Rangers manager Bruce Bochy informed the club’s beat that outfielder Wyatt Langford has made the team, with Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News among those to pass it along. He will need to have his contract selected but the club has several players who could be added to the 60-day injured list in order to open a roster spot.
The ascent of Langford, 22, is truly remarkable. He was just drafted last summer, going fourth overall to the Rangers after hitting .363/.471/.746 in college ball. After his draft, the Rangers put him to work right away and he tore through minor league pitching. He played three Complex League games, 24 in High-A, 12 in Double-A and five in Triple-A. He took a combined 200 plate appearances over those levels and walked more than he struck out, 36 free passes to 34 punchouts. He hit 10 home runs and slashed .360/.480/677 for a wRC+ of 199, stealing 12 bases along the way.
He was invited to major league camp, despite having just a few months of professional experience. He just kept on mashing, with six home runs in 56 plate appearances and a batting line of .388/.446/.796. After that non-stop onslaught of offense, he’ll get to break camp with the defending World Series champions.
If there’s a question about Langford, it’s his defense, which will make it interesting to see how the Rangers utilize him. The club has Leody Taveras as their everyday center fielder with Adolis García and Evan Carter the top options for the corners. That could leave Langford primed to see plenty of time as the designated hitter, which wouldn’t be ideal for his development, but perhaps he can rotate through the corners as well with Carter and García taking turning DHing.
The latest collective bargaining agreement contains incentives for clubs to carry top prospects on their Opening Day rosters, which are in play if a player is on two of the top 100 lists at MLB.com, ESPN or Baseball America. A qualified player can earn his club an extra draft pick by winning Rookie of the Year or by finishing in the top three in voting for MVP or Cy Young.
Langford is in the top six for each of those aforementioned prospect lists, making him easily qualified. If he meets any of those awards criteria, he’ll net the Rangers an extra draft pick just after the first round in the future.
This promotion will also put him on track for free agency one year earlier than if he had debuted midway through the season. If he isn’t optioned to the minors for a significant stretch of time at some point, he’ll get to six years of major league service time after the 2029 season, going into his age-28 campaign.
Earned it
UF kid is going to rake.
Took a flier on my Fantasy team…. think I got a steal
I got him in the 15-20th rounds. It’s really paying off.
Did this even need an article? Hes already a top 10 hitter and he hasn’t even played a single mlb game yet
Yes. It’s confirmation of his awesomeness. Why did you comment if you don’t care?
Yes. It wasn’t a slam dunk despite his solid spring and pedigree. You ideally don’t want such a young player at DH. With the outfield set, where else will he play? And you certainly wouldn’t want him riding the bench.But I guess he will be at DH most of the time.
they have already said they will rotate the outfield into the DH spot so as to get everybody off their feet. Carter can play all 3 positions above average.
You don’t DH 21-23 year olds on the regular.
A youngster with the offensive ceiling of Langford doesn’t need defensive innings he needs AB’s. If he’s truly hungry he’ll make himself a legit OF corner/1B option.
I can see Garcia getting more time at DH. Especially at the beginning of the season..
Don’t be surprised if Taveras is moved before the TDL. I think they want to give Carter a little more time in the OF before they move him to center full time.
Rather have max Clark
Found Scott Harris’ burner
I’ll bet you anything
Langford is 10x as good as Clark is. There’s a reason Langford just made the opening day roster for a good team and Clark is in the minors for a bad team.
Your argument makes zero sense. Clark is in the minors because he’s 19 and has 107 PA in pro ball. Langford is 22 and has had 610 PA in college. Much easier to fast track a 22 year old with a good amount of NCAA PA. As for Clark being on a bad team, it makes sense that he would be considering he was drafted so high. Langford not being on a bad team who drafted 4th overall is an anomaly, not the norm. You’re making a pretty bold declaration despite probably never having seen Max Clark play.
Regardless, comparing the two in the present makes no sense considering they’re at two completely different points in their careers.
“bad team” HAHA. That is what they said about the preseason 2023 Rangers(who didn’t have the tigers pitching”
It’s called he is younger So he needs a little bit of development Langford is most definitely not 10 times Better than max Clark you Must be on something Also Tigers are not a bad team at all I Guarantee you they are gonna be solid this year At least Clark aint gonna be a useless DH He will be a much more Valuable player Actually playing defense Stealing base’s ect Guy So have fun with a Maybe 3 Tool player
This was a dumb comment. Most players who went in the 5 picks the previous season don’t end up playing for a team to won the World Series the same year they were drafted. It’s an uncommon situation.
The rangers are a win now team so they feel no need to hold him back.
This is how Scott Harris outsmarted himself with his “I’m the smartest man in the room” syndrome when actually he’s one of the worst MLB executives ever. How do you pass on a sure fire MLB hitter for a prospective high school player who likely will become Derek Hill 2.0. Of course his reasoning will be the Tigers had no room for Langford because of Greene, Tork, Carpenter and Keith and they can wait another 6 years for Clark. What BS and the reason the Tigers will continue to stink
@Jay Was Derek Hill throwing 97 while pitching in High School?? Clark was and he’s a CF. His scouting grades are almost across the board better than Hill’s. Hill was higher for speed and that’s it.
Personally I’d have preferred Tigers take Langford, but Clark by no means was a bad pick and very easily could become the better player when it is all said and done.
Why are we so sure Langford is a surefire MLB hitter? You know who else was supposed to be? All these #1 overall picks: Delmon Young, Jeff Burroughs, Mickey Moniak, Tim Beckham, Matt Bush, Shawn Abner, etc.
Let’s at least see the dude play in the big leagues before anointing him with a Hall of Fame plaque.
I’m all for being hopeful, but we’ve learned time and time again that beating up on AAAA or sometimes even lesser guys in spring training means nothing. Delmon Young had even BETTER AA showing than Langford (when you combine offensive stats and defensive performance), then turned into a solid but unspectacular pro.
I’m not saying Langford won’t be a star and/or Max Clark will, rather I’m saying let’s allow these guys to develop and play in the bigs before arguing over who the better draft pick was… There is a reason Max Clark went third overall, and that’s because his ceiling is basically Corbin Carroll reincarnated. Give these guys some time! (2nd paragraph not directed at you, deGrom/Langford, btw)
Jeff Burroughs?? He had a 16yr career with a wRC+ of 121 (meaning he was 21% better than league average). And you dont think he was a “MLB hitter”…
I mixed up Jeff and Sean Burroughs, so you can just remove that one from the list. My bad.
But despite that, my point is NOT that all of those guys listed weren’t major league hitters (Young certainly was and Beckham had his moments), just that they didn’t live up to the absurd hype they received just like Langford is getting now. Surefire MLB hitter should have an extra adjective: dominant
That makes sense. Jeff went 1/1 and debuted at age 19, so he fit criteria in that regard. But having an AL MVP on that list most certainly didnt.
Yeah, I think Rangers fans would happily take a career 121 wRC+ out of Langford.
None of your examples hit like Langford has in the minors, is a pretty important thing to talk about. That said as a Rangers fan I’m also in the “wait and see how good he is in the majors” group – very excited for this year
Wow. you are dumb
Jayheck…check back in a few years when Clark and Langford have both played in MLB. No one can tell who is better at this point because neither one has EVER played in MLB yet. I was one of the people who was initially pissed that they didn’t take Langford but the more I looked at Clark the more I saw Kirk Gibson with more speed. Melchez compares Langford to Jim Rice and he certainly has the makings of a great player too. I think they will both be great players personally, but very different players. Plus no Clark, no McGonigle and he is going to hit so I’m good with what they did.
As for the Harris hating he has a GM now and since Greenberg came on hoard I have not seen one move I disliked. Before that I liked more of Harris’ moves than I hated. He has built the number 5 ranked minor league system in a short time with great drafting and small trades (Leonard, Dickerson). You are in the minority in your opinion about Harris.
@Motor City I to was kind of pissed they didn’t take Langford. Even if all works out in the end I think it was a bad decision by Harris. With baseball projecting future talent is often tricky and drafting a 21 yr old over an 18 year old is far safer. With Tigers being in rebuild 2.0 with Harris trying to pick up where Avila failed I find the choice to be to way to risky.
You are right though only time will tell on this one. Like I said though, I just don’t think Tigers were in the position to take the risk on this one. Rangers are actually much more ideal for being in a position for higher risk. Instead a win now team had a near MLB ready talent fall into their lap that could almost immediately contribute and in an excellent situation for him to thrive in that lineup.
I agree it was risky. You’re not wrong there. Hopefully it works out.
MVP Rookie year he’s that great at hitting.
It would certainly be fun if you’re correct. I have my doubts about a rookie DH getting enough votes unless he is soon much
He’s going to play the field a lot as well
It would certainly be fun if you’re correct. I have my doubts about a rookie DH getting enough votes unless he is sooooo much better than the rest of the league. Sorry, mobile fat thumb hit submit early
Kid does nothing but rake since the day he was born
Let’s not get carried away now. Better than Trout? How soon we forget!
The guy trusts in Bauer, no need to read his takes
Woohoo‼️
Probly gets an 8-9 yr extension soon like chourio
16 year 320
He’s on track to be a free agent at 28. He should let the year play out before signing a deal which I’m not against.
TEX trying to lock up that incentive to rostering ROY on OD roster, now with Carter/Langford as prime candidates.
whats the rule again? if you roster the eventual ROY winner you get a late 1st pick? you get something too if they finish 2nd or 3rd right?
Only win ROY or finish 2nd. End of 1st round pick.
And then all the usual prospect-haters will be on here telling us what a big mistake the Rangers are making. Lol
Remember, Evan Carter is also a rookie. They could battle it out for ROY.
Honestly right now I think Carter is better than Langford. Plus he is playing the field and Langford likely will not, which will help his ROTY chances.
Carter has shown he can succeed on the biggest stage in MLB. Langford hasn’t yet.
I’m more sold on Langford than Carter, only because I haven’t seen Carter hit lefties yet. there’s a reason Grossman was playing for him last year. super talented. I don’t want to take anything away from the kid, but he needs to improve in that regard.
All around? Carter might be better, but offensively Langford is everything Carter is plus 70 power. Don’t forget that Langford is actually older than Carter because of his time in college, so developmentally they’re not that far off.
It’s like Fred Lynn and Jim Rice in 1975.
Lang-Carter… Yikes.
I haven’t been here that long but he’s definitely a top 10 whiner on this site and climbing up fast.
I thought he got wasted on the last season of Ozark…
…I mean, you shack up with an opium dealer’s elderly widow sitting on a bed of poppies wanted by a Mexican cartel — you’re not getting a spin-off series.
“If you wanna stop me, you’re gonna have to KILL ME!!!!” Ruth Langmore
Great show but a very disappointing finale
the end of part 1 of the last season should have been it, but Netflix wanted to squeeze every. last. drop out of one of the few hits they have. Go figure.
Would become a Phillies fan for another season of Mindhunter.
I didn’t mind the second half of the season. What bothered me was the decision to kill a certain character while another got to live. I think you know which two I’m talking about
17th round keeper, lets goooooo!
I did draft him in my fantasy league yay
The Rangers are doing the right thing while Baltimore is keeping Holliday in the minors for what. He is just as ready.. Perhaps they value another year of team control over a possible extra draft pick.
Exactly. Furious at a B’more for sending Holliday down..the draft pick would only be 30-35, but Gunnar Henderson was 32 IIRC.
Now ROY is Carter’s for the taking, grrr
Even though I’m not a Rangers fan after losing to them in the WS, I still enjoy seeing the young players they have play. Good for them, good for baseball.
Good move. And this is how you build an even more loyal fanbase. Promote your prospects when they’re ready.
That means he got about the same return for Rodriguez that Avila got for trading JD Martinez and Justin Upton, nothing. Manning was outperformed by Olsen and Mize this spring. Not sure why you think it was such a mistake. Most metrics have Hinch as an above average manager. You might need another ouiji board.
the kid has definitely earned it. we’re gonna need every run we can get until some pitchers come back.
Rangers may end up with 3 rookies in the opening day lineup… Langford Carter and Foscue/Crim
I love Evan Carter, but they seemed to hide him from LHP (just 11 PA: 0-10, 1 BB). Langford should start against lefties for sure.
Carter made it a point to work on his hitting against LHP in the offseason and he’s been very good so far this spring. Will that carry over to the regular season? We’ll have to see.
Carter can play center, moving over so that Langford can play lett occasionally. I’But still, I’d be a little concerned that they are rushing Wyatt. I get that he keeps mashing, but a total of 200 AB’s is a small sample size.
Scottie Harris didn’t know what he could have had.
Color me shocked, but I told you all 8 months ago. Remember the name.
IMO don’t the Rangers have someone else to DH and would Rangers trade Taveras for someone in the BP for Wyatt can be in OF full-time
Color me shocked that no one remembers briar patch thatcher and their daring predictions.
wow, we have a tough guy.
Is that another daring prediction? You’re on a roll!
Hearing the in-game interview with Lorenzen was great. Mad respect for his candid responses and how he handled his unexpected offseason. Definitely a guy to root for. Hope he has a great season.
Adding Colt tobthwb40 & 25 before necessary instead signing a tradable.
Looking forward to seeing the young guys Jung, Carter and Langford for a full year!
His numbers so far in the minors and spring training are absurd video game like stats. I’m always shocked when a guy is SOO ML ready and isn’t picked sooner. I suppose in this case 4th with Skenes and Crews (and Clark… maybe) isn’t that outrageous but still… wow
As a Tiger fan you knew this was coming that was the projection for him. Now if he was a first baseman I’d be howling too. I think Harris probably figured he’s stuck with Javy for the full term. I pray the owner cut’s Javy next year. Javy, Canha, and Gio is not something I’m looking at enjoying watching this year.
Go Gators!!!
Nothing bad to say about Fetter?
Aka Luke A, lol
I see him putting up Pujols rookie numbers this year.