Tomorrow brings the first round, and everybody will be locked in on what Chris Young does with the Rangers’ pick at No. 16.
But the real work doesn’t stop there. Texas still has 19 more rounds to mine for value, and with a farm system that’s been thinned out by years of trades aimed at chasing that 2023 magic, those later swings matter plenty.
That’s why the back half of the draft deserves some attention. Baseball America’s list of top sleeper prospects turns up a handful of names who could fit what the Rangers need: upside, athleticism, and a chance to find a real player where others see a long shot.
One of the more intriguing options is outfielder Peyton Bonds from Rutgers, who checks in at No. 109 on BA’s top 500. Yes, he’s from that Bonds family - the son of Bobby Bonds Jr., the nephew of Barry Bonds, and the grandson of Bobby Bonds Sr. - but the appeal goes well beyond the name.
He’s a 6-foot-5, 230-pound right-handed hitter with plus speed, above-average center-field ability, and enough physical tools to make scouts lean in. He also showed off serious pop at the MLB Draft combine, where he got exit velocities as high as 110.8 miles per hour.
Bonds hit .352/.436/.535 this season and struck out only 12.7% of the time. He makes a lot of contact, though he can get too aggressive and put the ball on the ground too often.
If Texas can sharpen the swing and help him mature in the box, there’s real star potential here.
The Rangers could also keep an eye on Carson Wiggins, the right-hander from Arkansas who comes in at No. 119.
He’s the younger brother of Cubs top prospect Jaxon Wiggins, and the arm talent is obvious. Working out of the bullpen for the Razorbacks, he was living in the high 90s and touched 102 miles per hour before an elbow injury ended his season after just 14 innings and led to Tommy John surgery.
He’s been out this year while recovering, and Baseball America said he would have been a top-50 prospect without the injury. The fastball is loud, and the slider is nasty too, producing a 74% miss rate.
There’s relief risk and plenty of injury concern, but the upside is exactly the kind that can tempt a team in the middle rounds.
Another name worth knowing is Coleton Brady, a right-hander from TXNL Academy in Ococee, Florida, ranked No. 236.
He’s only 17 years and nine months old, but he already has the kind of body teams dream on: 6-foot-5, 210 pounds. The LSU commit works with a four-pitch mix - a four-seamer that gets up to 94 miles per hour, plus a slider, curveball, and changeup - and Baseball America says his command is already advanced.
The age, size, and pitch mix give him a very high ceiling, even if the floor is just as wide. The question is whether a team can convince him to skip college, and that likely comes down to where he’s taken.
Arizona State third baseman and second baseman Nu'u Contrades, No. 250 on BA’s list, is another player whose rise stands out. In 2025, he was more of a contact bat, hitting .304/.410/.519 with six home runs.
This year, he changed his swing to unlock more power without losing the contact skills that made him interesting in the first place. The result was a .366/.434/.762 line and 21 homers.
He mostly played third base in college, brings some speed and stolen-base ability, and works with an aggressive approach at the plate. The jump in power was backed by better exit velocity and a higher fly-ball rate, and the fact that he made such a major adjustment and still hit makes him a compelling later-round target.
If the Rangers want to keep the two-way conversation alive, Ty Burnham could be the name to watch. The Arkansas high schooler, ranked No. 281, is listed as a right-hander and outfielder.
Some mocks have Texas taking high school two-way player Jared Grindlinger at No. 16, and there are reasons people have floated that idea, including the Rangers taking two-way player Josh Owens in the third round last year and signing Seong-Jun Kim out of South Korea last May. But high school two-way players are risky, and with the state of the farm system, that kind of gamble may be too rich at the top.
Burnham, though, could be a later-round way to scratch that itch. Baseball America says his two-way upside is real, even if he’s more polished on the mound, where he has hit 98 miles per hour at times this year.
At 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, he already looks the part, though he’s committed to Arkansas, so there’s no guarantee he signs.
The Rangers have a lot riding on the first round, but the draft won’t be won there alone. If Texas wants to add some life to a thin system, these are the kinds of names that can make the difference.
In Other News...
Rangers First Round Report Card Raises Big Questions Before Draft Day
The Rangers first-round track record from the last five drafts is starting to look like a snapshot of where the organization stands heading into another draft cycle: some picks have already moved on, some are climbing, and one of the most gifted young hitters in the system still feels like a work in progress. Gavin Fein is now in the Washington Nationals organization, Malcolm Moore has taken a clear step forward after his recent move to Double-A, and Wyatt Langford remains the most prominent reminder that talent and development do not always move in a straight line.
For Texas, the bigger issue is not just who has produced so far, but which of these first-round bets still has a chance to become a real cornerstone. Moores rise has given the front office something tangible to point to, while Langfords ceiling still keeps the conversation from getting too pessimistic. Even so, the grades leave the Rangers with a familiar draft-day question hanging over them: have they found enough impact at the top of the board, or are they still waiting on the best part of this class to arrive? [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Could Put A Surprising Deadline Piece In Play
With the Rangers tied with the Mariners atop the AL West, the focus around Arlington is already shifting toward what the front office might do before the Aug. 3 deadline. One name that has surfaced in that conversation is Josh Smith, whose ability to move around the diamond gives Texas a useful piece even in a year when the club is still very much in the race.
Smiths value is complicated by a season that has not matched his usual production, which is part of why he has become a possible trade chip rather than an obvious building block. He is also under club control through 2028, so the Rangers do not have to move him, but that kind of flexibility can make a player useful in deadline talks if Texas decides it needs to address another area before the market closes. [Read more 🡒]
One Rangers Pitching Prospect Just Changed The System Conversation
Jesus Lafalaise gave Hickory exactly the kind of start that gets attention inside a system, even on a night when the box score was mixed elsewhere. The right-hander worked five innings, allowed just one run on a solo homer, and piled up nine strikeouts against one walk, the sort of outing that can make a prospect look a little more central to the organizations pitching conversation.
Elsewhere, the returns and rough patches were harder to sort through. David Davalillo was back in full-season action for Hub City and was tagged for five runs in 2.1 innings, including a homer, while Dalton Pence held Frisco in the game with 5.1 innings and only a solo shot allowed. Round Rocks Joe Ross, meanwhile, had a much shorter night, giving up three runs in 0.1 innings, which only sharpened the contrast between the arms trending up and the ones still trying to settle in. [Read more 🡒]