The FOX Sports 26-and-under power rankings are a new spin on the classic prospect rankings. Yes, prospects are important, but with all the game-changing young talent already in the bigs, farm systems alone can’t tell the whole story. So we’re diving deep into every single MLB club, ranking them all by the players in an organization entering their age-26 season or younger — from the bigs to the farm. Each weekday through March 24, we’ll count down from last to first.
No. 26 Texas Rangers
26-and-under total score: 12
Ardent Rangers fans who have followed the team since the early 2000s might remember “DVD,” three letters that represented the franchise’s foray into the future.
Prospects John Danks, Edinson Vólquez and Thomas Diamond — “D-V-D” — were supposed to guide the club forward, offering hope for an eventual rotation of homegrown stars. But, like an actual DVD, the most highly anticipated pitching prospect trio in Rangers history was not built to last.
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Danks was traded to the White Sox. Diamond never fully bounced back from Tommy John surgery and never pitched for the Rangers. Vólquez did, but he did his best work outside of Texas and finished his 15-year career as a 5.9-WAR player. His primary contribution to the franchise, of course, was bringing Josh Hamilton from Cincinnati to Texas in a trade.
All that to say, top prospects can help replenish talent and keep a franchise competitive over the long haul, but they don’t always guarantee major-league success. It’s for that reason the Rangers — despite their clear upward trajectory, their positioning in the top 10 of most farm system rankings and their future starting to look bright once again — find themselves toward the back third of these rankings.
The promise is there; the established major-league production of their players 26 and under is not.
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“I’m very optimistic about the depth and the quality of players we have in our [player development] system,” general manager Chris Young told FOX Sports this week. “That said, they’re still in the development stages. We can’t perfectly predict when they’re going to come and who’s going to reach what level, but nonetheless, we like the group we have.”
With six players in MLB Pipeline’s top-100 prospect rankings, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Rangers rise up this list in the coming years. That vision was at least part of Young’s pitch to incoming manager Bruce Bochy.
“It all ties into it,” Young said. “We’re building a winning organization that can sustain success, and the goal is to not only accelerate that at the big-league level but to maintain that through our player development system and the pipeline of talent. It’s what the best organizations have done, and we certainly strive to do the same.”
Big-league position players: 4 (out of 10)
While the Rangers completely overhauled their rotation, they didn’t do much to address an offense that ranked in the league’s bottom half last season. That should mean more opportunities to evaluate their bevy of young position players.
The downside? All of Josh Jung, Leody Taveras, Ezequiel Durán, Bubba Thompson, Sam Huff and Josh Smith produced below-league-average numbers in limited action last season. At least a couple players from that group will need to take a sizable leap forward offensively, showcasing more than speed and defense, for the Rangers to contend the way they hope.
Jung, the top prospect of the group, has the highest ceiling and plenty of opportunity ahead, despite his struggles in his first taste of major-league action after working his way back from a torn labrum. The 2019 top pick struck out 39 times in 102 plate appearances, but Young anticipates an offseason of preparation instead of rehab should help unlock his potential at third base.
“When you’re going through rehab, it’s different than when you can fully train and push yourself,” Young said. “I think now doing it against the best competition he’s ever faced, he got a taste of it in September, dealt with some of the adversity that’s normal for a young player, and then experienced some of the highs that a talent of his caliber is capable of.”
In the outfield, Taveras should get another opportunity to lock down center field the way many had hoped. He slashed .261/.309/.366 in 99 games, sputtering in the second half after a blistering start last year. It was still just his age-23 season, but he will need to make more consistent hard contact to stick long term. If he struggles, Thompson’s speed and defense could provide a stopgap solution.
Smith or Durán, who both came up as middle infielders, could break from the pack and earn time in left field if they provide more offensively. Smith struggled against breaking and offspeed pitches but demonstrated more plate discipline than Durán, who showcased slightly better power but chased too often. Each had a sub-.650 OPS in 200-plus at-bats last year.
Prospect position players: 3 (out of 5)
For a long time, the Rangers failed to hit on their second-round picks and their prospects with “five-tool potential.” Both trends could change with Evan Carter, a 2020 second-round pick now considered by most outlets to be the best overall prospect in the Rangers’ system.
At just 19 years old for much of last year, Carter slashed .295/.397/.489 with 12 homers and 28 stolen bases while earning a promotion to Double-A in the process. He started his Frisco career 9-for-21 with four extra-base hits.
“In terms of the player, the person, the work ethic, all the intangibles, Evan’s got great potential,” Young said. “Whether he’s a five-tool player or four-and-a-half-tool player, whatever you want to call it, we think he’s going to be a really, really good player.”
The Rangers’ 2020 draft could be one we remember for a while.
The first pick was Justin Foscue, who gave a glimpse of his power with 17 home runs in 62 minor-league games in 2021. Last year, he demonstrated more restraint at the plate while posting an .850 OPS with 15 home runs, 66 strikeouts and 45 walks over 460 plate appearances in a full season with Double-A Frisco. Foscue projects as a below-average defender, but with the middle infield locked down in Texas anyway, it will need to be his bat that eventually gets him a call-up. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him get some work at a corner spot.
Other prospects to watch include outfielder Aaron Zavala and middle infielder Luisangel Acuña, who had opposite seasons last year. The 20-year-old Acuña, Ronald‘s younger brother, was a hit machine to start the year at Single-A Hickory before struggling in the jump to Double-A. Zavala, meanwhile, took off in the second half with a .956 OPS from July through the end of the season. The Rangers added Acuña to the 40-man roster, though there are questions about his eventual position — he’s 5-foot-8 — and how much power he’ll produce.
Big-league pitchers: 2 (out of 10)
Young major-league pitching is severely limited in Texas, though last year was a monumental rise through the system for Cole Ragans, a 2016 first-round pick who bounced back from two Tommy John surgeries to ascend from Double-A Frisco to Triple-A Round Rock all the way to the big leagues. He also found a dose of reality once reaching the bigs.
Opponents mashed his fastball, which could be an issue long term. Ragans averaged more than 10 strikeouts per inning in the minors before fanning just 27 batters in 40 major league innings while going winless in nine appearances. With Jacob deGrom, Martín Peréz, Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray and Andrew Heaney now occupying the rotation, it seems most likely Ragans will begin the year developing at Round Rock unless he serves in a long role out of the bullpen.
Brock Burke‘s comeback story last year included more of a fairytale ending. After debuting in 2019 in his age-22 season, two injury-riddled campaigns passed before Burke returned to the bigs as a 25-year-old rookie in 2022. He showcased a considerable velocity bump and developed into one of the Rangers’ most reliable options out of the bullpen, where he should continue to assist.
Prospect pitchers: 3 (out of 5)
Developing starting pitching has long been an Achilles’ heel in Texas, but with the selections of Jack Leiter, Kumar Rocker and Brock Porter the last two years and with the potential of the top picks who preceded those draftees, the Rangers are starting to collect the assets necessary to envision a solid rotation over the long haul.
The Rangers shocked many by not only grabbing Rocker in the first round last year, but also using the money saved to go after Porter in the fourth, essentially giving them two first-round talents. Porter, a high-school right-hander who was arguably the best pitching prospect in the draft, adds to a growing group of potential big-league starters in the Rangers’ system.
That’s not to say there haven’t been growing pains.
Leiter, the No. 2 overall pick in 2021, was thrown into the deep end last season at Double-A, where he struggled to a 5.54 ERA. He uncharacteristically grappled with command, walking 56 batters in 92.2 innings with a 1.55 WHIP, and was particularly vulnerable against lefties.
“We challenged him at the Double-A level, which is extremely tough, and the hottest pitching conditions he’s ever been in, in his life,” Young said. “It was just a lot. Year 2, he’s learned a lot. He’s in phenomenal shape. He works so hard. The stuff is there. It’s real. And we’re excited about the progress he’s going to make.”
Like Leiter, 2018 first-rounder Cole Winn also struggled with command last season. After an intriguing year at Double-A Frisco in 2021, one that made him easy to project as a big-league starter, he saw his strikeout rate dip and his walk rate double at Triple-A last year. He’ll need to fix both to meet his projections.
The best prospect of the group may now be Owen White, a 2018 second-round pick who bounced back from Tommy John surgery to stand out at Single-A Hickory and Double-A Frisco last year. He struck out more than 11 batters per nine innings but was shut down at 80.1 innings last year, so it’ll be interesting to see how he does with a bigger workload in 2023.
Rowan Kavner covers the Dodgers and NL West for FOX Sports. He previously was the Dodgers’ editor of digital and print publications. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.
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