4:12pm: Second-rounder Alex Speas and third-rounder Kole Enright are also under contract, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. Speas gets an at-slot bonus of $1,024,900, while Enright lands just over his pick’s allocation at $675K.
11:59am: The Rangers announced today that they’ve agreed to terms with first-round pick (No. 30 overall) Cole Ragans and will formally announce him at a 3pm CT press conference. The Rangers added that they will announce the signing of several other top draft picks at the presser, though they did not disclose names. Devan Fink first tweeted that Ragans signed at slot value ($2.003,400), and MLB.com’s Jim Callis hears the same (Twitter link), noting that the prep lefty out of Florida has three solid pitches in his arsenal already.
Ragans rated 49th on MLB.com’s list of Top 200 draft prospects, while ESPN’s Keith Law and Baseball America each rated him 55th overall. Callis and Jonathan Mayo note in their scouting report for MLB.com that each of Ragans’ fastball, curveball and changeup can be a tick above average and give the 6’3″, 190-pounder credit for pitchability and a projectable frame. Eric Longenhagen’s scouting report at ESPN.com notes that his changeup has become an increasingly projectable offering that many scouts believe will ultimately be his best weapon, but his curve is thrown too slow to project to more than average. BA, on the other hand, feels the curve is his best offspeed pitch and projects the changeup at average down the line.
At $5,358,500, Texas has one of the smallest bonus pools in the league, having forfeited its first-round pick to sign Ian Desmond. A comp pick of their own for the loss of Yovani Gallardo, though, gave the Rangers this No. 30 selection that was used to add Ragans. The Rangers have about $3.35MM to sign their remaining selections.
