DALLAS (105.3 The Fan) - Rangers executive vice president and general manager Chris Young and amateur scouting director Kip Fagg discussed the club's selection of Vanderbilt right-hander Jack Leiter on Sunday night.
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Here are some of the highlights:
Young on drafting Leiter:
"We are thrilled to announce the selection of Jack Leiter. Jack is someone we zeroed in on for a while. He fits everything that we're trying to accomplish as an organization from a player, a competitor, the talent, but most importantly, the person. This is someone who is a tremendous person. He comes from a tremendous family. … It's a great night for our organization, it's a great night for the Leiter family, and we couldn't be more thrilled (to draft him). ... All along in my heart, I felt like Jack was the right one for the Texas Rangers. What I see is a winning player. I see a winner.”
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Fagg on what stands out about Leiter:
"He's a unique guy. (He has) a smaller (body frame), but very powerful, athletic. The fastball probably plays (up) as good as any fastball as I've seen in all my years of scouting."
Young on if they have any concerns about being able to come to an agreement with Leiter:
"No. We fully expect to sign him. We wouldn't have taken him if we didn't. And we're very thrilled that we're going to have this opportunity (to have him)."
Fagg on the decision to pick Leiter of a high school shortstop:
"In my mind, Jack was on the top of our board for a long time. He was the guy we were kind of zeroing in on. (We kind of didn't know) what Pittsburgh was going to do for a while, so when we find out a little bit prior that they were picking Henry Davis we were very excited that we were going to get Jack."
On when Leiter might make his big-league debut:
Fagg: "I think he's going to tell us. I think when Jack Leiter starts pitching in a Texas Rangers uniform, he should come quick. But he's going to tell us, for sure.
Young: This is performance-based. Our expectation, given his talent, his work ethic, his motivation, his competitiveness, all the things we look for ... the expectation is that it'll be fairly quick. I think it's also important not to place expectations on him. Every player develops at their own pace. Certainly, we're fully confident that he's going to be able to handle those expectations, but nonetheless, in fairness to the player, he will tell us based on his performance."
Watch the entire interview below.
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