New Mexico

New Mexico State’s Jack Turner taken in 10th round of 2026 MLB Draft

Published

4 weeks ago

July 12, 2026

Press Room

New Mexico State’s Jack Turner taken in 10th round of 2026 MLB Draft

Turner was selected by the Detroit Tigers

New Mexico State pitcher Jack Turner has been taken in the 10th round of the 2026 MLB Draft by the Detroit Tigers.

Turner becomes the 14th Aggie player selected in the MLB Draft since 2015 and the eighth selected in the first 10 rounds. The most recent NM State players selected in the MLB Draft prior to Turner were outfielders Keith Jones II, a 10th-round pick by the Texas Rangers, and Titus Dumitru, a 16th-round pick by the Atlanta Braves, both in 2024.

Turner spent the 2025 and 2026 seasons with the Aggies after arriving from Suffolk County Community College (New York), where he was a 2024 NJCAA Division III First Team All-American. He made 24 pitching appearances, 17 being starts, and recorded a 6.15 ERA over those two years. Turner struck out 100 batters in 112.2 innings pitched across 2025 and 2026 and made one save in 2026.

He ended his NM State run on a high note by not allowing a run in the Aggies’ penultimate game of 2026 against Florida International on May 15. Turner struck out five batters that day and allowed only three hits in six innings to help NM State win 6-5.

Turner played for the Trenton Thunder and the State College Spikes, collegiate summer league baseball teams playing in the MLB Draft League, after leaving the Aggies. He recorded a 4.09 ERA with the Thunder and a 5.14 ERA with the Spikes.

Turner made eight pitching appearances for Trenton and struck out 17 batters, allowed only five earned runs and walked eight batters in 11 innings pitched. He started two games for State College, striking out five batters, allowing four earned runs and registering a 1.114 WHIP in seven innings pitched.

Turner received recognition after his first start for the Spikes on June 3 after pitching a sinker and a sweeping curve that each had over a foot of horizontal movement.

Turner becomes the seventh NM State player to be selected by Detroit in the MLB Draft, the first being former NM State AD Mario Moccia in the 44th round of the 1989 draft. The most recent was pitcher Ryan Beck in the 30th round of the 2013 draft.

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New Mexico

New Mexico House Speaker urges Doña Ana commissioners to appoint interim HD 37 replacement

Published

11 hours ago

August 7, 2026

Press Room

New Mexico House Speaker urges Doña Ana commissioners to appoint interim HD 37 replacement

DONA ANA COUNTY, N.M. (KFOX14/CBS4) — New Mexico House Speaker Javier Martínez is urging the Doña Ana County Commission to appoint an interim replacement for House District 37 after the retirement of longtime Rep. Joanne Ferrary, arguing that leaving the seat vacant would deny residents representation for the rest of the year.

In a letter to the commission on Friday, Martínez, a Democrat from Albuquerque, said the commissioners have a legal duty under New Mexico law to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term.

He said the letter was prompted by House Republican Leader Gail Armstrong’s push for the commission to leave the seat unfilled, which Martínez said would leave House District 37 residents without representation.

“Leader Armstrong’s letter fundamentally conflates two separate matters: the county commission filling an immediate vacancy within an unexpired legislative term and the voters of House District 37 duly electing their representative for the next two years,” Martínez said. “The Commission is in no way being asked to determine who will represent the district in the long term. That decision remains, as it always has, with voters this November.”

Martínez also rejected Armstrong’s assertion that filling the vacancy would undermine voters in the upcoming election, saying the appointment process is meant to ensure continuity of representation rather than serve campaign considerations.

“Rather than speculating about hypothetical electoral advantages or campaign strategy, the Commission’s responsibility today is to fulfill its duties, outlined in New Mexico law, to preserve proper representation for the district,” Martínez said. “The process for filling vacancies remains the same regardless of which party currently holds the seat or which party may benefit from filling it.”

In a statement to KFOX14/CBS4 on Friday, Armstrong disputed Martínez’s argument, stating, “Speaker Martinez is trying to blur an important distinction to provide cover for a partisan political maneuver. None of the Republican examples he cites involved appointing a party’s already-selected nominee in the middle of a contested general election. The Commission has a responsibility to address legislative vacancies, but there is no constitutional deadline requiring an appointment now. With Election Day this close, there is no justification for manufacturing an incumbent and tipping the scales in favor of one candidate.

Armstrong added, “He may hope voters will not recognize the difference, but the people of House District 37 are smarter than that. Let the voters decide who represents them in November.”

Martínez said that because voters in House District 37 elected a Democrat in the last election and have consistently elected Democratic representatives since 2014, the district should receive continuity in the representation voters chose as the commission selects an interim lawmaker to serve out the current term.

In the letter, Martínez also pointed to recent legislative vacancies left by Republicans in Senate District 33, House District 3 and House District 59, saying county commissioners filled those seats with appointees from the same party as the departing lawmakers, and those appointees later chose to run for election.

“Those appointments followed the same process Representative Armstrong is now criticizing,” Martínez said. “If the state’s appointment process is appropriate for filling Republican vacancies, it is equally appropriate for filling the current Democratic vacancy.”

Martínez also said the appointment process does not change the outcome of the next election.

“The reality remains that the voters of House District 37 will choose their representative for the next legislative term this November,” Martínez said. “Nothing currently before the Commission alters that fundamental democratic principle.”

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