Rangers set to steal some homegrown talent in latest MLB Mock Draft

Right in line with industry trends, the Texas Rangers continue to get linked to prep shortstops in various iterations of Mock Drafts for the upcoming July amatuer draft.

Kayson Cunningham, a San Antonio native, is the Rangers' latest selection from MLB Pipeline's Jonathan Mayo.

Josh Jung, a Rangers' fan favorite favorite, was drafted out of Texas Tech but grew up in San Antonio, Texas which is where Cunningham is from as well. If he can set the precedent on what to expect from San Antonio prospects then I will sprint the card up to Rob Manfred myself.

Cunningham, a shortstop commit, to University of Texas is not a lock to get to campus. At 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds, he is an incredible athlete and realistically can be projected to fill out more while being able to play anywhere in the long-term.

This pick is against the past of Chris Young, which have all been decorated, multi-year producers at the college level. We've seen the Young-led front office pick at number two, three, four and the highly coveted 30th pick. All that said, there isn't a precedent set in this draft range that can tell us what Texas is looking for.

The question that will pop in a lot of Rangers' fans minds is "Why would we pick a shortstop when we have Seager?" The answer to that question is a prospect to the level of Cunningham.

This pick would be very reminiscent of how the San Diego Padres operate. They are notorious for taking high school shortstops and producing superstars at other positions just like they did for Jackson Merrill.

When a player as dynamic and projectable as Cunningham comes along, you have to weigh going for him against drafting a college player and Young's past screams Marek Houston.

Having someone from Texas like Cunningham that can stay in Texas such as Jung did can be seen as a positive as well. There aren't many players that can be afforded that luxury.

Prying Cunningham from his Texas commitment wouldn't be as easy as it seems as well. Name Image and Likeness (NIL) is seemingly endless over in Austin and being able to offer a high school prospect to stay in Texas at almost every minor league level can be positive and help aid his decision to sign.

It will be an interesting build up to July 13th. This is the second year in a row the industry has a consensus pick for the Rangers following Malcolm Moore last year. We will have to see if a trend is set of the media predicting the pick for Chris Young.