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MOD #1: Texas Rangers (Draft Prep)

Mock Organization Diary #1 Texas Rangers, Minor League Ball Community Mock Draft 2012

Welcome Rangers’ fans and supporters to the 2012 Minor League Ball Community Mock Draft , I will be playing the role of your team’s scouting director this year. Now full disclosure before we begin. As you may have discerned from my handle/screen-name (JaysFanToronto), I am a huge Blue Jays fan, from Toronto. However that doesn’t mean that I don’t have rooting interests in other teams, as I am first and foremost a baseball fan. The Rangers are one of the organizations that I most admire, and this is one of the reason’s I volunteered to represent them. Their front office operates aggressively and in a non-conventional, non-predictable manner, in acquiring and assessing talent and it’s hard to argue with the results. They employ the type of strategy and philosophy that I would like my hometown team (the Blue Jays) to emulate, and one which I hope we can approach this draft with together.

Front Office

I will run this draft in as democratic a fashion as possible, and to that end, I would like to appoint two assistants or tsars to help me assess the talent available, weigh the information/suggestions/opinions of our fellow Rangers’ supporters; before ultimately making the final decision. My preference is for one assistant with a strong knowledge of the upcoming high school crop, and the other with a good grasp of the collegiate talent. Both assistants should be fairly familiar with the Rangers’ farm system and past approaches to the draft.

(If this sounds like you, please apply within this thread).

Draft Overview

The Community Mock Draft takes place on Saturday May 26th at 12:00 PM noon, central time and will run through to the end of the third round. Teams will select in the order that they select in the real draft, and will be expected to operate under a realistic budget (in accordance with MLB imposed bonus pools and slot allotments).

Rangers 2012 Draft Picks

Round 1: 29th overall pick

Round 1s: 39th overall pick (CJ Wilson)

Round 1s: 53rd overall pick (Darren Oliver)

Round 2s: 83rd overall pick (CJ Wilson)

Round 2: 93rd overall pick

Round 3: 123rd overall pick

Aggregate Bonus Pool

$6,568,200 for 13 picks (2012)

$3,021,500 (2011 top 10 picks)

$4,193,000 (2011 total spent)

Organizational Strengths vs. Needs

(Strengths)

*Young infielders: The Rangers already have a pretty good infield at the major league level with Beltre (33) at third, Andrus (23) at short, and Kinsler (29) at second, but coming up through the pipeline they also have one of the best shortstop prospects in baseball with Jurickson Profar (19), underrated Venezuelan secondbaseman Rougned Odor (18), and intriguing thirdbase prospects Mike Olt (23) and Christian Villanueva (21).

*Young pitching: The Rangers have a very good young starting rotation fronted by Japanese rookie sensation Yu Darvish (25), Dominican right-hander Neftali Feliz (24), and lefty Derek Holland (25). They are so deep that they felt comfortable putting 13-game winning Alexi Ogando (28) back in the bullpen after a break out 2011 season. Beyond those four they have a steady crop of talent burgeoning within their farm system starting with lefty prospect Martin Perez (21), uber talented righties Neil Ramirez (23), Cody Buckel (20), and Justin Grimm.

*Young outfielders: The Rangers already have all-world outfielder Josh Hamilton (31) at the major league level, along with power hitting right fielder Nelson Cruz (31). They also have a pair of young speedy centerfielders in Julio Borbon (26), Leonys Martin (24) and Engel Beltre (22). After those four you have to look a little further down the depth chart to see the next wave of talent, but there is loads of potential there. The Rangers, who have been aggresive on the IFA market in recent years, gave power-hitting outfielder Nomar Mazara 5-million dollars to sign, before spending another 3.5-million on polished hitting left-fielder Ronald Guzman. Now if the Commisioner's office approves the signing of talented outfielder Jairo Beras for 4.5 million, the you're looking at one of the best July 2 outfield classes assembled (whatever that counts for).

(Needs)

*Catching: You really have to nitpick the Rangers organization to find weaknessess, but there are some. Until Mike Napoli came along last season, the Rangers haven't really had a good everyday catcher since Pudge left town. Napoli has thrived since arriving Arlington, but he's 30-years-old, and a soon-to-be free agent (like Hamilton), and behind him there aren't many good catching prospects other than Jorge Alfaro (19), who's hitting relatively well in A-Ball and showing a strong arm, put needs defensive polish and has attrocious plate discipline.

*Power hitters: The Rangers don't have a great deal of young power hitting prospects within their system other than Olt and Mazzaro. A power hitting corner player (1B, OF, 3B) would be a solid addition.

*Power pitchers: Other than Justin Grim, the Rangers don't really have the type of flamethrowing power pitchers within their system that their homestate has been known for. That's not a huge criticism as they have talented pitching prospects nonetheless, but one imagines President Nolan Ryan, the Hall-of-Famer and quintessential power pitcher, would not be opposed to drafting his heir apparent in the lone star state.

Draft Tendencies 2006-2011 (First 3 rounds)

HS Position Players: 4

HS LHP: 5

HS RHP: 6

College Position Players: 6

College RHP: 3

College LHP: 2

*As you can see the Rangers have taken high school pitchers early during Jon Daniels tenure as GM. They have also tended towards college position players while staying clear of college pitchers in the first 3 rounds.

Top Picks 2006-2011 (First 3 rounds)

1) Cody Buckel, RHP, HS

2) Mike Olt, 3B, NCAA

3) Neil Ramirez, RHP, HS

4) Tanner Scheppers, RHP, NCAA

5) Robbie Erlin, LHP, HS (*traded*)

6) Robbie Ross, LHP, HS

7) Julio Borbon, CF, NCAA

8) Blake Beavan, RHP, HS (*traded*)

9) Justin Smoak, 1B, NCAA (*traded*)

10) Matt Purke, LHP, HS* (*unsigned*)

2011 Draft Recap

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2011/6/10/2216615/2011-mlb-draft-texas-rangers-review

by John Sickels

1) Kevin Matthews, LHP, Georgia HS: Small lefty (5-10, 160), athletic and hits 90 MPH, secondary pitches need work, firm University of Virginia commitment. The Rangers like pitchers with similar profiles (Robbie Erlin, Robbie Ross, Kasey Kiker) but this pick seems like a stretch to me.

1S) Zach Cone, OF, Georgia: Super-toolsy outfielder but performance record is spotty due to poor strike zone judgment. High-ceiling, high-risk.

2) Will Lamb, LHP, Clemson: Tall and lean, has a good arm (93-95), two-way player in college but will pitch as a pro. High ceiling but also seems like something of an overdraft by a round or two.

3) Kyle Castro, RHP, California HS: Raw and projectable at 6-4, 185, arm strength is average at this point but given athleticism and clean delivery his velocity is expected to increase as he matures.

SUMMARY: This class is all high-risk, high-reward in the early rounds with no leavening of polish. If they can sign Fisher it will look a lot better, and maybe that is the strategy, draft some guys who will sign for slot and save up money for the big overslot guy. But even so, Matthews looks like a real stretch to me, and this class is so far on the raw tools side that it could easily bust.

Topics To Discuss

*What approach to take?

*High school vs College

*Pitcher vs. Position player

*Formulating a draft board

Please feel welcome in sharing your opinions and suggestions within this thread. What players would you like to see us take and where. We will incorporate all your input into the second edition of the MOD.

Resources

College RHP (Starters)

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/3/26/2903428/mlb-2012-draft-college-right-handed-starters

College LHP (Starters)

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/3/30/2914684/mlb-2012-draft-college-left-handed-starters

College Relievers (RHP & LHP)

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/4/3/2921862/mlb-2012-draft-college-relievers

High School RHP

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/3/27/2906166/mlb-2012-draft-high-school-right-handed-starters

High School LHP

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/3/30/2915074/mlb-2012-draft-high-school-left-handed-starters

College Catchers

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/4/12/2943935/mlb-2012-draft-college-catchers

High School Catchers

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/4/3/2923755/mlb-2012-draft-high-school-catchers

College Shortstops

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/4/19/2961097/mlb-2012-draft-college-shortstops

High School Shortstops

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/4/24/2972933/mlb-2012-draft-high-school-shortstops

College Thirdbasemen

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/5/2/2995036/mlb-2012-draft-college-third-basemen

High School Thirdbasemen

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/5/12/3015553/mlb-2012-draft-high-school-thirdbasemen

PG

http://www.perfectgame.org/

BA

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/

MLB Draft Guide

http://mlbdraftguide.com/1/

Bullpen Banter

http://bullpenbanter.com/

Please Ranger's fans, and I cannot state emphasize this enough: Recommend this thread in order to make it easier to find and access for all of us! Cheers.

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