2 early season candidates for Rangers’ 2026 first round draft pick

The 2026 regular season is still a few weeks away but it's never too early to start prepping for the MLB Draft this June, especially as college baseball is kicking into full swing and potential future big league stars are making a name for themselves.

The Texas Rangers, finishing 81-81 in 2025, earned the 16th overall pick during December's draft lottery, which was five spots worse than odds predicted at 11th overall. This doesn't bode well for the Rangers, who are among the bottom farm systems in baseball, consistently being ranked in bottom ten.

Regardless, as the college baseball landscape is beginning to take shape and the Rangers still could find their next star to flip the script of being one of the bottom farm systems in baseball.

2 college players the Rangers have eye on for 17th overall pick

Will Gasparino, OF, UCLA

Would you believe me if I told you that Will Gasparino, a junior leading the UCLA Bruins isn't even the top player on the nation's number one college team? Regardless, the 21-year-old is perhaps taking over the headlines from consensus number one pick Roch Cholowsky early in the season.

In just 11 games for the Bruins, who are off to a 9-2 start, Gasparino is on a monster tear slashing .378/.521/1.270 with 10 home runs, 22 RBIs, one double, one triple and a 1.791 OPS. A massive turnaround from a sophomore season at Texas where he hit just 13 home runs in 58 games.

The six-foot-six outfielder has seen his stock rise significantly over the last few weeks from a potential mid-round pick to a first or second rounder. While his teammate in Cholowsky is a shoo-in to go first overall to the Chicago White Sox, the Rangers have a solid chance to snatch up Gasparino in the middle of the first.

Caden Sorrell, OF, Texas A&M

Deep in Aggieland is a left-handed hitting 20-year-old from Tucson on a tear, representing the 23rd ranked Texas A&M baseball club aiming for a bounce back 2026 campaign.

Sorrell is 10 games into his junior season, all three with Texas A&M and finished the 2025 season hitting .337 with 12 home runs and 32 RBIs, while maintaining a 1.219 OPS. His junior year, he's already managed to smash six long balls and drive in 20 runs, stealing two bases and a 1.347 OPS.

After the first week of the college baseball season on Feb. 20, Sorrell was the 25th draft overall draft eligible prospect, good for fifth among all outfielders. He currently has the Aggie's sixth-best batting average, fourth-best OPS, leads the teams in homers, RBIs and total bases, while slugging .895.