Tracking the Rangers Top Prospects
The Rangers have done a good job building their prospect base. They probably took a step backwards by not being able to sign their first round pick, but Tanners Scheppers looks like the real deal with an impressive AFL performance. The Rangers have followed the formulae many teams have in the rebuilding platform, stockpile good young arms and hope some of them make an impact. Eventually, you can trade the surplus that isn’t quite going to make the grade to other teams who are short on pitching to fill weaknesses in other areas. Everyone needs pitching. Getting prospects for Teixeira and Gagne certainly helped to stock the system.
The below prospects are the top ten rated prospects by Baseball America last year. This is the 28th team we have reviewed. There are only two more teams left and then myworld can focus on the number one picks of each team.
1. Neftali Feliz RHP - A potential number one starter if he can find more consistency with his breaking pitch and change. A lack of command of those pitches may relegate him to the bullpen. Neftali is one of the hardest throwers in baseball, hitting triple digits with consistency. The Rangers seem content to make him their closer. He’s made a fast ascent to the major leagues after spending his first three years in rookie leagues. Once promoted to a full season league he hit the fast track. Neftali saw 13 games as a starter and his ERA was 3.86, with opponents hitting him at a .258 clip. The Rangers moved him to the bullpen in June where he was dominant, finishing with an ERA of 2.16 with an opposition average of .169. His walk to K ratio went from 27/55 to 3/20. The Rangers promoted him to the big league club as a reliever and there he finished with a 1.74 ERA and a .124 opposition average. The Rangers will give him every opportunity to be their closer next year. Part of me would still like to see him as a starter. He does have number one potential.
2. Derek Holland LHP - Holland probably could have used a few more starts in AAA. He had a good spring, excellent makeup and after one minor league April start was promoted to the Rangers. This after only four starts in AA the previous year. He started out in the bullpen where he did pretty well. The Rangers moved him to the rotation where he did not do so well. He finished April with a 1.69 ERA. After April he didn’t have a month where his ERA was less than 4.45 and he finished the year with 21 starts, 12 relief appearances and a 6.12 ERA. One of his biggest problems was giving up the homerun ball as he gave up 26 homeruns, not unusual when you are pitching in Arlington and can’t keep the ball down. He was a 25th round pick in 2006 and wasn’t considered much of a prospect until his fastball moved from the high 80s to the mid 90s in the middle of the 2008 season. He finished 2008 at 13-1 with a 2.27 ERA rocketing through three levels, but only getting four starts at AA. In hindsight that was not enough to prepare him for the major leagues.
3. Justin Smoak 1B - Justin was the Rangers number one pick in 2008 and made a splash in the World Cup with an early barrage of homers, leading the United States team to a gold medal performance. While he does have power, one shouldn’t expect the homeruns to come with the regularity he showed in the World Cup (.311, 9, 19 in 12 games). He’s more of a line drive hitter who will hit around 25-30 homers a year and if not for a lack of speed would compete for a batting title. He should consistently hit over .300. He had a tough time picking up AAA pitching, hitting only .244 with four homeruns. He does show the ability to take walks, drawing 75 walks for a .410 OBA over three levels of play. Can’t imagine how good the high school team was that had both Smoak and Wieters on the team (Goose Creek, South Carolina)
4. Elvis Andrus SS - No one questions his defense. The big concern the Rangers had was with his offense. After the Rangers made him one of the acquistions in the Teixeira deal he hit .295 at AA Frisco. Before spring training started the Rangers made the announcement that Mike Young was moving to third and Elvis would handle shortstop. Pretty bold for a player that has not seen AAA. Omar Vizquel was signed as a free agent to act as mentor and insurance in case the experiment failed. It worked. Elvis hit .267, stealing 33 bases and the team improved at defense, both at third and short. With Julio Borbon patroling centerfield next year the Rangers defense should be one of the best in the league. A sophmore slump is in store for Elvis if he doesn’t adjust to the way pitchers will adjust to him next year.
5. Martin Perez LHP - Don’t be surprised if he fills the top slot for 2010 on the Rangers best prospect list. Signed out of Venezuela for $580,000 in 2007 he rifles the ball at 92-96, excellent velocity for a lefthander. The only concern is his 6 foot 175 pound frame which give pause for durability issues. It also invokes comparisons to Johan Santana. He dominated the South Atlantic League with a 2.31 ERA in 14 starts and 22 total appearances. The opposition hit him at .236 and he whiffed 105 hitters in 93 plus innings. This led to a promtion to AA where he struggled a bit (5.57 ERA in five starts). He was ripped in his opening start for six runs in two plus innings, so take away that start and his ERA is a respectable 3.43. Expect him to start in AA for the 2010 season where at age 19 he will be the youngest pitcher in the league. If he dominates there he could make his debut with the Rangers in September as a teenager.
6. Taylor Teagarden C -The Rangers thought they had a surplus at the catching position in 2009, trading Gerald Laird to the Detroit Tigers at the end of the 2008 season for Carlos Melo and Guillermo Moscoso to give the job to one of their young catchers. The Rangers were going to have Jarrod Saltalmacchia and Taylor Teagarden battle for the position, with Teagarden the superior defensive player getting most of the playing time if he could show that he could hit. In 2009 he hit only .217 and lost playing time to Salty. When Salty became troubled by eye irritation the Rangers went out and reacquired Ivan Rodriguez, rather than give the starting job to Teagarden. Rodriguez left as a free agent and Salty is healthy again, so it will be another battle between the two. If Teagarden can show he can hit Salty can always move to DH to get his bat in the lineup.
7. Engel Beltre OF - Beltre was acquired from the Red Sox in the Eric Gagne trade. Many called it a robbery for the Rangers to be able to get a 5 tool player from the Red Sox for a bullpen pitcher in his declining years, but sometimes the team involved in a trade knows more about the player they are trading than the team pursuing him. Engle struggled last year despite his five tool ability, hitting only .227 with three homeruns in the California League. He was only a teenager in his stint in high A so the struggles can be explained to youth. Despite the youth, one has to be concerned with his 17 to 77 walk to K ratio and .321 slugging percentage. This will probably mean a repeat in the California League. Engel is still a long way from using his tools effectively.
8. Michael Main RHP -Baseball America voted him the top rated 16 year old. The Rangers drafted him in the first round in 2007. He throws a fastball in the mid 90s. A lot is expected from this righthander who stands 6′2″ and weights 170. A rib injury delayed his 2008 season. His 2009 season was interrupted by a viral infection. He started the California League season with an 11.66 ERA after four starts in April and it didn’t get much better after that. His last start was in June beofre he was hit with the viral infection. He did make two relief appearances in September pitching four shutout innings and two starts in the Arizona League on rehab where he didn’t give up a run in three innings. He’ll probably return to the California League and hope for a healthy season. At least none of his injuries to date have been linked to his right arm.
9. Julio Borbon CF - The Rangers have already announced that Julio will be their starting centerfielder for 2010. With the departure of Marlon Byrd, they will move Josh Hamilton to right and that should improve the team defensively. Myworld got an opportunity to watch Borbon play centerfield while visiting Texas and he does cover a lot of ground. The only knock on his defense is a weak arm. If he can continue to hit .300 as he did last year the Rangers could have themselves an All Star centerfielder. Other than his first year he’s consistently hit .300 in the minor leagues. Once he improves his reads on pitchers he could also become a 40 to 50 steal man as well. He will not hit for power, but he has the speed and plate discipline to fit in the leadoff slot.
10. Max Ramirez C - Max will not make it as a catcher. He will be a DH if he can’t fit at first base. The Rangers were talking about trading him for Mike Lowell, but a thumb injury by Lowell will delay the deal. Max is an all or nothing type of hitter. He strikes out a ton, but then he has potential to hit for a lot of power. He struggled in AAA hitting only .234 with 85 strikeouts in only 76 games. A wrist injury limited him. He did get a call up to be a back up after Salty couldn’t play because of his eye irritation but once Ivan Rodriguez was acquired he was sent back down without appearing in a game. He made his major league debut last year when he hit .217 after hitting .354 in AA. He is currently playing in Venezuela where he is hitting .245 with 13 homeruns 35 RBIs. He also has 63 strikeouts in 58 games.
Other Prospects
Guillermo Moscoso RHP - Moscoso threw 126 innings this year, a record for his professional career. If he was someone who threw in the bullpen that could be understood, but teams have used him in the starting rotation and bouts with shoulder soreness have normally sidelined him. He was effective in AAA (5-4, 2.31) in eleven starts, limiting the opposition to a .218 average. This resulted in a promtion to the Rangers where he worked in the bullpen with Neftali Feliz. He’s pitching for Caracas in the Venezuelan League and has 16 appearances with three starts. His ERA is 3.38. His fastball hits the low 90s but his secondary pitches are inconsistent. Because of his constant shoulder soreness and lack of secondary pitches many feel the bullpen is the best fit for him.
Mitch Moreland OF - Since being drafted in the 17th round all Mitch has done is hit. At Mississippi State he hit .300 at every level he played. He did have a 259 blip while with Spokane right after getting drafted but the next year he hit .324 at Clinton. In 2009 Moreland hit .341 in th California League which led to a promotion to the Texas League where he hit .326. Mitch hit 16 homeruns, eight at each level. Because of a lack of speed he is not a top flight defensive player in the outfield so he could wind up at first base. His arm is suited for right.
Chad Tracy 1B - He is the son of Jim Tracy, the current manager for the Colorado Rockies. He was drafted in the thrid round in 2006 as a catcher but it is pretty well accepted that he would only catch in an emergency situation. The Rangers didn’t protect him on their 40 man so any team could have picked him up in the Rule V. His 26 homeruns and 107 RBIs in 2009 didn’t convince any teams to take him so the Rangers will keep him.
Kasey Kiker LHP - At 5′10″, 170 pounds many question his durability. Kasey was drafted in the first round in 2006 and was plagued by shoulder soreness in 2008. He did pitch well enough in 2009 to make the Texas League all star team, finishing 7-7, 3.86 in 23 starts. He pitched well until August when he could have tired. His August ERA was 9.47 compared to his other months in the high 2’s or low 3’s. At the end of 2007 he was hitting the mid-90s with his fastball but 2008 and 2009 didn’t see that velocity. He stayed in the high 80s/ low 90s.
Elio Sarmiento C - Elio was selected in the AAA portion of the Rule V draft in 2008. Don’t know much about him but he hit .354 but only played in 58 games. That’s a pretty hefty average. He’s never played more than 40 games in a year throughout his minor league career but that average should have someone take notice. He hits lefthanders extremely well so perhaps he is a plotoon player, which explains his lack of playing time. With that average he deserves more at bats.
Mauro Gomez 1B - He did hit 28 homeruns and drove in 94. But he also struck out 141 times in just 124 games. In 2007 he hit 21 homeruns only to follow with a dud of a year, hitting 8 homeruns and walking 14 times to his 93 whiffs in only 80 games. If he’s going to make it he will have to make better contact, but power like that does not get ignored if he can repeat it.
Tanner Roark RHP - Myworld likes trends. Tanner won six of his last seven starts, finished the California League 10-0 with a 2.70 ERA. His last start he pitched seven shutout innings striking out 11. The Rangers voted him their minor league pitcher of the month for August. Tanner was a 25th round pick in the 2008 draft. He throws his fastball 88-90 so he is not overpowering, but he seems effective.
Michael Bianucci OF - Mike had a nice game in which he went 6 for 6 with two homeruns and seven RBIs. In fact, Mike had a pretty good year in which he slugged 30 homeruns, drove in 90 and hit .288 between two levels in A ball. He did have an unimpressive 38/119 walk to K ratio and he was 23 years old hitting against pitchers with less experience than him. But you can’t ignore 30 homeruns. Mike was drafted in the eighth round by the Rangers in 2008.
Yoon-Hee Nam LHP - He finished 9-1 with a 3.77 ERA. He struck out 102 in only 88 innings of work. For his three year minor league career he is 15-2, 3.85 mainly throwing out of the bullpen. He’s not overpowering, but he has command of four pitches that work well at lower levels. Time will tell if his less than awe inspiring stuff will work at higher levels.
Wilmer Font RHP - The third of a trio of Venezuelans in the Crawdads starting rotation. Martin Perez and Wilfredo Boscan are the other two. At 6′4″ with a mid-90s fastball Wilmer can be very intimidating on the mound. His command could be better (59 walks and 105 K’s in 108 innings) but if it doesn’t improve he could end up as a closer. His secondary pitches are still rudimentary, but as long as he has that fastball he will be noticed. He finished 8-3, 3.49 in the California League.