Draft Preview
The draft begins today at noon CDT with picks 1-10 on NBC/Peacock, 11-40 on MLB Network and 41-135 on MLB.com. Tomorrow resumes with rounds 5-20 at 10:30am.
Every year, I try to provide a summary of possible choices, but to be honest, there’s only so many hours in the day, so I tend not to study players closely until they’ve been chosen by Texas. Also, the Rangers are picking 16th within what appears to be a large and tricky set of potential mid-round choices.
Last year, I previewed eight players, none of whom became Texas’s eventual selection. Still, I like to provide some information, both to educate myself and create a list for review down the road. Everyone discussed below was named in some publication’s mock draft during the past two months.
RHP Liam Peterson (Age 21.1, Florida)
Baseball America mocks 6, 5 and 4
ESPN final mock
Peterson has an enviable frame with a high release. His fastball sits mid-90s and has touched triple digits. He does come across as someone who needs more developmental help than the typical highly regarded three-year SEC guy. He’s still trying to figure out his mechanics, his actual performance was a little underwhelming, and his secondaries beyond the slider are playing catch-up. As to whether the Rangers are the organization to provide that help, a strong point in their favor is Alejandro Rosario, who flourished upon joining the Rangers until his elbow betrayed him.
RHP/OF Jared Grindlinger (Age 17.2, Huntington Beach, CA)
MLB Pipeline mock 7/2
Athletic mocks 3 and 2
Even though he’s 6’3” and 185, Grindlinger looks boyish to me after watching videos of mature college pitchers. So he is, to an extent, and that’s much of the appeal. He’s already impressive and has plenty of room to grow into something even better. I’ve read differing opinions on whether pitching or batting is in future. He has a truly legit changeup, uncommon for his age, along with a mid-90s fastball and slider. At the plate, his contact skill is elite, but he is a 1B/COF type, so the bat must play.
LHP Gio Rojas (Age 19.0, Parkland, FL)
Baseball America final mock (7)
After putting Peterson in Texas for multiple mocks, Baseball America sent him to the Angels at #12 in their final version. Rojas is old for a high schooler but that doesn’t bother me much. He owns a clean delivery, a solid mid-90s heater and bat-missing sweeper. The change is a work in progress.
LHP Hunter Dietz (Age 21.4, Arkansas)
FanGraphs
Dietz leaves college with only 87.1 innings on his ledger, 85.2 of which occurred this season. Elongated recovery from a stress fracture in his elbow cost him nearly all of his first two seasons. He sits mid-90s with a mean cutter, plus a slider, curve and change that carry less of the load.
RHP Taylor Rabe (Age 21.8, Mississippi)
Athletic final mock
Like Dietz, Rabe lacks much of a college track record prior to 2026. He offers a slightly harder fastball than Dietz and a similarly angry cutter, while the slider and change could use some work. He walked only 15 in 76 innings and fanned 105.
SS Justin Lebron (Age 21.6, Alabama)
Baseball America staff mock 3
MLB Pipeline mock 6/25 and 6/11
Athletic mock 1
CBS mock 6/26
A tough choice. Athletic as they come, a genuine shortstop and the power to play a corner. As a junior, he had a weirdly poor showing in conference play, just .229/.328/.413 with eight walks and 27 strikeouts in 28 games (and I found two sources, because I initially thought that line was a typo). The SEC is an elite conference, of course, but if college breakers are eating him up, what have we got?
RHP Logan Reddemann (Age 21.2, UCLA)
ESPN mock 3 and 2
Also a tough choice. Potentially a top-ten pick early on, he was shut down with arm fatigue after ten starts and showed lesser velocity in recent workouts. When healthy and in form, he offers a mid-90s fastball and full collection of respectable secondaries. His control is elite.
OF Derek Curiel (Age 21.1, LSU)
Baseball America staff mock 2
CBS mock 6/12
Leaning into the negatives will have you thinking he’s a left fielder with no power. Pass. The positives indicate a leadoff hitter who plays center. Sign me up. Curiel’s contact is top-notch, and some traits and analytics suggest just enough power is forthcoming. Seemingly a safe pick if not one with huge upside.
OF Trevor Condon (Age 18.5, Woodstock, GA)
Baseball America staff mock 4
Younger brother of Colorado’s Charlie, who spent last week pummeling Texas farmhands in Round Rock. Trevor is six inches shorter and 50 pounds lighter than his brother, and he’s unlikely to homer every fourth day in AAA, but he hits beyond his size and is somewhere between a solid and blazing runner depending on who you read.
Box Scores
AAA: Round Rock 6, at Reno (ARI) 8
Round Rock: 12 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 6 walks, 4 strikeouts
Record: 8-8, 3 GB, 39-52 overall
SP Jose Corniell: 1.2 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 5 R, 3 BB, 1 SO, 50 P / 29 S, 6.37 ERA
RP Luis Curvelo: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 8.20 ERA
The Express scored five in the 1st, but you can’t beat the house in Reno. Corniell, Emiliano Teodo and Wilian Bormie combined for 100 pitches to complete just four innings. Bormie in particular couldn’t direct his fastball at all, missing (often badly) on ten of 12. Diego Castillo, Jonah Bride, Josh Smith and Austin Wynns had two hits.
Righty Chris Paddack signed with Korea’s Samsung club. Perhaps soon he’ll face Blaine Crim, who’s currently hitting .353/.455/.353 in five games for NC Dinos.
AA: Frisco 1, at Corpus Christi (HOU) 6
Frisco: 3 hits, 0 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 5 walks, 1 strikeout
Record: 9-7, 2 GB, 48-36 overall
SP Ben Anderson: 5 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 3 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 80 P / 49 S, 4.96 ERA
Frisco was quiet after winning the first three games of the series. 
Hi-A: Hub City 2, Bowling Green (TAM) 4 (7)
Hub City: 3 hits, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 5-14, 7 GB, 39-46 overall
SP Joe Adametz: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 89 P / 56 S, 4.53 ERA
DH Hector Osorio: 1-3, HR (7), .282/.386/.500
3B Gleider Figuereo: 1-3, HR (13), .234/.334/.430
A two-hour opening delay plus additional rain shortened this to seven innings, so Aidan Smith’s score-untying homer off Luke Savage with two out in the 7th proved fatal. Hector Osorio is up to 20 homers on the season. I sure didn’t see that coming. 
Lo-A: Hickory 8, at Augusta (ATL) 7
Hickory: 9 hits, 5 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 6 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 13-5, tied for first, 47-35 overall
SP Daniel Keaney: 5 IP, 7 H (1 HR), 5 R, 1 BB, 2 HBP, 3 SO, 78 P / 48 S, 4.26 ERA
RP Jake Jekielek: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 4.66 ERA
SS Yolfran Castillo: 3-4, 2B, 3B, BB, .288/.399/.408
LF Angel Arredondo: 1-4, 2B, BB, .272/.388/.400
The Crawdads stopped their skid to reclaim a portion of first place.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Voth (vs Mitch Bratt)
AA: MacLean
Hi-A: russell
Lo-A: Deakins
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Round Rock’s Curtis Terry hit homers 14 and 15. 20-year-old Emiliano Teodo had 13 strikeouts and eight walks in 6.1 innings. Most recently, he mixed a 98-99 fastball and a curve that reached 84. Next year, I’m going to discuss his curve reaching 90 (and yes, it was still a curve).
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