Evan Grant has an article today about the new BA Rangers rankings, with some interesting tidbits that I haven't seen yet...
Grant says that BA ranks the Rangers as the #4 system, and has this on the individual rankings:
Chris Davis was #2, and I'm guessing that Eric Hurley is #3 and Kasey Kiker is #4, with German Duran presumably at #7 (although BA has a lot of JMJ and Arias love, and they could have slotted one of them ther).
The BA Ranger top 10, though, seems a bit odd to me...particularly with Borbon at #9, and Matt Harrison not cracking the top 10, after being in the BA top 100 last year.
John Sickels, meanwhile, explains his rationale for slotting Engel Beltre as a grade C prospect.
Also of note in the Grant story is his saying that the Rangers have reportedly turned down an offer of Matt Murton for Marlon Byrd, straight up.
That surprises me, and disappoints me. Murton for Byrd would seem to be a no-brainer...Murton isn't a good defensive left fielder (and can't play anywhere but left field), but he is young, cheap, and under team control for a while, and he would seem to be a serviceable starting left fielder.
Byrd, meanwhile, can play all three outfield positions, but isn't good enough to start at any of them, and his strong first half of last season screams fluke.
The move would allow the Rangers to go with an outfield of Murton, Hamilton and Bradley, with Botts and Cat handling DH duties and David Murphy as the 4th outfielder. I'm not sure how that same setup, except with Byrd in left field instead of Murton, makes the Rangers better.