Good morning.
Yesterday was the start of the MLB draft and with it, we saw the Rangers reverse course on their usual archetype by going for college baseball players rather than raw, toolsy prepsters. Evan Grant writes that the Rangers perhaps decided to use the draft to build upon their current core.
T.R. Sullivan looks at the three new names who join the Rangers farm system from day one of the draft.
Jeff Wilson writes that the Rangers are short of future third base options but they weren’t really drafting for need with the Jung pick.
ESPN offers up their analyst of the first round selections wherein Dan Mullen writes that the Rangers are betting on the hit tool with Jung.
Jim Callis and the MLB Pipeline folks had Jung as the third best college hitter in the draft and Callis writes that he feels like Jung was coming in a little underrated.
The DMN offers five things to know about first round pick Jung who, it turns out, is not a 140 or so year old Swiss psychologist.
Wilson notes that the Rangers went for another college third baseman from a Texas school with their second pick and then finished off the first day by selecting a college arm from UCLA.
Drew Davison writes that Jon Daniels wishes MLB would let teams trade draft picks but that’s only a privilege given to teams like the St. Louis Cardinals who get competitive balance picks.
The Levi Weaver Wire for this week ponders surviving without Joey Gallo over the next stretch and asks: Hey Adrian Sampson, are you for real?
Grant’s Rangers Stock Watch raves about a few pitchers who have been getting it done while some hitters have been lagging behind in recent days.
Jared Sandler’s SANDbox for the week covers draft thoughts and Gallo ruminations as Texas tries to build on their Wild Card 2 lead without the AL’s best slugger.
And, lastly, JD was on with Ben and Skin to talk about Rougned Odor’s struggles and some parallels he sees with this year’s team compared to previous editions.
Have a nice day!