The Rangers and No. 3 overall draft pick Kumar Rocker have agreed to terms on a $5.2MM bonus, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The right-hander’s bonus clocks in well south of the pick’s $7,587,600 slot value, which should afford the Rangers flexibility further down their board. Rocker is represented by the Boras Corporation.
Rocker was the No. 10 overall pick by the Mets a year ago and was reportedly set to ink a $6MM bonus before medical concerns scuttled that deal. He’d eventually go on to have an arthroscopic procedure on his right shoulder last August. Rather than returning to Vanderbilt for his senior season, Rocker instead opted to pitch for the Tri-City Valley Cats of the independent Frontier League (an official partner league of MLB). Health hasn’t looked to be an issue at all for Rocker this time year; he’s pitched 20 innings for the Valley Cats and turned in a 1.35 ERA with a dominant 32-to-4 K/BB ratio while reportedly running his heater back up to 99 mph.
The selection by the Rangers improbably reunites Vanderbilt’s 2021 co-aces, as Texas took right-hander Jack Leiter with the No. 2 overall pick in the draft just last season. Leiter and Rocker were widely viewed as two of the top arms in last year’s draft — evidenced by their top-ten selections — and will now give the Rangers a pair of high-ceiling arms upon which to build. (Leiter certainly seems pleased with the Rangers’ selection, celebrating the pick with a pair of tweets last night.)
Rocker, 22, starred alongside Leiter for the entirety of his three years at Vanderbilt, pitching to a 2.89 ERA with a 33.2% strikeout rate and a 7.8% walk rate in 236 1/3 innings for the Commodores in a tough SEC setting. The 6’5″, 245-pound righty has an upper-90s heater, and scouting reports from Baseball America, The Athletic, ESPN, MLB.com and FanGraphs credit him with a slider that draws 60 to 70 grades on the 20-80 scale. Rocker has also worked with a curveball and changeup, both drawing at least average ratings in most reports.
While Rocker was one of the most recognizable names in this year’s draft, his selection at No. 3 overall nonetheless registered as a draft-night surprise. Most rankings had him as a late first-rounder or even in the second round, considering last summer’s shoulder surgery and some oft-cited inconsistency in his stuff at Vanderbilt. The Rangers were clearly heartened by Rocker’s strong showing in the Frontier League, and they’ll also now have the option to use the savings on their No. 3 selection to scoop up some lingering, hard-to-sign talents who remain on the board.
Despite picking at No. 3, Texas entered the draft with just the 14th-largest bonus pool — a reflection of the fact that they surrendered their second- and third-round picks (and the associated bonus pool allotments) to sign free agents Corey Seager and Marcus Semien this past winter. Because of those forfeitures, Rocker remains the only selection Texas has made thus far. The Rangers’ next pick will come in Round 4, and there are still a few highly regarded high school options on the board, headlined by Clemson-committed righty Brock Porter, who’s regarded as a first-round talent but was not selected on Day 1 of the draft.
“Because of those forfeitures, Rocker remains the only selection Texas has made thus far.”
As of Monday morning 7-18 wouldn’t this be the case regardless assuming they did sign last year’s 1st.
Maybe this is being over critical.
Rangers did sign their first round pick last year, Jack Leiter. It was the Mets who didn’t sign their first pick, which was Rocker. As the article mentioned, the Rangers lost their 2nd & 3rd round picks for signing Seager and Semien as free agents.
“Only selection” not “only signing”
Rangers only had one pick on day one, where most clubs had 3-4 picks.
There were two rounds last night. Because of the forfeitures due to signing high-priced Boras middle infielders, they only had one pick.
Sorry all…I was confused and thought only the first round was day one like the NFL draft. Sucks not having ESPN and better access to MLB draft info. Sucks taking care of two old people all Sunday too. But doesn’t suck having two parents still living.
Sorry for the confusion.
What the heck does any of that have to do with anything in this post…
He gets packaged in a trade to WASH for Soto now.
Rangers dont have a Farm System to get Soto
He will go to one of the BIG market Teams like Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers etc
Same Song and Dance
I’d be surprised if Soto gets traded. He is on the verge of being untradeable. The prospect cost to get him is so high that either no team will part with that much for him or Washington will have to take less for him. In the end he will work out a deal to stay with the Nats.
I disagree, Joe. He may not be traded now or even after this year, but I think at next year’s deadline or after next year, he’s gone. The prospect price will go down enough that someone will bite. Even if no one does, I don’t see him re-signing with the Nats. I imagine he’d want to spend his prime with a contender, not a rebuilder.
I could see that. Once the prospect cost isn’t so prohibitive, they could definitely deal him.
Soto has made his decision to not stay in DC
Period. $440 M even w some deferred is a ton and Soto rejecting & Nats saying the terms out to press pissed him off. Superstar on a “ losing rebuilding team” with unknown owners is enough to leave ASAP! Letters blew up a World Series Champ Team like asses. I was in DC following Bats since they came here. No longer go to games. Yankees for life #28 in ‘22.
It most definitely is a lot of money, but it would be stupid for him to sign it. Less than $30m aav, there’s guys already over the $35m aav mark and kid is still cpl yrs from his “prime years” age wise. It’s very possible, he’s getting $40m aav, by time he’s 30
There are people getting 30m aav, but how many of them are getting it for 15 years?
The Rangers do have a farm system capable of getting Soto.
Idk if it’s worth the cost of acquiring him though, especially when pitching seems to be the issue.
Leiter (#16), Jung (#30), Duran (#56), Forscue (#61), Winn (#79), White (#94), and now Rockar – based on mlb.com rankings
Rangers certainly have enough prospects to put together a competitive package.
They aren’t trading Leiter, who’s still not a big enough name to be the headliner, so no- they are out
“Idk if it’s worth the cost of acquiring him though, especially when pitching seems to be the issue.”
But that’s not the argument. There’s a difference in not having and not willing to part with
Most teams have the ammunition. It depends on how much you want to decimate your farm.
When was the last time the Yankees signed a top FA? Cole right? Not exactly a guarantee that they get the big fish every year. They aren’t even the only game in town anymore.
How dare you. Rangers farm is one of the best out there actually. More than a handful of top 100s and guys who climbed up the ranks just in the past year. Like D. Harris etc
I thought the Rangers were a big market team.How do you base the size of the market?
Upper mid market. Revenue
Upper mid?
They are in a top 5 market… the team just spent 500+ million this off season…
The rangers have a top 10 farm system with notable names, and depth that could be used that the Nats desperately need.
The Yankees can’t even afford Judge… how can they offer Soto?
If the Nats wait until the end of season, they would not diminish soto’s trade value. 2 full years of arbitration conrol would still be desirable. This would also give them ample time to scout potential trade partners. No need to be hasty here.
I disagree. He’s having much closer to an above average season vs an elite season. Blame the lineup all u want, but those are the results. If that continues through out the year the asking price will surely drop. And nats, as all teams, have tons of scouts and they know who they like out there.
That being said – be patient w Yankees or they’ll take u to the cleaners !
Volpe and 3 others from their top 10 would be a huge haul
It’s impossible to judge Soto with that lineup, but as a roto player, Alvarez has been a much better player this year.
I’d rather have Soto for three Octobers, not two. It’s hard to see his value going up. Best time to trade him is now. I doubt it happens though. The price will freak people out.
I dont believe any of the kids selected this draft are eligible to be traded until after the WS…
Isn’t that what happened with Trea Turner and the infamous PTBL trade a few years back?
I believe you are right. That’s actually something I am confused about for the Red Sox, as we have Devers at 3B, Story at either 2B or SS, and both Meyer and Yorke are middle infielders, so why were both of are top two picks SS? Are they trading one or both of Meyer and Yorke? No, Bloom would never.
SS get filtered into other positions. I’d love to see Red Sox go get Soto or Castillo though. Meyer headliner and a deep list of prospects may land u Castillo and Mahle
U have to consider the fact that most draftees don’t even sniff majors till 3-4 yrs after they are drafted. A lot can happen in 4yrs. That’s why most teams draft who they perceive as being best talent, not by positional needs
It’s pretty rare to have too many SS’s. If your top-3 prospects are 1Bs, you’re kind of limited to inserting all of them into the lineup. And the only way they get blocked is if they are MLB-ready, and that just becomes a trade opportunity.
TB had that with Franco, Adames & Walls. Adames got flipped for Rasmussen & Feyereisen, Walls went to 3B, and then to SS when Franco got hurt.
If a kid is getting drafted out of high school, unless its a perennial powerhouse school, odds are he either pitches or plays short, and usually both.
It’s interesting that Seaver and Semien are both Boras clients who signed with Texas this year and now they pick Rocker who is also a Boras client.
Boras is known for getting his clients top dollar, so why did they except this significantly below slot deal and so quickly?
There must have been a handshake deal prior to the draft to pick him this early but pay him like a lower pick.
Rocker will be in the big leagues after the trading deadline if TX still has a WC chance.
haha no he definitely will not be in the bigs this year, maybe a start at AA
I’d make a modest wager that, if the Rangers are tied for the WC on 9/1, you’ll see Rocker in the BP.
Yes. Boras’ goal was to ensure his client got paid more than what he lost last year. Mission accomplished.
LordD99 – Rocker got $5.2mm this year and was offered $6.0mm last year before the medical issues.
@Lars, incorrect. There was no contract offer from the Mets.
And to expand, predraft verbal discussions are not agreements. The dollar amounts frequently change. I was once told I was getting a more than 10% increase that never happened as the business environment changed. The Mets NEVER made a contract offer. Both sides knew what they were doing here and both sides did fine in the end.
LordD99 – I was going by what the article said.
“Rocker was the No. 10 overall pick by the Mets a year ago and was reportedly set to ink a $6MM bonus before medical concerns scuttled that deal.”
I wasn’t following the situation very closely last year.
Lars, understood. My issue is people, not so much you, claiming he had a $6M contract offer he rejected. Not true. He never had an an official contract and he never rejected it.
He’s a college senior with no leverage. The Rangers should have offered him $10k. Only because he is a Boras client did he get a respectable offer.
He didn’t take less technically, he would have went in the 20s and maybe gotten less at slot.
I see the Boras connection but more likely this allows Texas to take a couple of fliers in the 4th and 5th round and see if they can use the savings to get some first round talent
He’s a year older and had to get surgery after last year. He’s taking ~$800,000 less than he wanted last year. This seems like he made out just fine.
Jon Daniels has spoken a few times about having a good relationship with Boras. Sort of like DC.
Rocker won’t amount to anything as an MLB player.
Well Sir, your magic 8 ball is not making you any money posting your thoughts here.
You need to be in contact with an MLB or any sports franchise and have your resume ready with a list of your clairvoyant hits
You’ll be rolling in the dough soon enough.
Landing the co aces from that Vanderbilt team is impressive.
Getting a Boras guy under slot is incredible.
My hat’s off to Texas here.
I hope these guys can anchor a staff that rivals the 90’s Braves….
I’ve been waiting 50 years for my Rangers to have a lights out pitching staff.
The 90s Braves? Seriously? With those expectations there is nowhere to go but down. Hope is good, but temper your hopes just a little bit. Just getting to the majors with them both is hard enough.
Sure there have been Vandy to the majors successes, but there have also been flops like Casey Weathers and Carson Fulmer
I didn’t say I expect it. I said I hope for it. Isn’t that was being a fan is all about?
Yes, but if you set your sights on Mars, but only reach the moon, which by itself is still a great accomplishment, you will still feel let down.
I’m sorry but I think that Texas has done absolutely a great job in the last 6 months of turning themselves into a contender in 2 to 3 years.
Hopefully the Rangers organization can develop their prospects to MLB level readiness. Not a Rangers fan but would enjoy seeing them compete for a WS with Leiter and Rocker. Wishing them well!
Anybody have any idea why Brock Porter is still available to draft (ranked #11)?
Has a commitment to Clemson and might have big bonus demands to drop the commitment.
I get it. You’re only young once. You can be young and be a big man on campus, live in a nice dorm, go to parties with friends, and have a meal plan or go through the crappy minor leagues.
I don’t think someone with 1st round money is going to be hurting too much in the minors.
According to a report he had a large signing bonus demand and he was seen as a hard commit to Clemson. Someone who saved moved on their first selection (Baltimore possibly, or Texas with the Rocker signing) may take a chance on him and throw a shot in the dark offer in the 19th or 20th round
I’m predicting the Sox go after him with their fourth round pick. They did that last year with Fabian.
Yup, this has Bloom written all over it. But there are plenty of other GMs playing the same game. I’m guessing that this is what Texas is doing by drafting Rocker #3. They’ve already banked $2.387M on that move. The positive side is that the Rangers lack a 3rd round pick. That wouldn’t stop them from reaching a deal with Porter despite using the 4th round pick.
Wonder if there is an issue with Rocker’s shoulder considering Boras advised his client to take an under slot deal after he was not signed last year. Hope for his sake the that shoulder is sound. Hope for the Rangers sake that they did not take a reach on a guy that does have issues with his throwing shoulder.
He took an under-slot deal because he doesn’t have any leverage. Rocker sitting out of an MLB development program for another year isn’t going to do himself or Boras any favors in the long term, whether the medicals are good or not. He wasn’t going to sign for nothing of course, but he was also drafted way higher than expected, so in Rocker and Boras’s minds, this is an over-slot deal for them.
Rocker ends up with more money than he would have received from the Mets. Boras gets a higher fee. The Mets used the slot money from last year to increase their draft pool this year, and probably had the strongest draft last night because of it. Rocker and Leiter are reunited, which is a nice story. Everyone’s happy, right? No, everyone’s not happy?
He was rumored to be getting offered $6m last year until they saw his medical records, so he got less this year
For the folks questioning why Rocker signed under-slot, it was probably approximately correct for his expected draft slot. All it means is that the Rangers used their #3 pick for a #10 prospect. And the extra money can be spent on other draft picks.
Yes. There was speculation the Red Sox and Yankees were heavily interested, and they both picked at the back of the first round in the mid-20s. There was also speculation he might fall to the second round. By accepting under slot from the Rangers, he got his client paid more than what he would have received at the backend of the first round, and certainly second round, and even more than he would have gotten from the Mets last year. That was Boras’ goal—getting his client paid, and by extension, getting himself paid!
I don’t know if technically Boras can be called his agent. I know the rules prevent college and high school players from having agents, so they call them advisors. Rocker, since he was no longer in college, may have been free to engage Boras as an agent, as opposed to “advisor,” which would have allowed Boras to be more aggressive in directly contacting teams to get the best deal.
The Mets were going to give you $6 and you took $5.2 to go to a worse team?
I thought the whole point of negotiations was to get your price to go up?
Didn’t the Mets pull the 6mm after the medicals ?
The $6 million dollar offer the Mets and Rocker had in place was prior to the physical. Once the physical was complete and the Mets didn’t feel comfortable, they rescinded the offer and offered the minimum that they could in order to get the compensation pick for this years draft. The 5.2 is more than he would’ve got as a mid first round pick and the Rangers save money on someone they considered as the top player in the class last year (along with Leiter)
It’s like people stop trying… Everyone should read Cagle’s comment.
Who’s Cagle
Someone with a bagel
The Mets pulled the $6m offer. Rocker didn’t turn them down it was the other way around.
Mets had to offer a contract in order to get the comp pick. It just wasn’t the $6MM. So Rocker decline it.
@stmeedone, incorrect. The Mets never made an offer after viewing the medicals.
…and verbal offers are not agreements. If the Mets had made an official contract offer, the two sides could have negotiated. He also wouldn’t share medicals, which means the Mets would have been required to offer him at least 40 percent of his $4.74 million slot value. He did not, so New York did not have to extend any offer. He did fine in the end, as did the Mets.
I bet Carter Stewart (ATL’s 2018 1st rd pick — bonus pulled b/c of medicals) who ended up getting a 6 year/7M contract from the SoftBank Hawks would have jumped at the opportunity that Rocker got, who got less money up-front, but he can stand to make more money through arb until FA, plus playing stateside on a grander stage (MLB) with more marketing opportunities, presumably.
They weren’t gonna give him $6m, they rescinded the offer after his physical. And, from what I read yesterday, their offer after the physical was $0 signing bonus. So the $6m is moot point. U were gonna get 0, u got $5.9m and ur other choice was don’t sign and try ur luck again next year at age 23, when u likely fall to 3rd rd or worse bc of the tumultuous previous 2 yrs
Doesn’t a team have to at least offer something like 40% of the slot value to receive a pick in the next year? So it wasn’t $0. I know ATL did that with Carter Stewart in 2018 when his medicals came back (picked C Shea Langeliers in 2019).
Good to see his decision to bet on himself didn’t bite him in the behind like it did for several other pitchers in the past. Two that come to mind are Matt Harrington and Karsten Whitson. Both were top 10 picks.
Whitson with the Padres decided to turn down the money and go play college ball. He wanted 2.7MM and got offered 2.1 MM Then he wrecked his shoulder and ended up getting drafted late and playing just a single year of rookie ball making FAR less than $2 million.
Harrington was even worse. Although his struggles could definitely be attributed to greedy agents. He was drafted #7 overall by the Rockies and offered the largest bonus in the history of the draft and a guaranteed call up to the bigs, but his agent asked for an additional million and the Rox passed. Next year he was picked by the Padres in the mid second round and was still offered a big bonus ($1.2MM) for that slot, but his new agent, Scott Boras, demanded twice that amount. The Padres declined. So Harrington went the independent league route and was exposed. He was drafted in the 13th round by the Rays and didn’t sign. Next year, the 24th round by the Reds and didn’t sign. The next year, the 36th round by the Yankees and wasn’t offered a contract because of some injury. So he was drafted five times offered multi-million dollars twice and ended up getting nothing except a minimum wage job at a tire store.
For every player that was able to rob the signing team using Boras there is a another victim like Harrington. Maybe not as screwed over but still ended up loosing millions. Jake Arrieta ended up losing at least 52 million alone. Cubs offered 127. He ended up signing with Philly for 75.
Boras gambles with peoples lives or at least future. He’s not the best card player. He sometimes does not know when to fold and take what’s offered.
The thing about Boras is that if he loses with a deal, he just moves on to the next client and really loses nothing. But that client loses everything. That is one big reason why you should ask yourself, how many other clients does your agent work for before signing him in the first place.
The QO penalty is ridiculous. A team gets penalized for wanting to improve themselves. Only in MLB.
I always have and always will hate it. I do believe though it’s gone after this draft.
It’s interesting, because half the people complain about Soto going to a big market team, and half the people complain about the big market teams getting penalized.
I hate the penalty aspect of it. I do think the compensatory picks are a necessity though. But MLB seems to think it cannot add draft picks without taking away draft picks which is just asinine.
Or a free agent is handcuffed by who signs him. I never understood who wins with it
Go ahead and schedule the mandatory Tommy John Surgery for next week so they can get that out of the way. He’s throwing the mandatory 99 miles per hour so it is inevitable. Just get it done.
There’s something about texas stadium globe life field that is so undesirable and its the newest stadium in the league. Maybe it has something to do with Jonah heim
Visually, it’s incredibly bleh both outside and inside – at least on TV. I’m sure there’s a lot of grand room inside, but outside it looks like a Dick’s Sporting Goods and inside it looks like they hired the lighting guy from TB’s Tropicana Field and loaded up on flourescents going out of style. Incredibly artificial looking, almost like the Astro Dome in Arlington without any of the kitschiness. Felt bad that that’s where LAD’s won their itzy-bitsy mini-championship in 2020.
I was excited to go to games in the new stadium, and then very disappointed when fans weren’t allowed during the first season. I went to three games last year, and I just didn’t get the same feeling I got when I went to games at the old ballpark. That feeling, coupled with the $27+ price tag every time I bought my wife and myself a beer, convinced me to not go to any games this season.
It’s a VERY nice building inside. It just doesn’t have the big league atmosphere, IMHO. My wife says it feels like a museum.
Baseball should be played in open air stadiums, even if it is 110 degrees outside. We’re heading to about 107 today.
John and Kumar Rocker go to White Castle should be a web series. They can drive around unscripted and talk pitching, baseball, the state of race relations in America, music, and other tidbits. I’ve already got a call in to some of my network guys. I’ll let everyone know what they say.
Just got Brock porter, in 4th. Hopefully, can get him signed, too. Leiter, rocker, white, porter don’t sound too bad
Great strategy with having less picks and being able to target guys that wouldn’t be able to if Rocker demanded slot value. Never thought he’d be an underslot guy, but great strategy.
Anyone see the rangers grab porter as well? Balls of steel these guys have. Maybe that money saved from rocker can get them porter?
Supposedly it already has, per Levi Weaver, for $3.7 million. As he said, the Rangers wouldn’t have picked him without an agreement in place beforehand, as the Rocker pick is risky enough as is without factoring in more risk that Porter doesn’t even sign.
If that’s true, our system just went up a few rankings. Please be true!
Very smart draft by the Rangers.
Soto has made his decision to not stay in DC
Period. $440 M even w some deferred is a ton and Soto rejecting & Nats saying the terms out to press pissed him off. Superstar on a “ losing rebuilding team” with unknown owners is enough to leave ASAP! I was a NATS fan & follower since they came back to town. Learners destroyed a World Series Team and lost many fans, until new owners come and stop fielding = to AAA team.
Rocker wasted no time lol.
Will rocker play in double or triple A this year. He had a 1:50 era in Indy league (similar to double A) looks pretty good
The Texas Rangers selected Brock Porter in the 4th round. He was projected to go #10 overall. I guess he was committed to Clemson. Who thinks they will be able to sign him? The rangers saved a bunch of money with the Rocker pick. That’s a start…