Chris Woodward: Rangers Prospect Kumar Rocker 'No. 1 Pick' in Draft
Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward told MLB.com that first-round pick Kumar Rocker was “No. 1 pick in the Draft,” in his opinion, before Thursday’s game with the Miami Marlins.
Woodward and the Rangers started a 10-day, 10-game road trip with an 8-0 win over the Marlins, a make-up game from April 4. The Rangers fly to Oakland to start the next leg of the trip on Friday night.
The Rangers took Rocker No. 3 overall on Sunday, a move that stunned some baseball observers because Rocker was the No. 10 overall pick of the New York Mets last season. But, because the Mets weren’t fully aware of his medicals before they made the pick, the Mets left Rocker unsigned and received a compensatory pick for Sunday.
Woodward said he was in his car when he found out the Rangers took Rocker.
“It was pretty cool,” Woodward said. “We couldn't really go wrong, in my opinion, with any of those three (Rocker, Jackson Holliday and Druw Jones). But Kumar, (if) medical and everything passes — this guy was the No. 1 pick in the Draft.”
Rangers general manager Chris Young told reporters on Sunday that the team is confident in Rocker’s medicals and they anticipate signing him before the Aug. 1 deadline. There was reportedly a $5.2 million bonus deal already in place, but there has been no official announcement.
Rocker went 28-10 with a 2.89 ERA over 42 games/39 starts across three seasons at Vanderbilt. He was a freshman on the Commodores' 2019 College World Series championship team, when he was selected winner of the CWS Most Outstanding Player.
After last season’s draft, MLB.com reported that the Mets were unaware that Rocker had arm problems before they made the selection, which allowed them to walk away from the offer. This happened because Rocker didn’t participate in the pre-draft medical process.
His agent, Scott Boras, told reporters 10 months ago that Rocker did have surgery on his right elbow, but it had nothing to do with his pitching.
Rocker ended up playing professionally with the Tri-City Valley Cats of the Frontier League.
He made 5 starts with Tri-City Valley, going 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA (3 ER/20.0 IP) and 4 walks against 32 strikeouts for a rate of 14.4 strikeouts per 9 innings.
Rocker was the college teammate of Rangers No. 1 prospect Jack Leiter, who was taken No. 2 overall last July. Woodward said he believes Rocker is the closest prospect in the draft to the Majors.
“You want him anyway, but he's not far off (from the Majors),” Woodward said. “And him and Leiter are reunited (in the system). To have the best two — obviously with [fourth-round pick] Brock Porter, I'm not saying it's going to work out, but we got two of the best arms in the Draft.”
Porter, to some draft observers, was the best high school pitching talent in the draft and he was ranked No. 11 overall by MLB.com.
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