In my opinion, the Rangers system is made up of several tiers. The first tier houses prospects like Justin Smoak and Martin Perez, guys that usually find their way onto most Top 100 lists. The second tier is usually for guys who don't quite have first tier ceilings, but still possess immense skill sets and are often mentioned as having major league futures.
The third tier is a long queue of interchangeable prospects that could swap spots depending on a hot streak, promotion, or just gut feeling. These players could evolve into a higher echelon of prospect or they could eventually fade into the attritional fog. Fourth tier players usually have major question marks surrounding their prospect status, either as a result of a limited professional record, age (young/old), and/or skill set translations.
A few samples:
1. 1B Justin Smoak
Justin Smoak is clearly one of the best position prospects in all of baseball. His combination of patience and power potential could make him a devastating hitter in the middle of a major league line-up. His defense has been a bit of a disappointment so far, but given his work ethic, he should eventually be an above-average defensive first-baseman at the highest level.
6. RHP Wilmer Font
Font's fastball, while not nearly as effortless as Feliz's, might be every bit as good. His comps are slowly working their way into shape, although he still has a considerable amount of progress to make. His command isn't there yet, but considering Font lost most of the 2008 season to injuries and issues, his development is on course. Font is setting himself up to explode as a prospect in 2010, where he will most likely begin the season in the High A rotation, pitching as a 19-year-old.
10. RHP Joseph Wieland
Follow me: Wieland's raw stuff isn't great, but it's good, but it could eventually end up better than just good, but still probably not great, but thanks to his pitchability, it might appear great, when it's only really good. Got it? Good.
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