Report: Rangers, Rocker agree to $5.2M deal

The 2022 MLB newbie draft kicked off Sunday night with the first 80 selections. The Texas Rangers stole headlines and incredibly grabbed former Vanderbilt ace Kumar Rocker with the No. 3 select. Rocker was widely expected to go in the again 50 percent of the first spherical right after obtaining shoulder medical procedures past September and pitching in an unbiased league this spring.

“We’re extremely at ease with the professional medical critique that our health-related staff has carried out,” Rangers GM Chris Young advised MLB.com. “Definitely, Kumar has been less than the care of a single of the primary orthopedic surgeons in the earth. He’s been in excellent supervision during his rehab. He is been pitching balanced. We’re very at ease with the clinical evaluation and that’s why we drafted him.” 

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The Rangers and Rocker currently have a offer in put, according to the New York Put up, and he will obtain a $5.2 million signing reward. That is significantly beneath the $7,591,600 slot price for the No. 3 decide. Texas can now use the savings on other players, which was certainly the system: Indicator Rocker below slot and use the discounts to land other high quality gamers with later on picks.

Past 12 months the New York Mets did not indicator Rocker as the No. 10 decide. The two sides reportedly agreed to a $6 million bonus, but the team observed anything it didn’t like in his bodily, and walked away. Rocker went again into the draft this summer season and the Mets received the No. 11 pick in this year’s draft as payment. They used it on Georgia Tech catcher Kevin Parada.

Our R.J. Anderson gave the Rangers a “C” for the Rocker pick and ranked him the No. 25 prospect in the draft class. Here is his scouting report:

He resurfaced not long ago in the Frontier League, jogging his fastball up to 99 mph and overwhelming indy-league hitters with a 70-quality slider. Heraclitus explained that no man ways in the identical river 2 times, for neither he nor the river are the exact same. Even if Rocker was the exact — and he’s not, if only in age — the river has changed. The field was already skeptical about him mainly because of his lagging changeup and the likely command and toughness concerns created by his mechanical deficiencies now, there is certainly also the issue of last summer’s write-up-draft actual physical that triggered the Mets to bail. We have to compose that it does really feel silly to obsess in excess of what could go improper with Rocker’s arm in a draft where by virtually every single other major pitcher presently has an elbow zipper. 

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Rocker had to settle for a minor a lot less than previous year’s reportedly agreed upon bonus, even though a $5.2 million payday is even now quite dang excellent, in addition he gets to say he was the No. 3 pick one yr right after getting the No. 10 decide on. Only a handful of players have ever been a leading 10 select twice.

Last calendar year the Rangers employed the No. 2 decide on Vanderbilt righty Jack Leiter, the son of longtime large leaguer Al Leiter. Leiter and Rocker will now be reunited in the Texas farm system. Heading into the 2021 draft, Leiter and Rocker winding up in the exact organization inside of a yr would have been a shock, but the Rangers managed to make it happen.

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