ARLINGTON -- The rules are different, but Rangers scouting director Kip Fagg said that the club's approach has not changed much as it prepares for the 2020 MLB Draft tonight and Thursday.

Day 1 of the 2020 Draft airs tonight on MLB Network and ESPN at 6 p.m. CT and includes the first 37 picks. Day 2 begins at 4 p.m. Thursday on MLB Network and ESPN2 and spans the remainder of the 160 picks.

• MLB Network channel locator

The ability to recruit talent will be crucial with the Draft being cut from 40 rounds to five. After the five rounds are completed, clubs can sign an unlimited number of players for a maximum signing bonus of $20,000 each, plus enrollment in the college scholarship plan.

“As far as the recruiting part, our guys have always been the forming relationships-type and that is how we have gained an edge in the past,” Fagg said. “We’ve kind of done the same process. It’s just a little bit more unknown.”

All clubs will be drafting with less information than usual after high school and college programs were shut down due the coronavirus pandemic. Major League scouts lost two to three months of in-game evaluation of prospects.

• Will Rangers take pitcher with 14th pick in Draft?

That doesn’t mean clubs will be flying blind. Scouts begin following most prospects well before they become eligible for the Draft. The Rangers selected third baseman Josh Jung in the first round in 2019 after he spent three years at Texas Tech, but the club had been following Jung since he was at San Antonio MacArthur High School.

Fagg said that the Rangers put a strong emphasis on getting to know players and developing personal relationships. That plays a big part in their selection process, and the Rangers are hoping it pays off in recruiting this summer.

“In every Draft, the better you know people, families, the way the kids are wired, background, it’s going to make you feel more comfortable when you take them,” Fagg said.

“We just didn’t have that extra three-quarters of the year to see games. So, I think we have really dug into the makeup and relationship pieces. We feel comfortable with the five players we are targeting and feel good about the five players we are going to get.”

The Rangers drafted 41 players last season and signed 28 of them. Only six came from the first five rounds. That shows how much recruiting must be done for the Rangers to supply an equal amount of talent into their farm system this summer.

Every club has produced impact players who were taken after the fifth round. The Rangers are well known for finding Ian Kinsler (2003), Mitch Moreland ('07) and Ryan Rua ('11) in the 17th round. Other late-round gems include Rusty Greer (10th round, 1990), Scott Feldman (30th, '03), Pete O’Brien (15th, '79) and Kyle Hendricks (eighth, '11).

What also remains unknown is how prospects will approach their own Draft status under these rules. High school and junior college players may prefer to stay in school. Players from four-year schools who have been awarded an extra year of eligibility because of the pandemic may also prefer to wait until next year.

Last year, the Rangers selected 35 players after the fifth round: 16 from four-year schools, eight from junior colleges and 11 from high school.

The players' risk in returning to school is the possibility of getting lost in what may end up being a bigger pool of talent next year and beyond. Another factor is the possibility that there could be a reduction in the number of Minor League teams and a corresponding loss of roster spots.

"This is what they started playing baseball for,” Fagg said. “They wanted to play professional baseball. I think you have to look at the whole landscape. It's going to get harder to play professional baseball. With the scholarship plan still there and the resources we have in place, I think we are going to sign a number of guys.

“I have confidence that the work our guys have done and the relationships they've built, we're going to be in a position to sign some of these guys post-five. We'll see how it goes, and maybe I'm being a little too optimistic, but I feel pretty confident.”

The Rangers have shown an affinity for high school pitchers in the past, but they shifted last season when they selected Jung and Baylor third baseman Davis Wendzel with their first two picks.

MLB Pipeline's Jonathan Mayo, in his latest mock Draft, listed University of Tennessee left-hander Garrett Crochet as the Rangers' first-round selection. Crochet stands 6-foot-6 with overpowering stuff, but he was limited to one start this spring because of shoulder soreness.

“I think we’ve always been of the mindset it’s always been best player [available],” Fagg said. “Obviously, with the way this Draft is shaped, you’re going to have more comfortability with the college guys just for the fact we have history and we’ve seen them a lot more. With the high school [players], we’ve had a shorter window to evaluate.

“With some of these Northern guys, we didn’t get that opportunity, so it probably hurts that group of players. I think the college group is a little deeper this year than the high school group as a whole, so maybe you might think we’d lean that way. But there’s still a lot of good high school pitchers and players, too. I believe we’re going to have opportunities on both ends."