Texas Rangers agree to terms with second-round pick AJ Russell and 17 of 20 draftees

ARLINGTON — The Rangers feel like they got two first-rounders in the draft with Gavin Fien and pitcher AJ Russell.

Paid them that way, too.

A day after introducing the No. 12 overall pick, Fien, the Rangers concluded their draft business Wednesday signing Russell for a $2.6 million bonus, according to a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations. Russell, from the University of Tennessee, was the 52nd overall pick and his draft slot had a $1.86 million bonus. The bonus he received was equivalent to that of the No. 38 pick, a first-round competitive balance compensation pick.

The Rangers also signed third-rounder Josh Owens, a two-way high school player from Tennessee for $1.1 million, according to a person with direct knowledge of the talks. That was $150,000 above slot. The higher bonuses were made possible by the fact that Fien took $900,000 below his slot value of $5.7 million.

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The Rangers, who had $10,991,300 available in bonus pool slots for their top 10 picks, signed each of their picks from the first 12 rounds and 17 of 20 picks overall. They did not reach agreements with 13th and 14th rounders Aiden Robertson and Landon Manzi, both pitchers, and 16th rounder Jaxon Grossman, a catcher. They are not expected to sign before Monday’s deadline, will return to school and the Rangers will lose their rights.

Russell, who came back from elbow surgery late in the 2025 season, is expected to receive a significantly above-slot deal closer to being in line with a first-round pick. He was considered a potential first-round talent before the injury. According to Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline, the deal is worth $2.6 million.

In Russell, the Rangers get a strapping 6-6 right-hander, who has already pitched at Globe Life Field and whose four-seam fastball can be dialed up to 98 mph. According to Baseball America’s scouting report, his secondary pitches will need refinement for consistency, but grade out above average.

It is the fastball, which he ramped up at Tennessee that put him on the map. He was middle-tier velocity pitcher using a two-seam fastball before simple experimenting with a four-seamer out of frustration. A teammate showed him his four-seam grip. A star was born.

“There really was no development behind it,” Russell said. “It was one of those things that I kind of lucked into. I realized it was pretty good, pretty quickly in terms of missing barrels, got lot of swing and miss with it. The [velocity] ticked up immediately when I started throwing it. I liked how it felt. And I just kind of ran with it.”

Russell, 21, went 2-1 with a 3.55 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 25⅓ innings this season after coming back from internal brace surgery to repair a partially torn elbow ligament. He had the surgery in June 2024.

He compiled a career collegiate record of 4-2 with a 2.70 ERA and 104 strikeouts in 42 appearances/11 starts. Russell earned Baseball America Freshman All-American honors in 2023, posting a 0.89 ERA (3 ER/30.1 IP) in his collegiate debut. During that strong freshman season he pitched at Globe Life Field against Texas Tech in an early season tournament.

Now the next question is whether he will pitch this year or not. He will go to Arizona with the rest of the draft picks for a mini-camp, but GM Ross Fenstermaker said the Rangers had not yet decided on a plan for him. The last two college pitchers the Rangers took in the first round, Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker, did not pitch in the regular season after they were drafted. Leiter returned to school until the fall; Rocker, who had been out of school a year, pitched in the Instructional League and then the Arizona Fall League.

Texas Rangers draft picksRoundOverall PickPlayer selected112SS Gavin Fien from Great Oak HS (Calif.)252RHP AJ Russell from Tennessee384Two-way player Josh Owens from Providence Academy (Tenn.)4115RHP Mason McConnaughey from Nebraska5146LHP Ben Abeldt from TCU61753B Jack Wheeler from Morris HS (Ill.)7205OF Paxton Kling from Penn State8235RHP Evan Siary from Mississippi State9265LHP Owen Proksch from Duke10295RHP J.D. McReynolds from University of Central Missouri11325RHP Jacob Johnson from Pearl River CC (Miss.)12355RHP Jake Barbee from Jay M. Robinson HS (N.C.)13385RHP Aiden Robertson from Walters State CC (Tenn.)14415RHP Landon Manzi from Killingly HS (Conn.)15445SS Luke Hanson from Virginia16475RHP Jaxon Grossman from Salt Lake CC (Utah)17505C Noah Franklin from TNXL Academy (Fla.)18535RHP Julius Sanchez from Illinois19565RHP Cory Geinzer from College of Central Florida20595OF Jay McQueen from Brandon HS (Miss.)

Names that are bolded indicate they did not sign with the Rangers.

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Texas Rangers agree to terms with second-round pick AJ Russell and 17 of 20 draftees

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