Although the Rangers don’t have many top-end, high-ceiling prospects, landing just one guy on my top 100 and another on my list of dozen guys who just missed, they have substantial depth in their low minors in pitching, middle infielders and corner bats, enough that a year of health and actual games for development could see the whole system improve its value substantially. The Rangers aren’t afraid to experiment, and while that hasn’t always worked — viz. their rash of Tommy John surgeries in 2019 — it’s good to see a team try new methods or ideas to help players develop more fully or more quickly.
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To be eligible for these rankings, a player must still be eligible for the Rookie of the Year award in 2021, which means they may not have more than 130 at-bats, 50 innings pitched or 45 days on an active roster heading into this season.
1. Leody Taveras, OF (Top 100 rank: No. 44)
From the Top 100: Taveras played 33 games in the majors last year and just barely sneaks under the wire to retain his rookie eligibility for one more year. He showed flashes of how good a defender he is in center, making more out-of-zone plays in center than many highly regarded defenders who played more innings there in 2020, including Kevin Kiermaier, Harrison Bader and George Springer, thanks to his top-end sprint speed in the 96th percentile. At the plate, he struck out far more often than he ever has in the minors, with breaking stuff his bugbear, but did make harder contact than expected when he did put the ball in play. He’ll play all of 2021 at age 22, and in a non-pandemic year probably wouldn’t have seen the majors last season. Right now the Rangers should just hand him the everyday center field job, where he’s going to be a 70 defender, and hope that his longstanding ability to put the ball in play, with strikeout rates down around 20 percent in the minors, comes back as he gets used to major-league curveballs and sliders.
2. Josh Jung, 3B (Just Missed)
From the Just Missed: Jung is a perfect example of a prospect I do like despite his omission from the Top 100. There are more than 100 prospects in the minors right now, and a player missing the main list could still be a good prospect and someone I’d want in my system if I were a GM or President of Baseball Operations or Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas or whatever the decision-makers are calling themselves these days. The Rangers have tried Jung at second base at their alternate site, and even had him fill in at short, but ultimately Jung’s value is going to come down to how much power he has, since it seems very likely he’s going to hit for average, and, once again, we need to see him show some thump in games since he didn’t in a brief run after signing in 2019.
3. Dane Dunning, RHP
I’ve liked Dunning as a back-end starter since college, and he has the command and two major-league pitches in the sinker and slider, but either he’s not using his changeup enough against lefties (only about 10 percent of his pitches) or he needs a better weapon against them. He does everything else you’d want in a fourth starter and otherwise seems completely recovered from his Tommy John surgery, so I’d expect him to go right into their rotation.
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4. Sam Huff, C
Huff is a power-over-hit catcher with enough receiving skills to stay back there and end up a potential regular. He has 70 raw power and showed it in his brief trial in the majors, but he struggles with breaking stuff and struck out in 30 percent of his at-bats in A-ball in 2019. If he’s not a catcher, he’s probably not a big leaguer, but he is a catcher and the Rangers think highly of his progress behind the plate. He could be a .280 OBP, 25 homer guy, and with average defense that’s probably a regular.
5. Cole Winn, RHP
Winn was the Rangers’ first-round pick in 2018, a high school right-hander with average velocity and excellent command for his age. He then walked more than a man every other inning in 2019, but gained consistency as the season went on, and in 2020 he was more 93-95 mph with a plus slider and impressed the Rangers with his strike-throwing ability at the alternate site. Call it confirmation bias if you wish, but that is the pitcher Winn was supposed to become when he was drafted, and now — say it with me — we need to see him do it in games.
6. Maximo Acosta, SS
Acosta earned comparisons to Gleyber Torres as an amateur in Venezuela, because that’s what we do, but also because Acosta had similar all-around tools and an advanced feel for the game, especially at the plate. Acosta came to instructs last year and looked a little raw compared to the older kids there, but he’s a natural hitter with a short stroke and impressive plate coverage, strong enough to get to power eventually but with a swing now that is geared toward contact. He’s more likely than not to stay at shortstop but depending on how he fills out he could easily end up at second base, where his bat would profile too.
7. Ricky Vanasco, RHP
Vanasco blew up right before he blew out: He was touching the upper 90s and showing multiple plus pitches in short outings at the alternate site when his elbow screamed and he had Tommy John surgery, probably knocking him out until 2022. He’s been beset by injuries since he was drafted in 2017, with just 83 innings total in pro ball, but what he flashed this year would have made him the Rangers’ No. 1 pitching prospect if he were still healthy.
8. Davis Wendzel, 3B
Wendzel was the Rangers’ second-round pick in 2019, but barely played after signing due to a thumb injury so we haven’t seen him much in pro ball. He’s looked very good at third base, to the point where he might be able to play second or even short in a pinch, while at the plate he’s shown an advanced approach and looks like a high-OBP, high-doubles guy who should at least get to 15 homers.
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9. Jonathan Ornelas, SS
The Rangers played Ornelas, their second-round pick in 2018, at short, second, third, center and left in 2019 in Low A — OK, he played center for four innings, but still, that’s impressive versatility. He’s not a shortstop in the long run but is athletic enough for second or third, and showed a good approach as a 19-year-old in 2019, with hints of above-average power to come.
10. Hans Crouse, RHP
Crouse didn’t pitch at the alternate site or instructs last year while recovering from elbow surgery (not Tommy John). Prior to that, he’d shown two plus pitches and an aggressive approach on the mound, but his control had been erratic and he lacked the third pitch to get lefties out. We’ll see where he is physically this spring but it might be time to move him to the bullpen.
11. Justin Foscue, 2B
The Rangers’ first-rounder in 2020, Foscue posted strong exit velocities at Mississippi State and rarely struck out, but he was a dead-pull hitter whose power only played out to left field, and he was a below-average defender at second base. There’s something here with his contact skills and ability to hit the ball hard, but the Rangers have to tweak his swing and/or approach while also either working hard to improve his defense or moving him to another position.
12. Luisangel Acuña, SS/2B
Acuña is Ronald’s younger and shorter brother, 5-foot-8 and a shortstop, with good control of the zone and strong hands for harder contact than you might expect. He’s an above-average runner who may be better suited to center or second than shortstop.
13. David García, C
The lost development year has meant a lot of teams had to add players like García, who signed at age 16 in 2016 but has yet to play in full-season ball, to their 40-man rosters, which will probably lead to teams pushing some of those prospects once games resume to try to get them to the majors while they still have options remaining. García is a catch-and-throw guy with a good swing and a solid idea of the strike zone for his age, but he’s vulnerable to breaking stuff and needs more reps to see if he can tighten that up. He has at least everyday upside if he does because of his defense and the hint of patience he’s shown so far.
14. Kyle Cody, RHP
Cody’s had a long path to the majors, drafted by the Twins in the second round in 2015 but declining to sign with them after they tried to reduce his bonus due to a medical issue, then signing with the Rangers in the sixth round in 2016, and then undergoing Tommy John surgery that cost him most of 2018 and all of 2019. He debuted in the majors last year and showed a plus slider that he threw more often than his four-seamer. The slider has good spin and a hard downward break; he can really throw it for strikes in addition to using it as a chase pitch. His fastball is hard but true and the slider focus makes him a reliever in the long run, but he has a good enough changeup to be a multi-inning or high-leverage guy out of the pen.
15. Jonah Heim, C
Heim’s become a quality defender and game-caller, yet another anecdote to support the old scouting maxim that catchers develop later, while at the plate he’s power over hit, with a swing that has good leverage but just adequate bat speed. That might make him a good backup, or a soft regular on another team.
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16. Joe Palumbo, LHP
Palumbo was homer-prone in his 2019 debut, lost some weight for 2020, and saw his fastball back up when he pitched last year, leaving him with a still-plus curveball up to 82-83 mph with a sharp two-plane break, a pitch that hitters don’t pick up well out of his hand. He was a strong prospect as a starter but if his fastball is just average — and hitters do hit it hard — he’s going to have to go to the bullpen.
17. Sherten Apostel, 3B
Apostel — who wears number 11, but should wear number 13 if you really think about it — was only in the majors last year because it was 2020 and everything was upside down, but he’s still an intriguing, high-risk/high-reward prospect with power and a huge arm. Apostel is big, 6-foot-4, 235 pounds already at age 21, and has a decent idea at the plate for his age, but his strike zone is big and he has to learn to cover it all. He’s adequate at third now and could become an average defender there if his size doesn’t push him to first. He hadn’t played above High A before 2020 and needs to go to Double A this year to work on the strike zone and on his defense. If he can get to enough contact, he has 25-30 homer upside.
18. Anderson Tejeda, SS
Tejeda has power, he has a plus arm, he can play above-average or better defense at short, but he just hasn’t hit yet above short-season ball, and he certainly wasn’t ready for the majors last year (with 30 Ks in 77 plate appearances). Tejeda was repeating High A in 2019 when he dislocated his non-throwing shoulder, ending his season, costing him critical at-bats in general but especially in his effort to become a switch-hitter, as he was hopeless against left-handed pitching before the experiment. He just has so far to go with the bat and lost probably 700 at-bats to the shoulder injury and the pandemic, and because he’ll play this year at 23 his odds of getting to even an average hit tool are diminishing quickly.
19. Ronny Henriquez, RHP
Listed at 5-foot-10, Henriquez has the stuff to start but the lack of plane on his fastball might limit him to shorter outings in the long run. He’s 92-96 mph with a solid changeup and tight spin on an average slider, with both secondary pitches potentially ending up as 55s or better, and he throws strikes. I don’t think lack of height is automatically a sign a pitcher has to go to the bullpen, but Henriquez’s fastball comes in flat and he did get hit harder than you’d expect in Low A in 2019.
20. Owen White, RHP
The Rangers had a horrible run of pitchers needing Tommy John surgery in 2019, including White, their second-round pick the year before. White looked the best of the returning arms last year, back up into the mid-90s with the same promising curveball he’d had in high school, with mid-rotation upside if he stays healthy.
Others of note
Right-hander A.J. Alexy has been up to 98-99 mph in short bursts but has had trouble staying healthy — he was badly overworked in high school — and throwing strikes. He’ll turn 23 in April and we’re not waiting on any development in his stuff, so you might see him come quickly as a reliever/long man if that’s the best way to keep him healthy. … Outfielder Steele Walker has bat-to-ball skills but probably not the power for a corner, and scouts have long questioned whether he can hit good pitching or just feasts on lesser opponents. I’d just like to see more now power from a guy who’s limited to right field and already 24. … Tekoah Roby was their third-round pick in 2020; the Florida high school righty is already 90-96 mph with a chance for two average to 55 secondary pitches in his changeup and slider. He’s a good athlete and showed feel to pitch in high school. … Avery Weems, acquired from Chicago in the Lance Lynn trade, went from a nondescript senior sign throwing 87-89 mph in the 2019 draft to throwing 91-95 mph by instructs in 2020 with an above-average if slurvy breaking ball, and he should move quickly as a reliever. … Bayron Lora signed for a whopping $3.9 million bonus in 2019 on the basis of his raw power, already plus and trending up toward 70 or even 80, although his bat is way behind that and he might not see full-season ball until 2022 or beyond. He’s a corner outfielder, so he’ll have to hit, but it’s 35-40 homer power if he gets to it. … The Rangers’ second-round pick out of a Tennessee high school in 2020, Evan Carter was the talk of instructs with his power/speed combination. He’s really well put together at 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, but swung-and-missed a lot in high school and his bat seems like it’s five years away. … Right-hander Cole Ragans was healthy enough to throw in instructs after two Tommy John surgeries; I was a big fan of his before the first operation and we’ll see how his stuff is when he tries to pitch on a regular schedule this year. … Right-hander Justin Slaten, their third-round pick in 2019 out of the very difficult pitcher’s environment at the University of New Mexico, has seen his stuff tick up in pro ball to where his fastball and slider are both pluses. He’s built like a workhorse starter and could be one if he develops his changeup to even a fringe-average offering so he can get lefties out. … The Rangers acquired Jose Corniell from Seattle in a trade this offseason for Rafael Montero. Corniell won’t turn 18 until June and hasn’t pitched yet in pro ball; he was up to 92 mph with a ton of projection to his body when the Mariners first signed him for $630,000 in July 2019.
2021 impact
Taveras should be their center fielder in 2021. Dunning should start in the rotation, while Cody could break camp in the bullpen. Huff debuted last year but I think at least a half-season in the minors makes more sense for his development as a hitter than just keeping him on the big-league club.
Sleeper
Last year’s was Ornelas, and I’m fine sticking with that, but if I’m ranking sleepers in this system for 2021 breakouts I’d go Wendzel, Acosta, Ornelas, Roby, Slaten.
(Photo of Taveras: Jerome Miron / USA Today)
