he will say, leaving one to draw their own conclusions about any specific approach the Rangers may have about the No. 12 pick in the MLB draft, which begins Sunday at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n
Easiest conclusion to draw from recent drafts: The Rangers will absolutely draft for a need \u2014 see the four catchers taken last year headed by first-round choice Malcolm Moore \u2014 and they have a predilection towards college players in the first round. Or at least, they have for the last six drafts.<\/p>\n
Related:Texas Rangers keep hitting on first-round MLB draft picks. Will 2025 be the same?<\/p>\n
Rangers<\/p>\n
All of which makes this draft a real test. The Rangers\u2019 middle infield depth in the system has been thinned out over the last couple of years. This draft has an abundance of first-round middle infield talent. They just happen to be high school players. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s one of the strengths of this draft, the high school middle infielder,\u201d Fagg said recently. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of them. And we have a lot of opinions on these guys and have worked through a lot of them. I\u2019m not saying we\u2019re taking a high school shortstop, but that is definitely one of the strengths of this draft.\u201d<\/p>\n
Consider one recent mock draft by the staff of MLB Pipeline. In it, two Oklahoma high school shortstops, Ethan Holliday and Eli Willits, are both in the top five before the first college shortstop, Oregon State\u2019s Aiva Arquette is projected to go at No. 6. Then four more high school shortstops show up from No. 7 to No. 14. The mock draft suggests the Rangers will take Daniel Pierce from outside of Atlanta with the No. 12 pick. The rest of the group of four includes Billy Carlson from California, JoJo Parker from Mississippi and Steele Hall from Alabama. San Antonio\u2019s Kayson Cunningham had made it a quintet, but recent chatter has him dropping into the 20s. <\/p>\n
Related:5 first-round fits for Texas Rangers in 2025 MLB draft: Needs, dreams and schemes<\/p>\n
There are two other college shortstops projected to go in the middle tier of the first round, Wake Forest\u2019s Marek Houston and Arkansas\u2019 Wehiwa Aloy, if the Rangers decide they want to fill a need and still want to go the college route. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe past few years, we\u2019ve taken college players, so I guess I can\u2019t refute [that reputation],\u201d Fagg said. \u201cBut it\u2019s not like we\u2019re sitting here going: \u2018We\u2019re taking a college guy.\u2019 Even when we took the college guys, there were still high school guys we were considering and some went ahead of us and some we let go. I\u2019m not going to sit here and say we\u2019re a college first-round team. It\u2019s just the way it\u2019s worked out.\u201d <\/p>\n
While the middle of the first round is kind of muddled, the general thought is that this is a deep draft in talent, which could lead the Rangers to try to maximize their $10,991,300 bonus pool. If the Rangers feel all the talents are equal, they could shop the pick to see who might be willing to take a less-than-slot value deal. The Rangers\u2019 bonus slot for the 12th pick is worth $5,746,800. If somebody is willing to take less than that, the club could then apply savings to other picks in the top 10 rounds. <\/p>\n
Beyond the shortstops, there is a player who might just fit the profile of a high risk\/high reward player willing to take less than slot value to preserve his place in the draft: Texas A&M outfielder Jace LaViolette. He began the season as a candidate to be the No. 1 overall pick, but his spot has slipped considerably after a poor season. The most recent MLB Pipeline Mock Draft suggested he\u2019d go to Houston at No. 21. <\/p>\n
It should be noted the Rangers have used this strategy before, getting Kumar Rocker at No. 3 in 2022 for more than $2 million below slot. They then applied the savings to make Brock Porter, considered an unsignable late first-round caliber talent, a compelling offer in the fourth round. Rocker has quickly reached the big leagues, but Porter has struggled with command.<\/p>\n
Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.<\/p>\n
Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter.<\/p>\n
and make it easy for teens to read and understand.Organize the content with appropriate headings and subheadings (h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6), Retain any existing tags from <\/p>\n
HOUSTON \u2014 Any year he\u2019s asked, Rangers senior scouting director Kip Fagg will happily explain that the club doesn\u2019t ever prioritize a specific need or a profile when finalizing draft plans, particularly in relation to the first round. It\u2019s about getting the best player. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s also about all he will say, leaving one to draw their own conclusions about any specific approach the Rangers may have about the No. 12 pick in the MLB draft, which begins Sunday at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n
Easiest conclusion to draw from recent drafts: The Rangers will absolutely draft for a need \u2014 see the four catchers taken last year headed by first-round choice Malcolm Moore \u2014 and they have a predilection towards college players in the first round. Or at least, they have for the last six drafts.<\/p>\n
Related:Texas Rangers keep hitting on first-round MLB draft picks. Will 2025 be the same?<\/p>\n
Rangers<\/p>\n
All of which makes this draft a real test. The Rangers\u2019 middle infield depth in the system has been thinned out over the last couple of years. This draft has an abundance of first-round middle infield talent. They just happen to be high school players. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s one of the strengths of this draft, the high school middle infielder,\u201d Fagg said recently. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of them. And we have a lot of opinions on these guys and have worked through a lot of them. I\u2019m not saying we\u2019re taking a high school shortstop, but that is definitely one of the strengths of this draft.\u201d<\/p>\n
Consider one recent mock draft by the staff of MLB Pipeline. In it, two Oklahoma high school shortstops, Ethan Holliday and Eli Willits, are both in the top five before the first college shortstop, Oregon State\u2019s Aiva Arquette is projected to go at No. 6. Then four more high school shortstops show up from No. 7 to No. 14. The mock draft suggests the Rangers will take Daniel Pierce from outside of Atlanta with the No. 12 pick. The rest of the group of four includes Billy Carlson from California, JoJo Parker from Mississippi and Steele Hall from Alabama. San Antonio\u2019s Kayson Cunningham had made it a quintet, but recent chatter has him dropping into the 20s. <\/p>\n
Related:5 first-round fits for Texas Rangers in 2025 MLB draft: Needs, dreams and schemes<\/p>\n
There are two other college shortstops projected to go in the middle tier of the first round, Wake Forest\u2019s Marek Houston and Arkansas\u2019 Wehiwa Aloy, if the Rangers decide they want to fill a need and still want to go the college route. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe past few years, we\u2019ve taken college players, so I guess I can\u2019t refute [that reputation],\u201d Fagg said. \u201cBut it\u2019s not like we\u2019re sitting here going: \u2018We\u2019re taking a college guy.\u2019 Even when we took the college guys, there were still high school guys we were considering and some went ahead of us and some we let go. I\u2019m not going to sit here and say we\u2019re a college first-round team. It\u2019s just the way it\u2019s worked out.\u201d <\/p>\n
While the middle of the first round is kind of muddled, the general thought is that this is a deep draft in talent, which could lead the Rangers to try to maximize their $10,991,300 bonus pool. If the Rangers feel all the talents are equal, they could shop the pick to see who might be willing to take a less-than-slot value deal. The Rangers\u2019 bonus slot for the 12th pick is worth $5,746,800. If somebody is willing to take less than that, the club could then apply savings to other picks in the top 10 rounds. <\/p>\n
Beyond the shortstops, there is a player who might just fit the profile of a high risk\/high reward player willing to take less than slot value to preserve his place in the draft: Texas A&M outfielder Jace LaViolette. He began the season as a candidate to be the No. 1 overall pick, but his spot has slipped considerably after a poor season. The most recent MLB Pipeline Mock Draft suggested he\u2019d go to Houston at No. 21. <\/p>\n
It should be noted the Rangers have used this strategy before, getting Kumar Rocker at No. 3 in 2022 for more than $2 million below slot. They then applied the savings to make Brock Porter, considered an unsignable late first-round caliber talent, a compelling offer in the fourth round. Rocker has quickly reached the big leagues, but Porter has struggled with command.<\/p>\n
Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.<\/p>\n
Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter.<\/p>\n
and integrate them seamlessly into the new content without adding new tags. Include conclusion section and FAQs section with questions and answers at the end. do not include the title. it must return only article i dont want any extra information or introductory text with article e.g: ” Here is rewritten article:” or “Here is the rewritten content:”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
‘ HOUSTON \u2014 Any year he\u2019s asked, Rangers senior scouting director Kip Fagg will happily explain that the club doesn\u2019t ever prioritize a specific need or a profile when finalizing draft plans, particularly in relation to the first round. It\u2019s about getting the best player. It\u2019s also about all he will say, leaving one to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":9378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9377","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/3JKUC4ENI5E27MNBISTIVU4L7M.jpg?auth=f9fd69726068e19ca2df90240df68bed870a54a15baa8a522444d4aaba50dc45&quality=80&width=1200&height=630&smart=true","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9377"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9377"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9379,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9377\/revisions\/9379"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}