MLB Draft 2011 -- Texas Rangers select OF Zach Cone

With the #37 pick in the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft, the Texas Rangers have selected outfielder Zach Cone from the University of Georgia.  

Cone is a righthanded hitter who is considered to be a quality athlete, with good speed and defense in centerfield, but questions about his ability to hit.  Cone has been a sub-.300 hitter at Georgia this year, and his scouting report makes him sound like a more athletic version of another supplemental first rounder the Rangers took out of the SEC, Tennessee centerfielder Julio Borbon.

Baseball America had Cone ranked as their #86 prospect, and he was a third round pick by Anaheim in 2008.  Cone was more highly regarded prior to this season, but BA indicates that his bat and arm regressed this year.  

Like Matthews at #33, this is an unexpected pick, a guy who was expected to go much later in the draft.  Unlike Matthews, you have to expect Cone to sign quickly and for slot, which could indicate that the Rangers are looking to spend bigger dollars on guys with signability issues later in the draft.

UPDATE -- You can see Cone's splits here.  Interestingly, he really mashed lefties, and was really awful against righthanders.

UPDATE -- Jon Daniels, interviewed during the Rangers game, just said that they think there are some things they can do with Cone's swing, once he works with professional hitting coaches, to help him fix some things and get better results.