Rangers Sign Former Aggie Barret Loux

The Rangers have signed pitcher Barret Loux. The former Texas A&M standout was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks with the 6th pick in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft but went unsigned after failing a team physical. Despite concerns regarding issues of varying degrees with both his shoulder and elbow on his pitching arm, the Rangers believed the former First Team All-Big 12 pitcher was worth the gamble, signing Loux to a $312k bonus.

"Our guys liked him in the Draft last year," general manager Jon Daniels said. "Obviously, there is a reason why his situation played out the way it did. Ultimately, we were comfortable with it.

"There is a risk with every player and every acquisition. We are happy to add another quality arm and a quality person to our organization. We are trying to add as much talent to the organization as possible."

With A&M, Loux went 11-2 with a 2.83 ERA and an opponents batting average of .202 while striking out 136 over 105.0 innings pitches.

The addition of the 6'5" Loux means Texas now has 5 of the first 49 picks from the 2010 Draft under contract.

By not signing Loux, Arizona will recieve the 7th pick in the 2011 Draft as compensation, a two-year old rule which was put into effect in an effort to prevent draft picks from holding out for more money from teams. The MLB Players Association is rumored to be looking into the possibility Arizona deliberately selected Loux despite having full knowledge of his injuries, simply so they could leave him unsigned and gain an additional top selection in the deeper 2011 Draft.

Texas Draft Picks Include A Familiar Name

While this years amateur player draft may well be remembered for the two top pitchers taken by the Rangers (Matthew Purke and Tanner Scheppers) another interesting name, a name many Rangers fans will be instantly familiar with, was also called.

Ruben Sierra Jr, son of former Rangers All-Star Ruben Sierra Sr. was drafted on day 2 of the draft in the 6th round. Sierra has been attending San Juan (Puerto Rico) Educational School and is an athletic center fielder with plenty of upside, especially considering his bloodlines.

Sierra Sr. was a 4-time all-star with more than 300 homers and 1300 RBI.

"I don't know what Senior's scouting reports were when he was 18 years old, but our scouts like the future of Junior," GM Jon Daniels said. "He's an athletic, left-handed hitting outfielder. Right now, we view him as a center fielder but it wouldn't surprise me if we move him to right field in the future."

Scouting Report on Ruben Sierra Jr.
Sierra is a super athletic baseball player with a lean athletic body. He is very good in the outfield and uses his blazing 6.38 speed to cover a lot of ground. He has a big arm in the outfield and easily reaches 93 mph from the outfield. At the plate he has good bat speed and has pop to all fields. He has easy power when centered and projects well with the bat. His game approach at the plate needs a few adjustments but he shows potential with all five tools. Definite draft follow for 2009. Good bloodlines.

Texas drafted 31 players overall, 21 of those being pitchers.

"We felt the strength was pitching going in and, from an organizational standpoint, we were more willing to take some risks," Daniels said. "I always get a kick out of the phrase 'safe picks,' because there really aren't safe picks. But I thought [scouting director Ron Hopkins] and his staff were well-prepared and did a good job knowing the makeup and ability of the players we selected."

Texas Adds More Pitching With 3rd Round Draft Selection

Player Name: Robbie Erlin
Position: Starting Pitcher
School: Scotts Valley (Calif.)
School Type: High School
Academic Class: Senior
Birthdate: 10/8/90
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 170 lbs.
Bats: Right
Throws: Left
Report Date(s): 4/17/09
Game(s): Sobrato HS

-Fastball: Erlin will occasionally touch 91 mph, but usually sits in the 89-90 mph range.
-Fastball movement: The fastball is pretty straight and light.
-Curve: It's solid average to plus and he throws it 70-73 mph.
-Changeup: Will flash it a few times, but it requires some development because he'll need it at the next level.
-Control: He has very good command, especially for a high schooler.
-Poise: He's got excellent makeup and it shows on the mound.
-Physical Description: Erlin is a smallish left-hander, sort of like a Billy Wagner (without the velocity).
-Medical Update: Healthy.
-Strengths: One of the better deliveries from a high schooler, with good arm action. He repeats it very well, allowing him to have excellent command of his fastball and curve.
-Weaknesses: Doesn't show much of a changeup right now. His size likely will turn some teams off.
-Summary: Erlin was getting more and more buzz in Northern California as the spring wore on. He's not the biggest guy in the world, but with an oustanding delivery, good makeup and above-average command to go along with a fastball that touches 90 and a curve that can be a plus pitch, he's an intriguing high school lefty. He'll need to improve his changeup at the next level and his size will probably give some teams pause, but an orgnization willing to look past that might take this signable southpaw fairly early.

Pick 62 Yields College Third Baseman For Rangers

Player Name: Tommy Mendonca
Position: Third Base
School: Fresno State University
School Type: College
Academic Class: Junior
Birthdate: 4/12/88
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 200 lbs.
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Report Date(s): 3/27-3/29/09
Game(s): Lipscomb

-Hitting ability: Mendonca is a left-handed hitter with a stable, high-hand stance. He can hit, but he swings and misses quite a bit.
-Power: Fresno State has a good hitter's park, but he still should have average power in the future. It's unclear how it will translate to wood.
-Running speed: He's a fringy-average runner, though he can get down to first in decent time.
-Base running: An average runner, he's a tick better than his grade for his pure speed, though running isn't really a big part of his game.
-Arm strength: Has a solid-average arm.
-Fielding: A plus fielder overall at third.
-Range: Has plenty of range to stay at the hot corner.
-Physical Description: Mendonca profiles as a power-hitting third baseman who is strong up in the shoulders and has a good, athletic build.
-Medical Update: Healthy.
-Strengths: Power plus fielding ability make him an intriguing third base prospect.
-Weaknesses: Can he cut down the strikeouts? His propensity for swinging and missing could hurt his status a bit.
-Summary: Mendonca fits the profile as an athletic, left-handed power hitting third baseman. He takes advantage of a friendly home park, but the power should translate OK. Couple that with good defense at the hot corner and you're looking at one of the more interesting college infield prospects in the class. Only his tendency to strike out will hurt his status some, but he still should go well.

Rangers Add Another Arm With 1st Round Compensatory Pick

Player Name: Tanner Scheppers
Position: Starting Pitcher
Team: St. Paul Saints (independent team)
Birthdate: 1/17/87
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 200 lbs.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Report Date(s): 4/16/09
Game(s): Golden West Community College

-Fastball: Scheppers threw his fastball anywhere from 93 mph up to 98 mph and was sitting at 95 mph most of the time.
-Fastball movement: He's got cut and sink on his heater.
-Curve: Has the potential for a good power curve. He was a little tentative in letting it go at times in this first live outing but has shown it as an above-averge pitch at times.
-Changeup: Threw a few hard changeups at around 88 mph, but he doesn't need it at this point.
-Control: Considering the long layoff from pitching in a live situation, his command was pretty good. An improved and smoother delivery clearly helped.
-Poise: Pitching with a junior college defense behind him, Scheppers was in complete control on the mound.
-Physical Description: Scheppers, initially a shortstop, is a tall and athletic right-hander. He has put on good weight and was visibly stronger compared to his junior season at Fresno State.
-Medical Update: Healthy, it seems. A shoulder injury shut him down last year and hurt his Draft status. He didn't sign with the Pirates after being taken in the second round.
-Strengths: An outstanding fastball with plenty of arm strength, an improved delivery, added strength. He throws hard and without effort.
-Weaknesses: It's all about the medical reports. He'll need to prove to everyone as he pitches indy ball that he's 100 percent healthy.
-Summary: Pitching in intrasquad action at Golden West C.C., Scheppers was creating a ton of buzz on the West Coast. The former Fresno State standout, whose Draft status took a hit because of a shoulder injury last year, was throwing free, easy and hard in early looks. With a plus fastball and the potential for a plus curve, if Scheppers continues to show he's healthy while pitching for the St. Paul Saints, he's going to shoot up Draft boards everywhere.