Texas Rangers MLB Draft Recap – Round 1

The Texas Rangers returned to the offensive pool with their two first selections Monday in Major League Baseballs 2012 First-Year Player Draft.

The Rangers added a pair of potential power hitters to the farm-system when they selected high-school outfielder Lewis Brinson and third baseman Joey Gallo.

Brinson is a 6-foot-4 center fielder from Coral Springs (Fla.) High who was with the 29th overall pick. Gallo was the 39th overall pick out of Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas and was the Nevada High School Player of the Year.

Brinson hit .408 with 12 extra-base hits in 71 at-bats this season. He is considered by some scouts to be a ‘boom-or-bust’ or ‘toolsy’ player who needs refinement to his game.

He won a home-run derby in a prospects game at Chicago’s Wrigley Field last summer.

Brinson’s selection marked the sixth time in the last seven years that the Rangers took a high-school player with their first choice.

Gallo was rated as the 23^rd-best prospect in the draft according to Baseball America’s Jim Callis. He hit .509 with 21 home runs and 80 RBI in 43 games last year, and set the Nevada state high school record for career home runs with 65.

MLB Network's Greg Amsinger called Gallo the "most feared power hitter in all of high school baseball, and arguably in all of this draft."

Brinson has a scholarship to the University of Florida, and Gallo has one waiting for him at LSU. The Rangers still expect to sign both.

With their third selection the Rangers used the 53rd overall pick to draft Collin Wiles, a 6-foot-4 right-handed pitcher from Overland Park who was the Kansas High School Player of the Year in 2012. He was 8-0 with a 0.10 ERA while striking out 76 in 49 1/3 innings. He has a scholarship to Vanderbilt.