Felix Mizioznikov // Shutterstock
Texas Rangers’ best draft picks of all time
The MLB draft is unique among professional sports drafts: Thirty organizations draft teenagers and college players who may take years or never to make it to a major league team.
These players spend their time honing their skills in the minor leagues, where long bus rides and paltry salaries are the norm, and some of them quickly rise through the ranks, earning playing time to advance their careers and make their names known to scouts, fans and other audiences around the country.
Some of the best players are MLB stars, but there is only a slight correlation to draft position: The top four draft picks in the country were selected after hundreds of diamond darlings, and only two were first overall picks.
There are countless players who never made it big with the teams that drafted them, including superstars like Nolan Ryan, Ozzie Smith and Randy Johnson, all of whom were traded before making it into the Hall of Fame.
Still, calling the draft a “luck-or-luck” may be going too far. As Vice reported, college players are “slightly more likely” to make it to the major leagues’ prestigious stadiums than high schoolers, and third-round picks have a better chance than fifth-rounders, for example, but the difference is small. Teams don’t just select players based on projections years into the future, they also consider whether they can sign them. This step must be completed before young players start playing professionally.
To see how each club has performed since the first draft in 1965, ATS.io used data from Baseball Reference to compile a list of the best draft picks in Texas Rangers history. Players were ranked based on career wins above replacement, so no recent picks were named. Picks without contracts were not considered, and players traded for picks were credited to the acquiring team. Data is current as of June 5, 2024.
#25. CJ Wilson
– Draft: 141st overall, 2001
– Position: Pitcher
– Matches played: 444
– Career stats: 94 wins, 3.74 ERA, 1.32 walks/hits allowed per inning
– Wins over replacement: 17.5
#24. Rich Aurelia
– Draft: 678th overall, 1992
– Position: Shortstop
– Matches played: 1,652
– Career stats: 186 home runs, batting average .276, on-base percentage + slugging percentage .762
– Wins over replacements: 18.2
#22. Tanner Roark (tie)
– Draft: 753rd overall, 2008
– Position: Pitcher
– Matches played: 227
– Career stats: 76 wins, 3.85 ERA, 1.26 walks/hits allowed per inning
– Wins over replacement: 18.4
#22. Doug Davis (tie)
– Draft: 293rd overall, 1996
– Position: Pitcher
– Matches played: 306
– Career stats: 92 wins, 4.44 ERA, 1.51 walks/hits allowed per inning
– Wins over replacement: 18.4
#21. Ryan Dempster
– Draft: 66th overall, 1995
– Position: Pitcher
– Matches played: 579
– Career stats: 132 wins, 4.35 ERA, 1.43 walks/hits allowed per inning
– Wins over replacements: 18.6
#20. Pete O’Brien
– Draft: 381st overall, 1979
– Position: First baseman
– Matches played: 1,567
– Career stats: 169 home runs, batting average .261, on-base percentage + slugging percentage .745
– Wins over replacements: 19.2
#19. Ron Darling
– Draft: 9th overall, 1981
– Position: Pitcher
– Matches played: 382
– Career stats: 136 wins, 3.87 ERA, 1.33 walks/hits allowed per inning
– Wins over replacements: 19.6
#18. Aaron Harang
– Draft: 195th overall, 1999
– Position: Pitcher
– Matches played: 387
– Career stats: 128 wins, 4.26 ERA, 1.36 walks/hits allowed per inning
– Wins over replacement: 20.0
#16. John Danks (tie)
– Draft: 9th overall, 2003
– Position: Pitcher
– Matches played: 247
– Career stats: 79 wins, 4.38 ERA, 1.35 walks/hits allowed per inning
– Wins over replacements: 20.2
#16. Rick Herring (tie)
– Draft: 22nd overall, 1992
– Position: Pitcher
– Matches played: 301
– Career stats: 93 wins, 4.68 ERA, 1.38 walks + hits allowed per inning
– Wins over replacements: 20.2
#15. Jim Clancy
– Draft: 74th overall, 1974
– Position: Pitcher
– Matches played: 472
– Career stats: 140 wins, 4.23 ERA, 1.37 walks/hits allowed per inning
– Wins over substitutes: 20.5
#14. Ray Sanchez
– Draft: 319th overall, 1986
– Position: Shortstop
– Matches played: 1,490
– Career stats: 15 home runs, batting average .272, on-base percentage + slugging percentage .642
– Wins over replacements: 20.6
#13. Mike Stanley
– Draft: 395th overall, 1985
– Position: First baseman
– Matches played: 1,467
– Career stats: 187 home runs, batting average .270, on-base percentage + slugging percentage .827
– Wins over replacements: 20.9
#12. Kyle Hendricks
– Draft: 264th overall, 2011
– Position: Pitcher
– Matches played: 257
– Career stats: 93 wins, 3.64 ERA, 1.17 walks/hits allowed per inning
– Wins over replacement: 21.6
#11. Darren Oliver
– Draft: 63rd overall, 1988
– Position: Pitcher
– Matches played: 766
– Career stats: 118 wins, 4.51 ERA, 1.44 walks/hits allowed per inning
– Wins over replacement: 22.2
#10. Rusty Greer
– Draft: 279th overall, 1990
– Position: Outfielder
– Matches played: 1,027
– Career stats: 119 home runs, batting average .305, on-base percentage + slugging percentage .865
– Wins over replacement: 22.4
#9. RA Dickey
– Draft: 18th overall, 1996
– Position: Pitcher
– Matches played: 400
– Career stats: 120 wins, 4.04 ERA, 1.30 walks and hits allowed per inning
– Wins over replacement: 23.7
#8. Travis Hafner
– Draft: 1996, 923rd overall
– Position: Third baseman
– Matches played: 1,183
– Career stats: 213 home runs, batting average .273, on-base percentage + slugging percentage .874
– Wins over replacement: 24.8
#7. Carlos Peña
– Draft: 10th overall, 1998
– Position: First baseman
– Matches played: 1,493
– Career stats: 286 home runs, batting average .232, on-base percentage + slugging percentage .808
– Wins over replacement: 25.5
#6. Mike Hargrove
– Draft: 572nd overall, 1972
– Position: First baseman
– Matches played: 1,666
– Career stats: 80 home runs, batting average .290, on-base percentage + slugging percentage .787
– Wins over replacements: 30.4
#5. Edwin Encarnasyan
– Draft: 274th overall, 2000
– Position: Third baseman
– Matches played: 1,960
– Career stats: 424 home runs, batting average .260, on-base percentage + slugging percentage .846
– Wins over replacement: 35.5
#4. Kenny Rogers
– Draft: 816th overall, 1982
– Position: Pitcher
– Matches played: 762
– Career stats: 219 wins, 4.27 ERA, 1.40 walks/hits allowed per inning
– Wins over replacements: 50.5
#3. Mark Teixeira
– Draft: 5th overall, 2001
– Position: Third baseman
– Matches played: 1,862
– Career stats: 409 home runs, batting average .269, on-base percentage + slugging percentage .870
– Wins over replacements: 50.6
#2. Ian Kinsler
– Draft: 496th overall, 2003
– Position: Shortstop
– Matches played: 1,888
– Career stats: 257 home runs, batting average .269, on-base percentage + slugging percentage .777
– Wins over replacements: 54.1
#1. Kevin Brown
– Draft: 4th overall, 1986
– Position: Pitcher
– Matches played: 486
– Career stats: 211 wins, 3.28 ERA, 1.22 walks/hits allowed per inning
– Wins over replacements: 67.8
This story features data reporting by Karim Noorani and writing by Mike Taylor and is part of a series on leveraging data automation across the 30 MLB teams.
This story was originally published and produced by ATS.io
Distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
