The Texas Rangers are using the Arizona Fall League for more than just bonus reps for their top prospects. For three 2025 draftees who lost time to injuries, it’s a chance to make up ground.
Pitchers Mason McConnaughey and Jacob Johnson, along with outfielder Paxton Kling, were all chosen for the Surprise Saguaros roster when the AFL opens next month. Each of them fits the usual AFL profile as a prospect worth more looks. Each also arrives with something extra to prove after interruptions to their first full pro seasons.
Johnson, a 20-year-old right-hander selected in the 11th round out of Pearl River Community College in Mississippi, missed time with a shoulder injury. He split the year between the Arizona Complex League Rangers and Class A Hickory, and still turned in a strong showing: 2-0 with a 2.51 ERA in 14 games, 13 of them starts. He struck out 48 and walked 25 in 43 innings, while opponents hit just .193 against him overall, including .219 at Hickory.
Kling’s season was interrupted too, as he sat out more than a month with a fractured wrist. Texas took him in the seventh round out of Penn State.
Even with the lost time, he played in 89 games between High-A Hub City and Double-A Frisco and posted a .243/.383/.361 line with seven home runs and 34 RBI. In 21 minor league games in 2025, he hit .301.
He remains part of a group of outfielders with Major League promise.
McConnaughey was the highest-drafted of the three, going in the fourth round out of Nebraska. The Rangers knew he would need a recovery year after Tommy John surgery last year, and he spent time in the ACL and with Hickory.
Across those stops, he went 1-1 with a 3.48 ERA, striking out 16 and walking six in 20.2 innings. Hitters managed only a .224 average against him.
All three are among Texas’ Top 30 prospects per MLB Pipeline: Johnson at No. 17, Kling at No. 20 and McConnaughey at No.
- The Rangers saw enough in limited action to send them to Arizona, where the extra innings and at-bats could help set them up for next season and beyond.
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