The 2026 MLB Draft is almost here, and the Texas Rangers are heading into it with a lot of work to do and not much room to miss. The first round starts tomorrow, and rounds 5-20 are set for Sunday, July 12. For Chris Young and his front office, this is a chance to start rebuilding a farm system that has been thinned out by recent trades, including the offseason deal that sent last year’s first-round pick, Gavin Fien, and four other highly rated prospects to the Washington Nationals for Mackenzie Gore.
Texas still has one blue-chip name at the top of the system in Sebastian Walcott, who ranks among the best prospects in baseball. But Walcott has missed the entire season with an elbow injury, even as the club has recently gotten encouraging news that points to a quicker return for the young standout. Beyond him, the system lacks both premium talent and depth, which is why Baseball America dropped the Rangers from No. 24 in the preseason rankings to No. 27 in its July update.
That backdrop puts a premium on every decision the Rangers make at No. 16 overall. Young has shown before that he isn’t locked into one type of player, and history suggests he’ll keep the board open rather than chase a single mold.
Texas earned the 16th pick in the first round thanks to its 81-81 record in 2025 and its status as a three-time luxury tax offender by just $380,966. The Rangers did not receive any compensation picks for losing qualified offer free agents, and they also did not land any Prospect Promotion Incentive picks, leaving them with their full set of selections and nothing extra.
Their bonus pool comes in at $10,219,200, the 18th-highest total in the league. That figure is based on the slot values assigned to each of their picks.
As for who might be the target, the mock-draft crowd is all over the place. Some have Texas looking at Jared Grindlinger, a two-way high school prospect, and the Rangers do have some recent familiarity with that kind of player after taking Josh Owens in the third round last year and signing Seong-Jun Kim out of South Korea last May.
College arms are very much in the mix too, with Liam Peterson of Florida and Hunter Dietz of Arkansas both mentioned as possibilities. On the position-player side, Alabama shortstop Justin Lebron brings the kind of boom-or-bust upside that can swing a draft room, while Kentucky shortstop Tyler Bell offers a steadier profile without quite the same flash.
There’s also a local angle to watch. TCU outfielder Sawyer Strosnider is among the collegiate names linked to Texas, and Georgia prep star Trevor Condon is another player who could fit the Rangers’ range.
In other words, the board is wide open, and Young’s track record doesn’t make the picture any clearer.
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 🡒]