Rangers sign Zavala, finally

The Texas Rangers have signed Aaron Zavala, their 2021 second draft choice in the MLB Draft out of the University of Oregon, per reports. The Rangers also signed 18th round draft pick Kyle Larsen.

Larsen is a righthanded high school pitcher who reportedly is getting a $575,000 bonus. That is more than the Rangers would have been able to pay Larsen without forfeiting a draft pick if they didn’t sign Zavala. No word yet on the bonus for Zavala, but it sounds like it would by around or a little below slot.

The Rangers have apparently signed all their picks in the first ten rounds. Ryan Ure, Tucker Mitchell and Will Taylor are still not announced as being signed. Taylor, a Clemson commit who would have been picked in the first few rounds if he was signable, was never expected to sign. Ure and Mitchell are still unknown, but it sounds like they may be going to college.

In addition, Kumar Rocker, the Vanderbilt pitcher who went tenth overall to the New York Mets, did not come to terms. He will be draft eligible again in 2022.

UPDATE — 14th rounder Tucker Mitchell has also signed, the team announced, along with Zavala and Larsen. Ryan Ure and Will Taylor did not sign.

UPDATE — Reports indicate that Zavala signed for $830,000 — more or less third round money, and less than what Cameron Cauley and Mitchell Bratt signed for. There was apparently a medical issue that delayed signing and, it sounds like, resulted in a significantly lower bonus for Zavala. That is concerning, as a medical issue resulting in that sort of discount is going to be something that as seen as having a real chance of potentially impacting his future performance and development.

UPDATE — The Rangers released a statement indicating that Zavala’s physical revealed a “medical anomaly,” and the team would be working on a “return-to-play program” with him.

That would seem to suggest that the problem is serious enough that Zavala won’t be seeing any game action anytime soon. And the “medical anomaly” language would seem to suggest this is something outside of the normal things we see in the sports world, and may be a more general health issue than something baseball related. That would also help to explain why things were so quiet about this the past few days.