Texas Rangers sign top pick in recent draft

Jul. 19—ARLINGTON — The Texas Rangers and Kumar Rocker, the clubs first round pick (third overall) in this week's Major League Baseball Draft, have agreed to terms on a deal that will pay Rocker a $5.2 million bonus, according to several national media reports, including the New York Post.

Rocker, 22, a right-handed pitcher who played collegiatly at Vanderbilt, most recently was playing for the Tri-City Valley Cats (Troy, NY) in the independent Frontier League.

In 2021 Rocker was drafted in the first round — 10th overall pick — by the New York Mets, but medical issues arose before a contract could be signed.

Rocker opted to have arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder late last summer. He then decided to forego returning to Vanderbilt for what would have been his senior season and instead joined Tri-City.

In 20 innings of work at Tri-City he posted a 1.25 earned run average. Scouting reports indicated that his fast ball topped out at 99 miles per hour. He also throws a formidable slider.