ARLINGTON — While the on-field version of the Rangers continues to confuse team management about its direction, at least one thing was clear Tuesday: There is a long-range plan.
The Rangers introduced their three top draft picks — all precocious high schoolers — who signed their contracts Tuesday. The trio, headed by the No. 16 overall pick, lefty Gio Rojas, will leave for an onboarding process at the club’s Arizona training complex on Wednesday.
Rangers scouting director Kip Fagg also confirmed that the club had signed all of their first 10 picks. The high school trio at the top also included shortstop Connor Comeau of Austin Anderson and left-hander Brody Bumila of Massachusetts. Rojas received a bonus of $4.6 million, $400,000 below his slot value, while Comeau, the No. 54 pick, and Bumila, No. 89 overall, both received above slot bonuses of $2.5 million and $2.75 million, respectively.
“The draft is a fun time of year where we infuse a lot of talent into our organization, but it’s not just about the talent alone when we make our selections,” President of Baseball Operations Chris Young said. “It’s about the character of the players and the fit for our organization and what we believe are championship caliber of people as well as players. We believe that they’re going to be the next leaders within our organization and help us in our quest towards our next World Series championship.”
The signings took up the great majority of the Rangers’ $10.219 million bonus pool for the picks in the first 10 rounds. All of the picks between the fourth and the 10th rounds took below slot money, with several taking $2,500 bonuses. The Rangers could also inflate their bonus pool by an additional $510,000 if they are willing to pay a tax on that overage. Anything above would incur more significant penalties.
The Rangers can use any additional money they have left over to apply to bonuses for players in rounds 11-20. The maximum bonus in those rounds that does not count against the pool is $150,000 plus college tuition.
That is of particular note in the case of right-hander Selden Kolkebeck, the Rangers’ 19th-round selection from Northern Valley Regional High School in New Jersey. Kolkebeck is committed to Ivy League Columbia, but the Rangers would like to buy him out of that.