Latest Mock Draft Results for the Rangers

There have been a lot of new mock drafts released over the past two or three days.  I have rounded up sixteen of them to study, in order to see who the Rangers could take at number 12 in the first round.  Once again, the only consistent theme in these mock drafts is that most of those creating them believe the Rangers want a shortstop, and most likely a high school shortstop.

Latest Mock Draft Results for the Rangers in the First Round

Baseball America - Kyson Witherspoon, RHP, Oklahoma

MLB Pipeline  –  Daniel Pierce, SS, Mill Creek High School (Georgia)

Keith Law  –  Kayson Cunningham, SS, Johnson High School, San Antonio, (Texas)

USA Today  –  JoJo Parker, SS, Purvis High School (Mississippi)

Bleacher Report  –  Kyson Witherspoon, RHP, Oklahoma

Prospects Live  –  Kayson Cunningham, SS, Johnson High School, San Antonio, (Texas)

Perfect Game  –  Marek Houston, SS, Wake Forest

Sportsnaut  –  Brendan Summerhill, OF, Arizona

Bleacher Nation  –  Brendan Summerhill, OF, Arizona

CBS Sports – Daniel Pierce, SS, Mill Creek High School (Georgia)

Flo Baseball - Marek Houston, SS, Wake Forest

Just Baseball – Gavin Fien, 3B, Great Oak High School (California)

Future Star Series - Kayson Cunningham, SS, Johnson High School, San Antonio, (Texas)

Baseball Prospect Journal - Kyson Witherspoon, RHP, Oklahoma

ESPN - Steele Hall, SS, Hewitt-Trussville High School (Alabama)

Prep Baseball Report - JoJo Parker, SS, Purvis High School (Mississippi)

Much to my disappointment, not one of these recent mocks have the Rangers selecting Ike Irish.  I am still holding out hope though, because once you get past the top seven or eight picks, almost anything can happen.  If the Rangers can not select Irish, then Kyson Witherspoon or JoJo Parker would both be very good picks.  I think after those three prospects I would favor them picking Brendan Summerhill, the college outfielder from Oklahoma.

Of the sixteen mock drafts that I looked over, there were two names that showed up on three different lists.  The two prospects who were mocked to the Rangers three times are Brendan Summerhill and Kayson Cunningham.  Shortstops, JoJo Parker, Daniel Pierce and Marek Houston were each mocked to the Rangers twice in these latest mock drafts.

Who Will Not Be There For The Rangers

After studying a lot of mock drafts and draft boards it has become easy to see that there are some players who almost certainly will be selected before the Rangers pick at number 12.  The players who are in this category are:

Ethan Holliday, 2B/SS Stillwater HS, Oklahoma

Kade Anderson, LHP, LSU

Eli Willits, SS, Fort Cobb-Broxton HS, Oklahoma

Seth Hernandez, RHP, Corona HS, California

Liam Doyle, LHP, Tennessee

Aiva Arquette, SS, Oregon State

Billy Carlson, SS, Corona HS, California

Jamie Arnold, LHP, Florida State

Who Could Be There For The Rangers

After those eight players, there are ten other draft prospects who seem to be in the "available to the Rangers" category, or at least have been considered by some as potential picks for the Rangers in the first round.  More than likely, the Rangers will pick one of these ten players. The ten prospects are:

Ike Irish, C/OF, Auburn

Kyson Witherspoon, RHP, Oklahoma

JoJo Parker, SS, Purvis HS, Mississippi

Brendan Summerhill, OF, Arizona

Tyler Bremner, RHP, UC Santa Barbara

Kayson Cunningham, SS/2B, Johnson High School, Texas

Gage Wood, RHP, Arkansas

Daniel Pierce, SS, Mill Creek High School, Georgia

Marek Houston, SS, Wake Forest

Steele Hall, SS, Hewitt-Trussville High School, Alabama

Who Should the Rangers Select in the first round

I ordered the ten players listed above in the order that I would like to see the Rangers select them.  To me, Ike Irish stand alone at the to of this list.  That is probably why he won’t be available.

The next tier, for me, consists of Kyson Witherspoon and JoJo Parker.  After that, I think Summerhill, Bremner, and Cunningham make up the third tier.  If Xavier Neyens had shown up in any of these mock drafts, I would have placed him in that same tier, just below Summerhill.  Then Gage Wood is in the next rung down, for me.

Just one more day and we will all find out.