The Rangers have signed Australian outfielder Todd McDonald for $475,000, the largest bonus of the 2012-13 international signing period for an Australian hitter.

Scouts described McDonald, 17, as one of the toolsier players in Australia. At 6-foot-3, 185 pounds, McDonald is athletic, has excellent plate discipline and a line-drive stroke from the left side. Scouts were mixed on his power, with some saying he's more of a gap power guy, but he's shown he can go over the fences in games. He projects as a corner outfielder with an average arm.

McDonald, who recently traveled to the Dominican Republic and worked out there for the Rangers, dominated at Australia's 18U National Championship last month. He hit .432/.519/.750 in 54 plate appearances over 12 games for Queensland, won the tournament's "Golden Bat" award and made the all-star team after ranking first in total bases.

The Rangers have been relatively quiet during the current international signing period. They signed Dominican outfielder Jairo Beras for $4.5 million last year on Feb. 29, but Major League Baseball did not announce its decision on whether it would approve Beras' contract until July 12, at which point several of the top 16-year-old players who became eligible to sign on July 2 were already off the board. They did sign Juremi Profar, the younger brother of Jurickson Profar, to a $150,000 bonus, but they otherwise have the majority of their $2.9 million international bonus pool still available.

Lefthander Lewis Thorpe, who signed with the Twins for $500,000 in July, was the biggest Australian signing of the current international signing period.