re: Tigers(31-27) vs. Rangers(34-26) 13-7 Final |Hanging Curve Edition|

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The scoop The Rangers often go heavy on pitching in the first round, but veered toward position players early last year. They had four of the first 49 picks in the 2010 draft and took three position players: outfielder Jake Skole, catcher Kelly Deglan and third baseman Mike Olt. The Rangers may be leaning toward restocking the system with more offense to balance out their pitching. But if they go for some college power pitchers, they could be interested in right-hander Anthony Meo of Coastal Carolina and left-handers Josh Osich from Oregon State and Chris Reed of Stanford. Two high school pitchers to watch are left-hander Henry Owens from Florida and right-hander Robert Stephenson from California.

First-round buzz The Rangers, with their new ownership, could be in a position to take a player who slips in the draft due to signability issues. The player to watch is Dallas Jesuit Prepatory outfielder Josh Bell, who is represented by Boras. He is a gifted athlete with power. Two other high school players who could drop here are catcher Blake Swihart from New Mexico and outfielder Brandon Nimmo from Wyoming.

Shopping list The Rangers, in the past few years, have an affinity for 1) power pitchers; 2) gifted athletes who can play up the middle at catcher, shortstop and center field; 3.) power-hitting corner infielders. They could use more offensive firepower in their system, and some college outfield bats that could help are Mikie Mahtook of LSU, George Springer from Connecticut and Jackie Bradley from South Carolina. There are also Vanderbilt third baseman Jason Esposito, USC first baseman Ricky Oropesa and Utah first baseman C.J. Cron as players to watch.

Trend watch The Rangers like to take players from Texas, but some of the best will likely be gone when they draft at 33: Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon and Texas pitcher Taylor Jungman. One possibility might be Texas A&M reliever John Stilson.

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