Newberg Report Mailbag: June 2026.

The draft and the trade deadline are bearing in. We focus this Q&A accordingly.

The onslaught of questions submitted for this long-overdue mailbag included some great ones concerning player leadership on the Rangers roster, the Malcolm Moore breakout, what happens when Jordan Montgomery and Cody Bradford are ready, a couple 2025 draft picks who are really rolling, catcher framing, and plenty more that I was geared up to tackle as they came in.

But so many of you wanted to talk about July and August — specifically the July 11-12 draft and the August 3 trade deadline — that I couldn’t bear to cut more than a few of your really great questions in those two extremely important (and extremely imminent) categories. So this entire mailbag is devoted to the draft and the trade market.

Let’s get to the nine of your standalone and bundled questions that I chose — starting with one that checks in on how the Rangers might approach both the draft (less than three weeks away) and the trade deadline (less than six weeks away).

Note: Some questions have been edited lightly for length and clarity.

Taylor Empkey: I want to see the team become more athletic, as you’ve said. However, we need more bat-to-ball, hitterish dudes on the big club and the system as well. With the upcoming draft and deadline, if you’re calling the shots for this team, how are you managing that tension in the players you’re targeting? Do you personally lean one over the other?