DALLAS (105.3 The Fan) - Since moving to Texas in 1973, the Rangers haven't had much success in the first round of the MLB Draft. Kevin Brown and Mark Teixera are the only first-rounders to have made an all-star team while playing for the club. There were others who made an All-Star team including R.A. Dickey, Ron Darling, Carlos Peña and Justin Smoak. However, they earned those all-star nods while playing for other clubs.
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With the 2021 MLB draft underway, I decided to take a look back at the Texas Rangers' previous drafts to see where they made their biggest mistakes and missed out on a superstar player. The Rangers believe very strongly in their newest prospect, Jack Leiter, who they took with the No. 2 overall pick in the first round on Sunday.
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The criteria I used for this study was simple: If a player became an all-star, I left them off the list. If a player didn't become an all-star, and there was a Hall of Famer or perennial all-star selected after them in the first round, then they qualify.
1973:
Rangers selected David Clyde with the 1st overall pick
Could have drafted:
Robin Yount - 3rd overall pick by the Milwaukee Brewers - Hall of Famer
Dave Winfield - 4th overall pick by the San Diego Padres - Hall of Famer
The Washington Senators had just moved to Texas, and the owner at the time, Bob Short, was looking to fill the Arlington Stadium stands. What better way to fill a stadium than with a high-school stud pitcher from a high school in Houston, Short thought? He thought wrong, of course.
Just 20 days after completing his high school baseball season, Short thrust Clyde into the major leagues. The intial agreement had Clyde pitching in two big league games before returning to the minors to develop. However, those plans went out the window and Clyde pitched in 18 games that season, compiling a 4-8 record with a 5.01 ERA. He would later develop shoulder problems and was traded to the Cleveland Indians after the 1977 season.
In fairness, it wasn't Clyde's fault the club mismanged him. Unfortunately, he just had to appear on this list because of the two players that were taken right after him - Hall of Famers Robin Yount and Dave Winfield.
1985:
Rangers selected Bobby Witt with the 3rd overall pick
Could have drafted:
Barry Larkin - 4th overall pick by the Reds - Hall of Famer
Barry Bonds - 6th overall pick by the Pirates
The Rangers selected pitcher Bobby Witt out of the University of Oklahoma with the third overall pick in the 1985 draft. Witt was an average MLB starter and had his best season in 1990 when he went 17-10 with a 3.36 ERA. If Texas had passed on Witt they could have had one of Barry Larkin or Barry Bonds. Larkin went on to have a Hall of Fame career with the Cincinnati Reds and Barry Bonds went on to be baseball's home run king (if you count his stats).
1989:
Rangers selected Donald Harris with the 5th overall pick
Could have drafted:
Frank Thomas - 7th overall pick by the White Sox - Hall of Famer
The Rangers selected outfielder Donald Harris out of Texas Tech University with the fifth overall pick in the 1989 draft instead of 'The Big Hurt' Frank Thomas. Harris would go on to appear in 82 games in his three-year career, hitting .205. Thomas would go on to hit 500+ home runs and was elected into the Hall of Fame in 2014.
1990:
Rangers selected Daniel Smith with the 16th overall pick
Could have drafted:
Mike Mussina - 17th overall pick by the Orioles - Hall of Famer
In 1990, The Rangers had their choice between a couple of starting pitchers - Daniel Smith out of Creighton University and Mike Mussina out of Stanford. Texas would pick Smith, who pitched in 17 games in across two big-league seasons, while the "Moose" would go on to have a Hall of Fame career with the Orioles and Yankees.
1995:
Rangers selected Jonathan Johnson with the 7th overall pick
Could have drafted:
Todd Helton - 8th overall pick by the Rockies
Roy Halladay - 17th overall pick by the Blue Jays - Hall of Famer
Doug Melvin would like a do-over here. The Rangers had the opportunity to select a possible Hall of Famer in Todd Helton or Hall of Fame pitcher Roy Halladay, but instead, they went with Florida State right-hander Jonathan Johnson. Johnson went on to compile a 2-4 record with a 6.63 ERA in six big-league seasons.
2002:
Rangers selected Drew Meyer with the 10th overall pick
Could have drafted:
Cole Hamels - 17th overall pick by the Phillies
Jon Hart selected infielder Drew Meyer with the 10th overall pick out of South Carolina. Meyer would go on to play five games with the Rangers in 2006 and was designated for assignment in 2007. Hamels, meanwhile, became a Ranger after a stellar career with the Phillies. He is likely to be a Hall of Famer someday and hopes to pitch in 2020 with the Atlanta Braves.
2009:
Rangers selected Matt Purke with the 14th overall pick
Could have drafted:
Mike Trout - 25th overall pick by the Angels
Matt Purke will go down as one of the worst draft picks in Rangers history after the left-handed high schooler opted to go to TCU instead of joining the Rangers. Jon Daniels doesn't get all the blame here as Nolan Ryan was very involved with this selection. Ryan agreed to a $6 million deal with Purke, but Bud Selig stepped in due to the club's financial woes at the time and mandated that Texas could only offer him $4 million. Purke walked and the Rangers didn't have a first round pick in 2009. Purke would go on to be picked by the Washington Nationals in the third round of the 2011 draft. Shoulder problems led to his demise as he appeared in just 12 big league games with the Chicago White Sox in 2016.
Making things worse on Rangers fans is the fact that the rival Angels selected one of the best players in the history of the game just 11 picks later. We don't need to list off Mike Trout's accomplishments.
2010:
Rangers selected Jake Skole with the 15th overall pick and Kellin Deglan with the 22nd overall pick
Could have drafted:
Christian Yelich - drafted 23rd overall by the Marlins
After missing out on Mike Trout the year prior, the Rangers had not one but two opportunities to rectify it by picking one of the other top young talents in the game, Christian Yelich. Texas would whiff on both picks, selecting Jake Skole and Kellin Deglan with the 15th and 22nd picks. Skole never made it higher than Double-A, while Deglan split time between the Yankees Double-A and Triple-A affiliates in 2019. Yelich won the National League MVP in 2018 and is a two-time all-star.
2013:
Rangers selected Alex "Chi Chi" Gonzalez with the 23rd overall pick and Travis Demeritte with the 30th overall pick
Could have drafted:
Aaron Judge - drafted 32nd overall pick by the New York Yankees
Just imagine it for one second. ... Eric Nadel is the one saying, "all rise, here comes The Judge." Now, back to reality. ... The Rangers selected Alex "Chi Chi" Gonzalez and Travis Demeritte with the 23rd and 30th overall picks in 2013. Gonzalez has spent parts of three seasons in the majors with the Rangers and Rockies, compiling a 6-14 record with a 4.87 ERA. As for Demeritte, he got off to a hot start with the Tigers in spring training before baseball was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, hitting .313 with 4 home runs and 9 RBI.
2015:
Rangers selected Dillon Tate with the fourth overall pick.
Could have drafted:
Walker Buehler - drafted 24th overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers
The Rangers swung and missed on Tate and eventually were able to ship him off in a trade deadline deal that netted them Carlos Beltran. Meanwhile, Buehler is one of the top starting pitchers in the bigs.
Jury's still out:
2016: Cole Ragans - 30th overall
2017: Bubba Thompson - 26th overall
2018: Cole Winn - 15th overall
2019: Josh Jung - 8th overall
2020: Justin Foscue - 14th overall
2021: Jack Leiter - 2nd overall
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