just about anyone who follows minor league baseball closely would say the Rangers have a system that ranks somewhere between 2nd - 10th in the majors...
That's a strong statement and I disagree. I do follow the minors and I would put the Rangers outside the top ten and nowhere close to number 2.
links? I know Sickels thinks the system has a lot of depth but there aren't many impact players who can change the Rangers outlook. Of course, anything can happen.. I haven't seen anything from Law..
My personal opinion is our farm system is about #5 right now. Which is even more extraordinary given most of our top prospects are lower in the minors and should only get better and more fanfare as they progress. Now I also believe the Rangers organizational philosophy on their pitching prospects hurts their "rankings". My example to you is Kasey Kiker vs Clayton Kershaw. Last years numbers in the MWL for both of them are almost identical. Kiker 20 GS/ 96.1 IP/ 2.90 ERA/ 7-4 W-L/ 3-1 K-BB ratio Kershaw 20 GS/ 97.1 IP/ 2.77 ERA/ 7-5 W-L/ 3-1 K-BB ratio Kershaw is all of 4 months younger than Kiker. But Kershaw is ranked in the top 10 prospects in all of baseball by most while Kiker is barely in the top 10 of the Rangers system by most. Is it because the Rangers were aggressive with Kiker straight out of high school by putting him in a league with mostly guys 3-4 years older than he was? Obviously he struggled W-L wise and wlked more than you would like but his ERA was admirable under 4.00. While the Dodgers took Kershaw and stuck him in a glorified HS All Star league where he obviously dominated. He was a top 10 pick so you would expect that. He was facing guys his age and dominated. For that he is considered top 10 material in all of baseball? I just don't get it. After Kershaw got promoted to AA last year he struggled just as you would expect a guy his age to do. Maybe its just that this time of year everybody is coming out with their top 100 lists and suck and on every one you see Kershaw way up there while Kiker is nowhere to be found. It must be something else because in the only year they were both in the same league facing the same batters they had the same stats.
Kevin Goldstein posted his Rangers Top 11 last week... Five-Star Prospects 1. Neftali Feliz, RHP Four-Star Prospects 2. Eric Hurley, RHP 3. Elvis Andrus, SS 4. Engel Beltre, OF 5. Michael Main, RHP 6. Chris Davis, 3B Three-Star Prospects 7. Taylor Teagarden, C 8. Blake Beavan, RHP 9. Matt Harrison, RHP 10. Max Ramirez, C 11. German Duran, 2B Just Missing: Kasey Kiker, LHP; David Murphy, OF; Neil Ramirez, RHP
Well, the more I read, the more I stand corrected. I guess I had fallen behind a bit.. $$$ Top 5 according to Jim Callis chat (Wed, 1/2/08) 1) Devil Rays 2) Red Sox 3) Reds 4) Rangers 5) Yankees
Here's John Sickel's Top 20: 1.Taylor Teagarden, C, Grade B+ (would be a Grade A- if not for injury history) 2. Eric Hurley, RHP, Grade B+ 3. Elvis Andrus, SS, Grade B+ 4. Chris Davis, 3B, Grade B+ 5. Matt Harrison, LHP, Grade B+ 6. Michael Main, RHP, Grade B 7. John Mayberry Jr, OF, Grade B 8. Kasey Kiker, LHP, Grade B 9. Max Ramirez, C, Grade B 10. German Duran, 2B, Grade B 11. Omar Poveda, RHP, Grade B 12. Neftali Feliz, RHP, Grade B- 13. Blake Beavan, RHP, Grade B- 14. Brandon Boggs, OF, Grade C+ 15. Johnny Whittleman, 3B, Grade C+ 16. Julio Borbon, OF, Grade C+ 17. Tommy Hunter, RHP, Grade C+ 18. Armando Galarraga, RHP, Grade C+ 19. Neil Ramirez, RHP, Grade C+ 20. Brennan Garr, RHP, Grade C+ Teagarden is still probably a year away, but maybe he'll get a September call up.
Scout.com $$$ Scout has a Rangers top 50 prospect list... here's the top 10... 1. RHP Eric Hurley 2. 3B Chris Davis 3. SS Elvis Andrus 4. LHP Kasey Kiker 5. C Taylor Teagarden 6. RHP Michael Main 7. LHP Matt Harrison 8. RHP Blake Beavan 9. OF Engel Beltre 10. 2B German Duran
Jamie Newberg's Top 20: 1. Chris Davis, 3B 2. Eric Hurley, RHP 3. Taylor Teagarden, C 4. Elvis Andrus, SS 5. Kasey Kiker, LHP 6. Michael Main, RHP 7. Blake Beavan, RHP 8. Engel Beltre, OF 9. Matt Harrison, LHP 10. Neftali Feliz, RHP 11. German Duran, 2B 12. Max Ramirez, C 13. Fabio Castillo, RHP 14. Cristian Santana, C 15. David Murphy, OF 16. Johnny Whittleman, 3B 17. Luis Mendoza, RHP 18. Omar Poveda, RHP 19. Neil Ramirez, RHP 20. Tommy Hunter, RHP He has ranked his top 72 Rangers prospects, you can see the list free at Newberg Report
