Rangers make 51 selections in 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft

Arlington, Texas – The Texas Rangers selected 20 players today in the final day of the 2011 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, which included rounds 31 through 50.

Overall in this year’s draft, the Rangers selected 51 players. The 51 players include 31 pitchers (22 right-handed, 9 left-handed), 11 outfielders, 6 infielders, and 3 catchers. Texas selected 27 college players and made 24 high school picks. Some notable Rangers picks on the final day of the draft:

• Selected outfielder Johnathan Taylor out of the University of Georgia in the 33rd round. Taylor suffered partial paralysis in a Georgia game on March 6 and was a teammate of the Rangers’ supplemental first round selection in this year’s draft, outfielder Zach Cone.
• In the 43rd round, club selected Texas Christian University right-handed pitcher Kaleb Merck, a native of Keller, Texas in the DFW area.
• Selected left-handed pitcher Brandon Finnegan in the 45th round out of Fort Worth’s Southwest High School. Finnegan is committed to TCU.