The MLB draft is finally here.
The MLB draft, like others, is a low-cost way for bad teams to rebuild and good teams to bolster their farm system for the future.
For the Texas Rangers, it is definitely an opportunity to improve their minor league clubs with high-upside prospects.
They have a lot of young talent already in the majors, so the best way to maximize on their draft picks is to look for the eventual replacements for their older starters.
How have the Rangers faired in prior drafts, you might ask? Well, while some might see a lack of depth, I see the Rangers have an eye for talent. Over the past 20 MLB drafts, the Rangers have had just three general managers, but their draft success has been pretty similar. They have all found talented players, but more often than not those players found success elsewhere.
In the late 90’s and early 2000’s the Rangers clearly had an eye for the big bat. While these players have spent the majority of their careers playing against the Rangers, you cannot deny the Rangers spent quality picks on Edwin Encarnacion and Mark Teixeira.
They also drafted ageless pitchers Colby Lewis and RA Dickey. It just makes you wish the Rangers could have held on to one of those bats, to see what kind of unworldly numbers they could produce in Arlington.
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In the mid 2000’s the Rangers selected some quality pitchers and position players, starting with their former leadoff-star, Ian Kinsler. They followed that up by selecting Chris Davis and Derek Holland. They also signed amateur-free agents Edinson Volquez and Martin Perez.
If the Rangers were able to hold on to Kinsler and Davis, we might be talking about how the mid 2000’s were when they selected the cornerstones of their current lineup, but instead it is a similar story as Encarnacion and Teixeira.
The Rangers selected great players whose career path took them far from DFW.
The promising part of this list is that you could argue the front-office is only getting better at acquiring unproven talent. The Rangers, under general manager Jon Daniels' leadership, has recently selected Joey Gallo, Jurickson Profar, Nomar Mazara and Rougned Odor. Those players have great promise for the Rangers future, as does the signing of international-free agent Yu Darvish -- one the better international signings in recent history.
These are just the more notable players the Rangers have chosen of late. At the end of the day, you can question the Rangers draft strategy and ability to hold on to talent, but you cannot question their ability to find stars before they reach the pros. They do a superb job of that.
