From The Upper Deck
Wiretap | Feature Pieces | Feature Articles | Featured Columnists | Team Columns | Past Polls
Home > News > Featured Columnists > From The Upper Deck
Upper Deck Archives
27th Oct, 2009
2009 World Series Preview

19th Oct, 2009
A-Rod's Big Game Transition

Full Archive

MLB Columns
Search
RealGM Poll
Which team will sign Matt Holliday?

Yankees
Red Sox
Angels
Mets
Cardinals
Other



Poll Archives
2009 Prospect Review: Texas Rangers
Authored by Christopher Reina - 13th March, 2009 - 3:12 pm
Current Featured Columns
Full 2010 MLB Free Agent List
The following is a comprehensive list of the 2010 MLB free agent class, headlined by John Lackey.
RealGM Staff Report. 9th November, 2009.

A Closer Look: Angels Vs. Sabathia, Burnett, Pettitte
The Angels face a three-man rotation in the ALCS whom they hit well during the 2009 season.
Brian Reynolds. 14th October, 2009.

Previewing The Phillies/Rockies From Both Sides
The 2008 World Series champion Phillies will once again meet the Rockies in the NLDS. Will Colorado take the series again like they did in 2007?
Christopher Reina/Brian Reynolds. 7th October, 2009.

Grading The Deal: Braves Make Deal For McLouth
The Braves acquired another left-handed bat in Nate McLouth, who is under Atlanta's control at a reasonable contract until 2012.
Brian Reynolds. 3rd June, 2009.


RealGM Search
Search:

Return to MLB Prospect index

The Rangers have one of the best farm systems in all of baseball, with good depth and balance at many positions. The system was largely populated with its current quality via shrewd sell offs of Mark Teixeira and Eric Gagne in 2007, with top-five prospects Neftali Feliz and Engel Beltre both arriving in those deals, along with Elvis Andrus (who was purposely left off this list since he's likely to be in the big leagues in all of 2009), David Murphy and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Developing pitching has always been a problem for the Rangers, largely because of their ballpark, but they have quite a few arms listed below that may change that trend.

Jon Daniels and Nolan Ryan have done an excellent job in building an excellent foundation from the ground up instead of the splashy Tom Hicks led free agent signings of Alex Rodriguez and Chan Ho Park, which marked the beginning of this decade in Texas.

Below represents how RealGM ranks the Rangers' prospects based off our research and statistical analysis of the players in their system.

Click on the each of the links below to view the players respective full prospect page.

Top Rangers Prospects

1. Neftali Feliz - RHP

Feliz may have grown up idolizing Pedro Martinez, but he has the frame to become a pure power pitcher. He is consistently ranked as one of the top 10 prospects in all of baseball for 2009.

He was ranked fifth in 2008 amongst all Minor Leaguers in SWHIP, which measures strikeout efficiency against hits and walks allowed.

2. Justin Smoak - 1B

Smoak is a switch hitter with good power, a good eye and a good glove, so the comparisons to a former Rangers' first baseman is quite easy. He was the 11th overall selection in the 2008 MLB Draft.

3. Derek Holland - LHP

Holland has emerged from virtually nowhere to be in the tier of LHP prospects behind David Price and Madison Bumgarner. He was eighth amongst Minor Leaguers in 2008 in SWHIP.

4. Michael Main

Injuries have been a concern for Main, but if he stays healthy he can become one of the AL West's better pure power pitchers. He might end up as a reliever.

5a. Engel Beltre - OF

Beltre has excellent raw skills with the potential to be a dynamic power/speed player at the plate. He has the potential to be a 20 homer, 40 double, 15 triple, 50 steal offensive player on an annual basis, but could just as easily never make it.

5b. Martin Perez - LHP

Perez is a boy wonder southpaw with remarkable intangibles and the kind of stuff to become one of the best finesse pitchers in the game.

Other Rangers Prospects Worth Watching

Julio Borbon - OF
Max Ramirez - C
© 2000-2009 RealGM, L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Advertising Opportunities | About Us | Site Map | Contact RealGM