MLB Mock Draft Has Texas Rangers Taking Nebraska Prep Infielder

The Texas Rangers have the final pick of the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft, which will be held in North Texas as part of the MLB All-Star Game in July.

May 29, 2023; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Texas Rangers cap in glove sits in dugout. / Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas Rangers have the final pick in the first round of this year’s Major League Draft, which will be hosted in the Dallas-Fort Worth area because the All-Star Game will be at Globe Life Filed in Arlington.

The draft starts on Sunday, July 14, and continues the next two days. But Sunday features the first round and the compensatory picks that are sandwiched between the first and second rounds.

The Rangers select No. 30, thanks to their World Series win, and The Athletic’s latest mock draft has them taking a prep infielder, shortstop Tyson Lewis.

Lewis, 18, plays for Millard West High School in Omaha, Neb.

The left-handed hitter can play second base, third base, and outfield, and can pitch from the right-hand side of the mound. He’s committed to play at Arkansas.

If the Rangers went that route, he would snap a six-year streak of the Rangers selecting college players, with the most recent being outfielder Wyatt Langford, who was selected No. 4 overall last July and made the Rangers’ Opening Day roster.

My eyes were closed ngl - Tyson Lewis pic.twitter.com/j5BMjzeiEX

— Barstool Cats (32-5) (@BarstoolMWHS) May 16, 2024

The last time the Rangers selected a prep player was 2018 when they selected pitcher Cole Winn out of Lutheran High School of Orange County in Orange, Calif., Winn just reached the Majors this year as a reliever.

Winn’s selection in 2018 was the last of seven straight seasons in which the Rangers selected a prep player.

Texas doesn’t have a pressing need at shortstop, as veteran Corey Seager just turned 30 and is in the third year of a 10-year contract. But Lewis’ versatility might allow him to ease into a role currently occupied by a pair of young players the Rangers acquired in a trade for Joey Gallo — Josh Smith and Ezequiel Duran — in a few years.

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