Rule 5 Draft Results

The Rangers began the day with six openings on the 40. That’s the most since at least 2017, the farthest back I checked. 

In the MLB portion of the draft, the Rangers didn’t select or lose anyone but subsequently acquired the fifth pick via trade. 23-year-old righty Carter Baumler will attempt to win a spot in the Texas bullpen. Originally drafted in 2020’s fifth and final round by Baltimore and given 1.5 million reasons to spurn a TCU commitment, Baumler has spent more time on the shelf than the mound. From 2021 through 2024, he made a total of 21 appearances covering 49 innings. Not until 2025 did he string together a lengthy group of appearances, and even then he missed the opening month. He’s pitched only 7.2 innings above high-A, finishing 2025 with six AA relief outings. 

Baumler has appeared sparingly on various prospect rankings over the years but always with caveats about his perpetually hindered development. 2025 was a major step forward, though, as his fastball graduated to middle 90s with strong induced vertical break. His primary bender is a taut low-80s curve, and he adds a slider and change. In late June, he pitched a season-high 2.1 innings with one flared hit and three strikeouts against Texas’s high-A affiliate in Spartanburg. Given the jump being asked of him, I’m congenitally disposed to say odds aren’t great that he’ll make the Opening Day roster, but he’ll be offered a full and legitimate chance.  

Pittsburgh drafted Baumler and traded him to Texas for cash and 6’4” righty Jaiker Garcia, who I’ve never mentioned before. Until today, neither had anyone else I know with the exception Jamey Newberg, who typed the name in one of his missives from Fall Instructs, but only because Garcia was facing infield prospect Devin Fitz-Gerald, the focus of Jamey’s report. Garcia signed as an infielder in early 2022 but converted to the mound after one season. In 2025 as a 20-year-old, he made his stateside debut and in 19.1 rookie-level innings fanned 26 and walked 14 in 19.1 innings with a 4.66 ERA. Per Fangraphs, Garcia has touched 98 and flashed a plus changeup. 

Cam Cauley remains a Ranger. In recent seasons, Baseball America has presented an initial, brief list of potential Rule 5 picks augmented to absurd proportions by the time the draft actually occurs. This year’s final list had 85 names but only one Ranger, Cauley, who wasn’t on the original shortlist but added soon after. MLB.com held Cauley in higher esteem, including him as one of only two hitters on a nine-player list televised just prior to the draft. Of 13 players selected, the only batter was Athletics catcher Daniel Susac, picked by the Twins and traded to the Giants. 

In the minor league phase, the Rangers added one and lost two. Joining the organization from Boston is righty Jonathan Brand, listed at 5’9” and a stout 200 pounds. A 2022 eighth-rounder and 26 come February, Brand split most of 2025 in high-A Greenville and AA Portland, posting a 2.45 ERA with 16 walks and 59 strikeouts in 51.1 innings. He also had a lone belly-flop in AAA Worcester (5 batters, 4 runs). Brand offers a four-seamer around 91 plus a little bit of everything else. He’s not subject to any retention rules; Texas simply inherits his contract, which at the minor level could run through 2028. 

Gone are RHPs Jackson Kelley (White Sox) and Kyle Larsen (Pirates). Kelley was picked out of Mercer in 2022’s 12th round. The side-armer had missed bats with abandon until 2025, when an injury kept him off the field until June, and he K’ed only 26 in 30 AA innings while also walking more than usual. He might pitch well in AAA, but reaching the Majors would really be something. 

In the ’21 draft, Texas was able to sign 2nd-rounder Aaron Zavala on the cheap because of his medicals, and the Rangers spent only $135,000 combined on picks 6, 7, 9 and 10. (Incidentally, two of those reached the Majors: Chase Lee and Liam Hicks. Nice job, scouts.) Several others reaped the benefits including Larsen, who was awarded $575,000 despite his 18th-round selection.  Unfortunately, Larsen has been as injury-prone as Baumler, pitching only 2.2 innings in his first three pro seasons and 96 thereafter, and he’d yet to reach high-A. Still, in a draft that is intended mostly for filling organizational holes, Larsen might actually have some upside. 

Incoming

Texas has signed a few players recently. Back with the Rangers is righty reliever Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa, aka “AHT,” aka “Bubba.” He was a fringe 40 candidate after 2023, then traded for Robbie Grosssman Part II in May 2024. He didn’t pitch in any real games in 2025, and his transaction list reads oddly: temporarily inactive in March, restricted in April, released in July, out of contract until late November.

Soon-to-be-30 3B Jonah Bride hit an out-of-nowhere .276/.357/.461 in 71 games for Miami in 2024 (while managed by Skip Schumacher) but couldn’t maintain that success last year with the Fish or Twins. 31-year-old Tyler Wade has enough positional flexibility to have played in nine consecutive MLB seasons despite a career line of .216/.294/.284. Also 31, infielder (and occasional OF) Andrew Velazquez spent 2025 with the AAA club of the Yankees (.242/.304/.345 in 106 games) following occasional MLB action with the Rays, Guardians O’s and Angels during 2018-2023. 

Returning after a brief spell as a free agent is catcher Cooper Johnson, who’ll share duties in Round Rock. Also back is IF Ritchie Martin, a first-rounder from 2015 swiped by Baltimore from Oakland in the 2019 Rule 5 draft. Martin stuck out the whole season but didn’t hit much, and he was playing for Gastonia in the indy Atlantic League when Texas offered him a org spot last summer.