Rangers' Draft Updates

Draft day has arrived, and the Rangers have taken pitchers with four of their first five picks. Here's a quick review of who they've taken so far:

Pick #17 - Blake Beaven, RHP, Irving HS

Pick #24 - Michael Main, RHP, Deland HS

Pick #35 - Julio Borbon, CF, Tennessee

Pick #44 - Neil Ramirez, RHP, Kempsville HS

Pick #54 - Raymond Hunter, RHP, Alabama

Pick #80 - Matt West, SS, Bellaire HS

Two rounds are in the books, with some major surprises coming down. Here's a few miscellaneous thoughts on what's happened so far:

• Beaven and Main seem to be getting praise as good, solid picks. Borbon would have been a disaster at #17 or #24, but he's tolerable at #35 considering that he was projected as a first round talent, despite his offensive concerns. Neil Ramirez sounds like a bit of a project, but with major upside. I have nothing on Hunter, although Evan Grant compares him to Jonathan Broxton on the DMN blog.
• Detroit's starting pitching is now even further loaded with their pick of Rick Porcello at #27, who was widely considered the top high school pitcher in this draft. Obviously, general manager Dave Dombrowski isn't afraid of the huge signing bonus that Porcello will command with Scott Boras as his agent. With the Tigers picking up even more young pitching talent in the draft, they may be even more willing to sacrifice pitching prospects in return for Aki or Gagne.
• Matt Harvey, who was considered a top-10 pitching talent, has yet to be selected after 67 picks, and seems to be headed to college at this point and thusly unsignable. He is also represented by Boras, and his signability issues seem to have scared teams completely away.

More draft coverage forthcoming as Texas prepares for their second round pick...