6th Round pick awaits first pro assignment
Caden Scarborough, just months after throwing his final pitch as a Harmony Longhorn, is officially a Texas Ranger.
Scarborough, who was selected in the sixth round of the 2023 Major League Baseball draft earlier this month, agreed to terms late last week with the Rangers. MLB.com confirmed that the Rangers signed Scarborough to an over-slot-deal; his $515,000 signing bonus exceeded the $339,400 bonus guideline for the sixth-round pick. He had also signed a scholarship with Dallas Baptist University, but that will wait.
Reached by phone Wednesday night, Scarborough said Rangers have not yet told him where, when, or at what level he would start his professional career at but added that he “was super excited about starting my professional career.”
“It’s been a pretty crazy couple of weeks, but now that is over I am happy to be a Texas Ranger and anxious to begin my professional journey,” Scarborough said.
The Rangers' Class A teams are located in Kinston, N.C. (Down East Wood Ducks, Carolina League) and Hickory, N.C.(Hickory Crawdads, South Atlantic League) and its Rookie-level Arizona Complex League is in Surprise; that level is a common landing spot for players without college experience.
Injured for part of his junior season in 2022, Scarborough originally committed to Hillsborough State College. But his stock rose significantly during a senior season, when he struck out 70 strikeouts in 38.1 innings. He was the News-Gazette’s Player of the Year – in both baseball and basketball.
Scarborough gained further notice with his performance at the FHSAA All-Star game in Lakeland, where he faced the best high school seniors in the state and struck out four batters in two innings. The San Diego Padres then flew him out to Petco Park for a private workout, where he reportedly struck out several college players that were also brought in for draft evaluations.
With the option to play college baseball, it appears the Rangers made Scarborough a priority to sign early. He was the second of the Rangers’ 18 draft picks to reach an agreement behind only first rounder Wyatt Langford (Florida Gators, $7.69 million bonus).
Harmony coach Heath Williams told the Gazette after the draft that, “As a pitcher, Caden has ‘swing and miss’ stuff and that’s something that major league teams are always looking for. On top of that, he is one of the most focused athletes I have ever met. He sets goals and then works his tail off to get there.”
Scarborough is the highest draft pick from the county since Osceola’s Edwin Rios was also selected in the sixth round by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2015 MLB draft out of Florida International University. Rios made his Major League Debut with the Dodgers in 2019 and is currently playing AAA baseball for Indianapolis in the Chicago Cubs organization. Fellow Osceola High alum Alex Burgos, a lefthanded pitcher, was taken in the 5th round by the Detroit Tigers out of State College of Florida-Manatee in 2010. He pitched in the Tigers, Marlins and Dodgers organizations and briefly reached AAA.
Editor Ken Jackson contributed to this report.
