MLB Re-Draft Sees Texas Rangers Star End Up With Different AL West Team

Texas Rangers may have a hard time imaging their 2023 World Series run without this impressive rookie outfielder.

May 4, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Texas Rangers outfielder Evan Carter (32) celebrates in the dugout after scoring during the seventh inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. / William Purnell-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers rolled the dice in the second round of the 2020 MLB draft on a little-known high school outfielder from Tennessee.

That selection paid off in the form of Evan Carter, who steadily improved in the Rangers’ minor league system and became a star with Texas during its run to the 2023 World Series. Along the way he made one of the most incredible catches in Rangers postseason history.

Now, imagine that postseason run without him?

Baseball America competed a re-draft of the 2020 MLB draft, a way of showing which players far exceeded the expectations that were had when they were selection. An important thing to remember is that the draft was just five rounds due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Carter went No. 50 overall to the Rangers back in 2020. But, given what Baseball America knows about Carter now, he would go No. 6 overall to the Seattle Mariners.

Who knows what might have happened in that reality. Rangers fans who celebrated that World Series win probably don’t want to find out.

Carter made his MLB debut that September as a 20-year-old and put together a great finish to the season and was a vital part of the postseason. He slashed .306/.413/.645 line in 23 games with five home runs in the regular season.

Then, in the playoffs, he was a .300 hitter and gave the Rangers terrific defense in left field.

Last season was much rougher for Carter. He developed a back issue that persisted nearly the entire season and led to an ablation procedure in October that removed tissue from his back.

He played in just 45 games and slashed .188/.272/.361/.633 with five home runs and 15 RBI. The Rangers and Carter are hopeful that he’ll be a full-go for this coming season.

Meanwhile, the Rangers took infielder Justin Foscue at No. 14 overall that year, and Foscue made his MLB debut last season. But, in this re-draft, Texas would end up with outfielder Garrett Mitchell.

He went No. 20 overall to Milwaukee and he made his MLB debut three seasons later. He hasn’t played a full season yet, but his 3.6 bWAR accumulated over parts of three seasons is good for fifth-best in the draft class.

He’s a career .264 hitter and played in a career-best 69 games in 2024. He slashed .255/.342/.469/.812 with eight home runs and 21 RBI.