Heavy spending on Day 1 of MLB draft forces Rangers to get 'creative' on Day 2
· Yahoo Sports
ARLINGTON — Who among us hasn't splurged one day and needed to operate on a budget the next?
The Rangers were "creative" on the second day of the MLB Draft, as assistant general manager Josh Boyd said when it concluded Sunday evening, after the club took a couple of big swings with its Day 1 picks and will need to use a large portion of its bonus pool to secure them.
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They selected left-handed pitcher Gio Rojas (Stoneman Douglas, Fla.), shortstop Connor Comeau (Anderson, Texas) and left-handed pitcher Brody Bumila (Bishop Feehan, Mass.) with their first three picks Saturday, and because at least the first and third of those three will likely require first-round money to sign, it limited how much the Rangers could spend elsewhere.
READ MORE: Rangers' draft plan neatly falls into place as Texas finds big-time value on Day 1
The 16th overall selection, where Rojas was picked, carries a designated slot value of $5,051,900. The 54th overall selection, where Comeau was picked, has a designated slot value of $1,805,300. Bumila, who was selected 89th overall because of injury concerns, was offered "first-round money" to forgo his commitment to Texas, per The Boston Globe. The lowest designated slot value within the first round is $3,696,000, and when combined with the designated bonuses assigned to the club's first two picks, the three could potentially total north of $10.5 million.
The Rangers have a total pool of $10.2 million to spend, and while teams can exceed that limit for a penalty and are not beholden to slot values, even keen negotiations leave them with little wiggle room.
So Sunday, of the players the Rangers picked with selections No. 5-10, the range in which designated bonus values still apply, only one was listed on Baseball America's top 500 big board. Boyd said that the club's draft team huddled after Saturday's picks to reconfigured their draft board but still targeted what they believe are "Rangers players."
"I think that really stands out so much to be able to execute the way we did is the relationships that the scouts have with the players," Boyd said. "To be able to pivot as quickly as they did, to make the numbers work, and to still give us quality. To me, that's what stands out, that we were able to do that pretty quickly."
They selected Penn State first baseman Michael Anderson with the No. 149 overall pick in the fifth round to start day two of the draft. He was listed as Baseball America's No. 263 prospect, and though he's only pitched in two games since his freshman year, the Rangers will develop him as a two-way player. The 22-year-old slashed .358/.470/.742 with 20 home runs at Penn State this year, and because he underwent an internal brace procedure after his season, the Rangers will be able to begin his development at the plate before he pitches again.
See Texas' full 2026 draft class below.