Rangers wrap up draft in good position for future
Jalyn Smoot
It’s been an eventful All-Star Week in Seattle for the Rangers, who boasted six American League All-Star representatives, had a Home Run Derby participant in Adolis García, and, perhaps most importantly, invested deeply into its budding farm system.
Texas entered the Draft in prime position with the fourth overall pick -- despite entering the All-Star break atop the AL West with a 52-39 record. Given that the Rangers don’t plan on drafting so highly again anytime soon, this Draft is paramount to Texas’ future, as the club looks to maximize its resources.
After its 18 selections through 20 rounds of the Draft, the Rangers came as close to that goal as you can get. Here are three takeaways from the Rangers’ newest draft class:
Wyatt Langford
The Rangers’ farm system has a new sheriff in town, as the team selected five-tool outfielder and former Gators star Wyatt Langford in the first round.
Langford, 21, played three seasons at Florida and broke onto the scene when he tied Matt LaPorta’s single-season Gators home run record with 26 homers and slashed .356/447/.719 during his sophomore season.
Langford was also a member of Team USA last season and established himself as one of the best young hitters in the country before posting another standout year in Gainesville, just 30 miles away from his hometown of Trenton in northern Florida.
The No. 3 Draft prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Langford posted a .373/.498/.784 slash line this spring with more walks (56) than strikeouts (44) as well as 21 homers among 52 extra-base hits in 64 games.
He received First Team All-SEC and Second Team All-American honors in 2023 after finishing second in the SEC in runs (83), walks (56), on-base percentage (.498), and slugging percentage (.784) -- while also boasting the seventh-highest batting average (.373).
“[Langford is] a powerful, powerful middle-of-the-lineup bat,” Rangers senior director of amateur scouting Kip Fagg said. “He’s got a very good approach and power to all fields, and he’s a good defender. Very athletic, probably a plus runner, good defender in the corner. We think we got a both-sides-of-the-ball baseball player here that's going to hit in the middle of the lineup for the Texas Rangers.”
Langford has the potential to be a five-tool player down the line and could soon become a household name in Texas.
Rangers prepare for arms race
In addition to drafting a shiny new outfielder, the Rangers added a plethora of new arms to their farm system, selecting pitchers with 13 of their 18 draft picks.
Four of the Rangers’ first five picks of the Draft were pitchers and, on Day 3 of the Draft, the team spent eight of their 10 remaining draft picks on arms, including a stretch from Rounds 12-18 when the team selected seven consecutive pitchers. One notable pick was Jake Brown, ranked as the No. 93 draft prospect, selected by the Rangers in the 16th round with the 471st overall pick, but he's currently committed to Louisiana State University.
“We got some power arms for sure,” Fagg said. “I don’t think that’s something we went out and decided that we were going to focus on, but it just kind of worked in our favor in that way.”
With a star-studded lineup already in tow in Texas, the Rangers made a point in the 2023 Draft to invest heavily into the pitching side.
Diamond in the rough
The Rangers selected high school outfielder Maxton Martin with the 321st overall pick in the 11th round to begin Day 3.
Martin, who bats left-handed but throws with his right, is widely regarded as the top outfielder in the state of Washington and could be a late-round gem for Texas.
“[Martin] is a power corner [outfield] bat,” Fagg said. “He’s got a really good approach. I really like [Martin]. It’s a good fit for us and we’re excited about him and what he brings to the Rangers.”
Martin is currently committed to the University of Oregon, but should he join Texas, he could evolve into a low-risk, high-reward draft pick for the Rangers.