PHILADELPHIA, PA – JULY 11: Commissioner of Major League Baseball Robert D. Manfred Jr. announces Gio Rojas as the sixteenth overall pick by the Texas Rangers during the 2026 MLB Draft presented by Nippon Express at Pennsylvania Convention Center on Saturday, July 11, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images
How’d draft day go for the Rangers?
Well, let’s put it this way: They got the guy on which they’d spent significant discussion for their first-round pick. Only they got him in the second round. Then they got a 6-9 lefty who hits 100 mph and was ranked as a top 25 talent in the third round.
Hope may not be a strategy, but serendipity will always work.
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In the first round, the Rangers took 19-year-old lefty Gio Rojas, considered the top high school pitcher in the draft at No. 16. Rojas had been considered a top 10 or top 12 pick, but with what was considered a deep draft pool, several teams above them chose to go for “value” picks that will likely allow them to spend more deeper into the draft. It left Rojas, who pitched at the same Florida high school as Jesus Luzardo, for the Rangers.
“In our estimation, he was the best pitcher in the draft,” Rangers scouting director Kip Fagg said. “His pedigree is among the best. We thought there was a limited chance that Gio would get to us. I was surprised he was there.”
It was so surprising it made them postpone talks — but only temporarily — with 17-year-old infielder Connor Comeau of Austin, who had wowed club officials during a recent workout and had worked his way into the conversation if the Rangers’ chose to go with a money-saving value pick in the first round. Alas, Comeau was still sitting there in the second round when the Rangers’ pick came up at No. 54. There was no hesitation. When a plan falls together this neatly, there is no need to do more reflecting.
PHOENIX, AZ – JUNE 23: Connor Comeau #61 poses for a photo during the 2026 Draft Combine at Arizona Grand Resort Phoenix on Tuesday, June 23, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Aryanna Frank/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Aryanna Frank/MLB Photos via Getty Images
“We always say every draft is different, but you always put together a lot of scenarios and simulations,” assistant general manager Josh Boyd said. “And the amount of times they come together, it’s rare. The amount of work Kip puts in and the coordination of talking to agents to maintain conversations is really impressive. It makes a huge difference.”
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Comeau, 6-4, is currently a shortstop and will go out and play there after he signs, but there is some question about whether he will be able to stay at the position at the next level. But Rangers officials said they were very impressed with his defensive ability.
The coordination continued into the third round when the Rangers struck for high school left-hander Brody Bumila of Massachusetts. Bumila is tailor-made for the Rangers’ very specific draft niche advantage: Taking injured pitchers and directing them to their own medical consultant, renowned surgeon Dr. Keith Meister, MLB’s top Tommy John surgeon.
According to a report from the Boston Globe, Bumila said the Rangers have offered him “first-round money,” and he is expected to sign. He also said he would see Dr. Meister next week. The risk is that this will be Bumila’s second elbow surgery in two years. He had an internal brace procedure in 2025, returned from it, but saw his velocity dip at the end of the high school season. He later disclosed to MLB teams that he had a UCL injury and would likely require surgery. He had been ranked No. 23 in MLB Pipeline’s draft prospects before the disclosure.
Attleboro, MA – March 26: Bishop Feehan senior Brody Bumila throws a pitch during a scrimmage on March 26, 2026. (Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Boston Globe/Boston Globe via Getty Images
“There’s no question about it, we do seek to [take advantage of Meister’s presence],” Boyd said. “We all know the way that pitchers come back from these injuries, especially under the care of our medical and performance. And Dr. Meister, I think is second to none, so we’re excited about that. We’ve got to wait a little while, but that’s what we do in drafts. We’re playing the long game.
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The Rangers have $10.2 million worth of bonus pool money to sign their first 10 selections, and it likely means they’ll have to go cheap on some of players in Day 2, during rounds 5-20, to accommodate the deal. The slot value for Bumila’s pick is $900,800, but the lowest slot value of the first-round is more than $3 million.
The Rangers’ only college pick on Day 1 was fourth-round selection right-hander Hudson Calhoun of Ole Miss. Calhoun, 21, spent the season pitching primarily as a reliever, but the Rangers expect to lengthen him out as a starter.
On draft day, everybody is elated. Nobody ever loses on draft day. It’s not until much later on that grades and redraft evaluations start to pile in, but the easiest spot to grade a draft is always the first-rounder. In Rojas, the Rangers got a pitcher from an elite high school program, who was Florida’s Gatorade Player of the Year as a junior and was a member of Team USA’s 18-and-under team that toured Japan last year.
It was there that he got to know Rangers manager Skip Schumaker, whose son Brody, was on the team.
“He’s my guy,” Rojas said. “I just like his vibe.”
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The admiration is mutual. Schumaker said of the selection of Rojas on Saturday that the Rangers “lucked out.”
Well, luck, can sometimes be the best strategy.