DALLAS (105.3 The Fan) - Frustration is brewing among Rangers fans at ownership's lack of spending after general manger Jon Daniels said this week on 105.3 The Fan that the club will operate at a lower payroll in 2021.
Fans are not only upset with Ray Davis and Bob Simpson (Rangers owners), but they also are questioning why Daniels wasn't able to move starting pitcher Lance Lynn before Monday's trade deadline.
Another knock on Daniels is his staff's history of drafting and developing players. But just how bad has it been? 105.3 The Fan's Cory Mageors wanted to find out, so he took it upon himself to take a deep dive into the players selected under the Daniels regime.
"In Jon Daniels history since he's become the general manager (the first draft he was in charge of was in 2006). He's drafted and developed one All-Star ... and that's Joey Gallo," Mageors said Thursday on the K&C Masterpiece.
For this exercise only, Mageors didn't take into account that Daniels traded some of these players to other teams. He just looked into the players that were selected under Daniels and what they became while with the club.
The results are startling. See them below:
2006:
Kasey Kiker (12th overall pick) - Never made it above Double-A.
Other notable players drafted - Chris Davis, Craig Gentry, Derek Holland. Davis became an All-Star with the Baltimore Orioles.
2007:
Blake Beaven (17th overall pick) - Made it to Triple-A with the Rangers before he was traded to the Seattle Mariners in the Cliff Lee deal. He hasn't pitched in the majors since 2014.
Michael Main (24th overall pick) - Never made it above Double-A.
Other notable players drafted - Drew Pomeranz, Mitch Moreland, Julio Borbon and Tommy Hunter. None became All-Stars as Rangers. Pomeranz and Moreland both appeared in All-Star games with other clubs.
2008:
Justin Smoak (12th overall pick) - Smoak was selected by the Rangers in the first round of the draft and was later traded to Seattle in the Cliff Lee deal. Smoak made one All-Star game as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays.
2009:
Matt Purke (14th overall pick) - 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. 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 commissioner 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.
Other notable players drafted - Tanner Scheppers. The former 44th overall selection flamed out of the major leagues in 2017 due to multiple ailments.
2010:
Jake Skole - 15th overall and Kelli Deglan - 22nd overall.
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.
Other notable players drafted - Mike Olt, Drew Robinson, Justin Grimm and Alex Claudio.
2011:
Kevin Matthews (33rd overall) and Zach Cone (37th overall). Matthews never made it above Triple-A. Cone never made it above Double-A.
Other notable players drafted - Kyle Hendricks, Ryan Rua and Nick Martinez
2012:
Lewis Brinson (29th overall) - Brinson was included in the Jeremy Jeffress and Jonathan Lucroy trade with the Milwaukee Brewers. Brinson now plays for the Miami Marlins.
Joey Gallo (39th overall) - Daniels' first and only All-Star he's drafted and developed. Gallo was an All-Star in 2019. 2020 hasn't been as kind to Gallo as he's currently hitting .180 with seven home runs and 16 RBI.
Other notable players drafted - Keone Kela
2013:
Alex "Chi Chi" Gonzalez (23rd overall) and Travis Demeritte (30th overall).
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. Texas notably passed on Yankees star Aaron Judge, who was taken 32nd overall.
Other notable players drafted - Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Joe Palumbo
2014: Luis Ortiz (30th overall) - Ortiz was included in the Jeremy Jeffress and Jonathan Lucroy trade with the Milwaukee Brewers. Brinson now plays for the Miami Marlins.
Other notable players drafted - Jose Trevino
2015: Dillon Tate (4th overall) - Tate was included in the trade that brought back Carlos Beltran to Texas. He currently plays for the Baltimore Orioles.
Other notable players drafted - Pete Fairbanks, Scott Heineman, Jeffrey Springs and C.D. Pelham
The jury is still out on players selected from 2016 to 2020. Those first-round picks include Cole Ragans (30th overall in 2016), Bubba Thompson (26th overall in 2017), Chris Seise (29th overall in 2017), Cole Winn (15th overall in 2018), Josh Jung (8th overall in 2019) and Justin Foscue (14th overall in 2020).