Absolutely Biggest Need the Rangers Must Address in the MLB Draft

In baseball, every pick in the Major League draft matters. For the Texas Rangers it’s a chance to improve their farm system.

What happened with Wyatt Langford in 2023 is not the norm. The No. 4 overall pick went from Florida Gator to MLB debut less than a year after he was selected. He’s now in his third season in the Majors.

All draft picks usually need more time to develop. That’s the norm. So teams like the Rangers must project what they’ll need in the next few years. Texas will take players at nearly every position, but there are some position groups that matter more. For the Rangers, this is the biggest need they must address in the 2026 MLB draft.

The Rangers’ Biggest MLB Draft Need

Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Mitch Bratt throws the baseball to a hitter. — Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Mitch Bratt. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

At the start of the season the position might have been catcher. But the emergence of 2024 first-round pick Malcolm Moore has made addressing catcher early less of a need.

Like every team in baseball, the Rangers need pitching. The more pitching the better. But this time around Texas needs to address left-handed pitching. Here’s why.

Last July the Rangers acquired Arizona starter Merrill Kelly at the deadline. The cost was steep. President of baseball operations Chris Young parted with three Top 30 pitching prospects, including two left-handers —Kohl Drake and Mitch Bratt. Drake is at Triple-A while Bratt recently made his MLB debut.

Young also parted with another left-handed prospect, Mason Molina, in the Phil Maton trade. Left-hander Garrett Horn was the cost to acquire Danny Coulombe.

Last year’s trade deadline was costly. Young replaced some of that with the MacKenzie Gore trade in January — but it cost Texas five Top 30 prospects. But the left-handed pitching pipeline is a bit tapped out and needs to be replenished.

Per MLB Pipeline, the Rangers have seven pitchers among their Top 11 prospects, including two-way youngster Josh Owens. But all are right-handers. The highest-ranked left-handed pitching prospect is No. 12 Dalton Pence, who is at Double-A Frisco and was invited to MLB spring training.

The only other left-handed prospects in the Top 30 are Josh Trentadue and Ben Abeldt. Neither has pitched higher than Double-A.

Gore only has one year of team control left. Jordan Montgomery, rehabbing from an elbow injury, is only in on a one-year deal. Cody Bradford is effective but unable to say healthy. The left-handed options at the MLB level are short. The pipeline is even shorter.

When the Rangers get on the clock this weekend, the need to draft multiple left-handed pitchers is high, perhaps the highest of any position group in the system.

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