Who Could the Texas Rangers Take at #8 in the 2019 Draft?

With the MLB draft about a month away, let’s take a look at some of the players that are being mocked to the Texas Rangers with the 8th overall pick on June 3rd.

Jeff Ellis of 247Sports: SS-Bobby Witt Jr. (Colleyville Heritage HS-TX)

The Rangers can sit back and grab the son of a former player who is also the top player on the board. Witt has dropped a bit over concerns about his hit tool and due to his age. His power at shortstop is a special skill. The low end of projections would be in line with another older Florida shortstop, Brendan Rodgers, while the high end is a plus defender version of Carlos Correa. The power and speed should see him go in the top ten, though the past few years we have seen the summer’s consensus prep talent take a tumble leading up to and including the draft.

It would be quite surprising to see Witt Jr. fall to the Texas Rangers here, as he has been considered by many to be the top prospect in the draft, and a top three pick in most. Another perk of drafting him would be that he is from the Metroplex, and is the son of former Ranger, Bobby Witt. You can see Ellis’s full mock draft here.

Nick Faleris and Burke Granger of 2080 Baseball: SP-Nick Lodolo (TCU)

After turning down a reported $1.75 million from the Pirates in 2016 as the 41st overall pick, it appears likely the gamble on himself will pay dividends this June for the long and lanky southpaw. The 6-foot-6 lefty has a deep repertoire and has shown improved control this spring, cutting his walk rate in half, while showing impressive swing-and-miss stuff from a tough low slot.

Lodolo would be a very interesting pick here. His first two seasons at TCU were inconsistent as he had ERA’s over 4.30 in both seasons, but has turned it around this season, with an ERA of 2.16 across 11 starts, and is 7.2 innings shy of matching his career high in a season, as well as 13 strikeouts away from setting his career high.

He would be a solid pick if the Rangers decide to go the college pitcher route. You can view Faleris and Granger’s full draft here.

Nick Schnider of Draft Site: OF-Corbin Carroll (Lakeside HS-WA)

Carroll is rated as the #14 prospect by MLB.com, and is compared by them to Jacoby Ellsbury and Andrew Benintendi. MLB.com goes on to say:

Carroll’s hit and run tools stand out the most. He has one of the better approaches in the Draft, especially among prep hitters. He can spray the ball to all fields, but he consistently showed this summer the ability to drive the ball everywhere with line-drive loft and was consistently very direct to the ball. While he’s not big, listed at 5-foot-10, there’s surprising pop from the left side and he could eventually develop more over-the-fence power. The outfielder has plus speed that helps him on both sides of the ball, with the ability to steal bases and patrol center field very well.

It would be a bit of a surprise if the Rangers take Carroll at #8, given that he is an outfielder, and the team has a plethora of young outfielders in both the majors and minors (Nomar Mazara, Delino Deshields Jr., Joey Gallo, Willie Calhoun, Bubba Thompson, Leody Taveras, and Julio Pablo Martinez).

With that being said, if Carroll is at the top of their boards, it would be best to take him, as teams can never have enough talent in their farm systems. You can view Schnider’s full draft here.