Arlington, Texas — The Texas Rangers tonight selected shortstop Gavin Fien from Great Oak (Calif.) High School in the first round (12th overall) of the 2025 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
The 18-year-old Fien (pronounced ‘FEEN’) hit .358 (34-95) with 5 home runs, one triple, 6 doubles, 16 RBI, 24 runs, 8 stolen bases, and more walks (11) than strikeouts (9) in 30 games as a senior for Great Oak this spring. Over 4 varsity seasons with the Wolfpack from 2022-25, the right-handed hitter and thrower slashed .378/.451/.633/1.084 (108-286) with 12 home runs, 4 triples, 29 doubles, and 65 RBI across 91 games.
The Temecula, Calif. native was also a standout on the 2024 USA Baseball 18U National Team, which went a perfect 8-0 en route to a gold medal in the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier last summer. Fien started all eight games and hit .400 with 11 RBI and a 1.109 OPS during the tournament.
Fien, a University of Texas commit, is the highest draft selection in Great Oak school history and joins his brother, Dylan, among the 11 players drafted from the program. Dylan was selected in the 7th round of the 2024 MLB Draft by the Athletics.
The Rangers have selected a high school player with the club’s first pick for the first time since 2018, when Texas drafted right-handed pitcher Cole Winn with the 15th overall pick from Orange Lutheran (Calif.) High School.
The 2025 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continues tonight with a total of 105 selections expected to be made through the Third Round Compensation Pick. The Rangers are scheduled to have two more selections tonight: pick no. 52 at 8:15 p.m. CT (second round) and no. 84 at 8:45 p.m. CT (third round; all times are approximate). The Draft will continue tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. CT with rounds 4-20, concluding at approximately 7:00 p.m. CT. The club will have pick no. 115 overall in the fourth round, no. 146 in the fifth round, and will then select 10th in each of rounds 6-20 to finish the draft.
– RANGERS –