MLB Draft: Building A Team From Within

It is hard to remember from year to year which players the Texas Rangers drafted and which players they acquired in a trade or other means. With the MLB Draft starting today, I thought I would remind all of you out there that the Texas Rangers have been successful in drafting major league players on their own, and some of the starts of the past and present came in the later rounds.

The MLB Draft is an exciting time for all baseball fans, and Texas Rangers fans are no different. So lets take a jog down memory lane and look at who the Texas Rangers have successfully developed, even if they are no longer with the club!

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2003:

Jun 4, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Chicago White Sox starting pitcher John Danks (50) in the fourth inning of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Notables: John Danks (1), Ian Kinsler (17), Scott Feldman (30). They also drafted Wes Littleton, who got into 80 games with the Rangers and had an ERA of 3.69 over his career.

2004:

Notables: Thomas Diamond (1), Eric Hurley (1), Brandon Boggs (4), Travis Metcalf (10). Not quite as successful as 2003 as far as guys sticking in the majors, but both Boggs and Metcalf played for the Texas Rangers for quite a few seasons on and off.

2005:

Notables: John Mayberry, Jr. (1), Taylor Teagarden (3), Michael Kirkman (5). Mayberry has had a pretty good career with the Phillies, Teagarden was once considered a big catching prospect before the Rangers traded him, and Kirkman is still hanging around as a talent who just can’t seem to figure it out at the major league level.

2006:

Notables: Chris Davis (5), Craig Gentry (10), Derek Holland (25). Three major league

Jun 4, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis (19) watches his home run in the fifth inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

players that were drafted by the Texas Rangers in the MLB Draft that all had a roll on both World Series teams. Davis (now with the Orioles) led the league in home runs last season and Gentry is having a nice season for Oakland. And of course Holland is one if the mainstays in the rotation, you know, when he is healthy.

2007:

Notables: Blake Beavan (1), Julio Borbon (pick #35), Neil Ramirez (Pick #44), Tommy Hunter (pick # 54), Mitch Moreland (17). Beavan is now in Seattle and has been up and down, Hunter is with Baltimore and also had success with the Rangers, Ramirez is a very highly touted prospect, and of course Mitch is the Texas Rangers first baseman.

2008:

Notables: Justin Smoak (1), Robbie Ross (2). Smoak was the Rangers first baseman for a while and of course is now in Seattle, and Robbie  is of course a staple (again) in the Texas Rangers bull pen.

2009:

Notables: Tanner Scheppers (pick #44). We are getting later in years now and the guys are not quite making it to the major league level quite yet. But Scheppers did, and he is been another great reliever, if his short stint in the rotation didn’t ruin him!

2010:

Notables: Mike Olt (pick #44), Justin Grimm (5), Brett Nicholas (6), Nick Tepesch (14). Tepesch, Grimm and Olt are all in the majors, and I believe that Nicholas will be soon. Good year for the Rangers in the MLB Draft!

From here on out it is just prospects who have not made it to the majors yet. I look forward to seeing whom the Texas Rangers select today. They have three picks in the top 100: number 30, number 59 and number 95.