Former Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford signed a contract with the Texas Rangers for $8 million on Monday, according to Jim Callis of MLB.com.
Langford’s deal is the seventh most lucrative of all time at publishing time, but Dylan Crews could end up moving him down to the No. 8 spot once he signs. Former LSU Tiger (and Crews’ teammate) Paul Skenes broke the record set by Arizona State’s Spencer Torkelson (Detroit) in 2020. Texas went $302,000 over the slot value to sign Langford.
It’s also the biggest deal for any Gator, eclipsing Jonathan India’s $5.3 million signing bonus for going fifth overall in the 2018 draft.
It will be a while before Langford makes his MLB debut, though. The Rangers will have more than half a decade of control over Langford for that lofty check. He’ll receive his first assignment shortly, either joining the rookie ball team at the Rangers’ spring training complex or starting off in A-ball.
Either way, the quickest fans can expect him to make it to double-A is in next year, and that would require a strong performance early on in the minors. That puts Langford’s expected MLB arrival somewhere around 2025 or early 2026.
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Story originally appeared on Gators Wire