Day two of the 2026 MLB Draft: The Texas Rangers will be selecting sixteen players today, in Rounds 5 through 20. We will be updating through the day as each selection is made.
As a reminder, if a team selects a player in the first ten rounds, but doesn’t sign the player, they lose the bonus pool money referable to that pick. Thus, the players in the first ten rounds are almost certainly going to sign, and players taken in the back half of the first round are often less-heralded players who will sign for less than the slot value, which allows teams to apply the savings elsewhere (such as, in the case of the Rangers, Brody Bumila, their third round pick who has indicated he’s been offered first round money).
Players taken after the tenth round are less likely to be signed, since a team doesn’t lose any of their bonus pool money if they don’t sign those players. A player taken after the tenth round can sign for up to $150,000 without it counting towards the bonus pool.
5th Round— Michael Anderson Jr., DH/RHP, Penn State.
Ranked #263 on the Baseball America top 500, Anderson is a 6’3”, 230 lb. righthanded hitting and throwing senior who spent two years playing for Rhode Island, then transferred to Arkansas, where he went 0 for 8 in four games. He transferred from Arkansas to Penn State for his senior season, slashing .358/.470/.742 in 232 plate appearances with 20 homers, 23 walks and 30 Ks. He has big power and bat speed, but there are concerns about his ability to make contact and his tendency to chase. Anderson is slow and while he’s played first base in the past, he was just a DH for Penn State this year.
Anderson was announced as a two way player, and pitched in 8 games (8.2 IP) as a freshman for Rhode Island, as well as appearing in two games for Penn State. He’s hit 97 mph on the mound, and when he was in the transfer portal there were some who thought he had more potential on the mound than as a hitter. He presumably will get a chance to work out of the bullpen as well as hitting.
6th Round — Aidan Brainard, RHP, University of Nevada
Brainard is a 6’3”, 210 lb. righthanded senior who played for Northeast Community College in Nebraska and then Regis University in Denver before spending his senior season at Nevada-Reno. Between his junior year at Regis and his senior year at Nevada he put up a 6.77 ERA in 115.2 IP, striking out 125, walking 71, and hitting 22. It would appear that control is something he needs to work on.
Here’s an article about Brainard from Nevada Sports Net. I also noticed he went to high school at Columbine High in Colorado, giving him something in common with Rangers first rounder Gio Rojas.
7th Round — Caden Aoki, RHP, University of Georgia
Aoki is a 6’0”, 185 lb. righthanded throwing pitcher for the University of Georgia. He just finished his fifth year of college ball, having appeared in four games for Notre Dame as a freshman, then been part of the USC starting rotation for three years before transferring to Georgia for his fifth season. In 9 starts and 11 relief appearances for the Bulldogs he logged 86 innings, striking out 110 and walking 27, though also allowing 14 homers.
Here’s a “three things to know” piece from the Athens Banner-Herald about Aoki, who turns 24 later this year. It would appear he has no eligibility remaining, which means he’s almost certainly signing for somewhere in the $10-25K range. He also has a sweet mustache:
8th Round — Kolby Branch, SS, University of Georgia
Branch is a 23 year old, 5’11”, 202 lb. righthanded hitting infielder born in Allen, Texas, who graduated from Lovejoy High School and spent his freshman year at Baylor before transferring to Georgia, where he just finished his senior year. I guess the Rangers are buying Bulldogs in bulk. Branch was #43 on the BA top 100 senior sign list. 5th round pick Anderson, as a point of reference, was #4.
As a senior he slashed .291/.394/.628 in 234 plate appearances, with a whopping 72 Ks and 40 walks. For his college career, he has a .296/.397/.555 slash line.
9th Round — Kaden Carpenter, OF, Utah Valley State
Carpenter is a 6’4”, 225 lb. left handed hitting and throwing outfielder from Provo, Utah, who spent his first three years as a starter for Utah before transferring to Utah Valley State for his senior season. He’s #48 on the BA list of the top senior signs. I’m a big fan of his song “Rainy Days and Mondays.”
Carpenter had his best season as a senior, slashing .338/.467/.706 with 17 homers, 44 walks and 58 Ks in 255 plate appearances. Of course, he also was playing in the WAC, rather than the Pac 12 and then Big 12. His career slash line in college was .308/.421/.554.
10th Round — Evan Morrison, SS, Grand Valley State
Morrison is a 5’11”, 200 lb. lefthanded hitting shortstop who turned 23 in April. He’s from Ontario and was at the University of Waterloo, then McPherson College in Kansas, and then, for the past two seasons, at Grand Valley State, part of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, which includes such powerhouses as Davenport, Wayne State, and Wisconsin-Parkside.
As a senior, Morrison slashed .410/.476/.590 with, according to B-R, 28 walks against 7 strikeouts in 288 plate appearances, and was 27 for 35 on stolen base attempts. He’s also pitched in the past. He did not make the B-R top 100 senior sign list, and is probably a guy getting a $10K signing bonus and who will be plugged in to play whatever position is needed wherever they need somebody.
Kyle Schwarber
Junior Caminero
Munataka Murakami
Jac Caglianone
Jordan Walker
Ben Rice
Willson Contreras
Cal Raleigh
Teoscar Hernandez
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Juan Soto
Pete Alonso
Giancarlo Stanton
