Rangers zig when others zag in 2020 Draft

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers selected five players over two days of the MLB Draft this week, and now they have to get them signed.

Rangers scouting director Kip Fagg said the club doesn’t expect that to be an issue.

“No, we don’t at this point,” Fagg said.

Mississippi State second baseman Justin Foscue and Elizabethton (Tenn.) High School outfielder Evan Carter have said they intend to sign with the Rangers.

Foscue, the 14th overall pick, has an assigned value of $4,036,800. Carter, taken 50th overall in the second round, has an assigned value of $1,469,900.

The others are right-handed pitcher Tekoah Roby from Pensacola (Fla.) Pine Forest High School in the third round, left-hander Dylan MacLean from Portland (Ore.) Central Catholic High School in the fourth round and Carlsbad (Calif.) High School shortstop Thomas Saggese in the fifth round.

• Foscue goes in 1st round | 4 high schoolers on Day 2

Roby has an assigned value of $699,700. MacLean is at $502,300, and Saggese is at $375,200. The Rangers have a total of $7,083,900 to spend on the five picks. Fagg declined to comment on which players might sign above signed value or below it.

The signing deadline this year is Aug. 1.

• Rangers Draft Tracker: Every 2020 pick

If a club exceeds its assigned pool, it faces a penalty. Teams that outspend their allotment by 0-5 percent pay a 75 percent tax on the overage. At higher thresholds, clubs lose future picks: a first-rounder and a 75 percent tax for surpassing their pool by more than 5 and up to 10 percent; a first- and a second-rounder and a 100 percent tax for more than 10 and up to 15 percent; and two first-rounders and a 100 percent tax for more than 15 percent.

In eight years with these rules, teams have exceeded their allotments a total of 149 times but never by more than 5 percent. Twenty-one of the 30 teams outspent their pools last year.

Now what?
The Rangers plunge into the unknown of recruiting. At 8 a.m. CT on Sunday, clubs will be able to sign non-drafted free agents for a maximum of $20,000. If the Rangers sign their first five picks, they will have to sign 23 NDFA players to equal the 28 picks (out of 41 total) they signed from last year’s Draft.

Fagg said special assignment scout Bobby Crook and assistant scouting director Adam Lewkowicz have been coordinating the Rangers’ preparation for the NDFAs.

“All the work these guys did put us in position to get a lot of guys,” Fagg said. “We are excited about that process. It is a little bit of an unknown, but the work we put in up to this point, we feel like we are in position for a few guys.”

Trend wrap
The Rangers took four high school players and only two were ranked in the MLB Pipeline Top 200. This was pointed out multiple times by MLB Network commentators. This is what people will remember about the Rangers’ 2020 Draft. Did they -- as Fagg pointed out Thursday night -- really “beat” clubs on these picks? As Fagg added, “Time will tell.”

First-round fact
Foscue thought about playing football at Virgil Grissom High School in Huntsville, Ala. He said he might have been a good quarterback, but his mother wouldn’t let him play football. Foscue said it was the right decision: “My high school team wasn’t that good, so I probably would have gotten demolished in the first five seconds.”

Day 2 name to watch
Fourth-rounder MacLean is a smooth-throwing lefty with a good feel for pitching and an ability to throw strikes. What makes him intriguing is his velocity went up between last summer and this spring after he put on some weight. If that continues, the Rangers could have a left-hander throwing in the mid-90s with all the other necessary pitching attributes.

NDFA strategy
There are some impact prospects right in the Rangers’ backyard. Right-handed pitcher Cam Brown of Flower Mound High School is ranked No. 61 by MLB Pipeline but has a strong commitment to TCU. Right-hander Johnny Ray, a junior-college transfer in his first season at TCU, made four starts, including a two-hit shutout at Minnesota, before the shutdown and is ranked No. 164 by MLB Pipeline.

The highest undrafted Texan was right-hander Tanner Witt of Houston Episcopal High School, who was ranked No. 53. He has a commitment to the University of Texas. Right-hander Chase Hampton from Kilgore High School went undrafted after being ranked No. 137. He has a commitment to Texas Tech.

The last word
“Your instincts as a scout … when you’ve done this a long time, when you see a certain player that does it a certain way, it kind of perks your interest up, so to speak. We feel like these four guys we took [Thursday], I truly believe if these guys had played the whole season out, we would have been talking about them at a whole different level.” -- Rangers scouting director Kip Fagg