Okay, in the wake of the draft, I'm going to offer my Rangers top 25 prospects...
I'm not going to claim that this is the definitive list or anything...but with the addition of the draftees, I figured I'd set out the list as I see it right now:
- Eric Hurley
- Taylor Teagarden
- German Duran
- Johnny Whittleman
- Kasey Kiker
- Blake Beavan
- Jason Botts
- Michael Main
- Doug Mathis
- Joaquin Arias
- Fabio Castillo
- Omar Poveda
- Thomas Diamond
- John Mayberry, Jr.
- Edinson Volquez
- Marcus Lemon
- Zach Phillips
- Julio Borbon
- K.C. Herren
- Christopher Davis
- Neil Ramirez
- Josh Rupe
- Tug Hulett
- Ben Harrison
- Brandon Boggs
#1 and #2 were easy.
I probably have Duran rated higher than anyone else would have him, and I'm willing to concede that I maybe should, at the very least, flip-flop him and Whittleman. But a 22 year old 2B putting up a 953 OPS in AA is impressive to me.
Kiker was taken higher than Beavan, and has pitched well as a pro, so I can't see any way I could rank Beavan ahead of him.
I think Doug Mathis has a nice future ahead of him as a major league reliever, although again, I'm willing to be convinced that I have him too high.
I may have Poveda too low, but the reports I've heard indicate his stuff isn't overwhelming, and he is a flyball pitcher. That's a worrisome combination...I'm afraid he may be one of those guys who can take advantage of younger hitters, but at the upper levels, gets hammered.
I may have Herren too low, and Lemon too high, but I'm not entirely sold on Herren's breakout.
Hulett, Harrison, Boggs, Travis Metcalf, and Kevin Mahar are all largely interchangeable. They seem like guys who have a pretty good chance of having a career as bench players in the majors. If Boggs can handle centerfield on the major league level, he looks like someone who could be a decent platoon guy/4th outfielder.
I'm just throwing this out there for discussion, and have spent all of about 20 minutes working on this, so feel free to comment, dissect, criticize...
After all, there's not much point in talking about the major league club right now...