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Texas Rangers Arizona Fall League players: The AFL contingent for the Texas Rangers this fall has been announced.
Outfielder Nick Williams, catcher Pat Cantwell, and pitchers Sam Wolff, Lisalverto Bonilla, Cody Kendall and Josh McElwee will be playing for the Surprise Sagueros, the Rangers announced today.
Williams and Wolff are the most prominent names on that list -- Williams was a 2nd round pick of the Rangers in the 2012 draft, and is currently playing for Frisco after spending most of the season at high-A Myrtle Beach. He gets praise for his hitting skill, but his approach is considered to be lacking, and I suspect he's going to the AFL in part so he can get more reps against better pitchers.
Wolff is a hard-throwing righthander who Texas snagged in the 6th round of the 2013 draft. The 23 year old has 114.1 IP for Myrtle Beach this season.
Cantwell is an interesting player to be in the mix...he's a catcher who gets raves for his glovework, but who doesn't hit much. The 24 year old was grabbed in the 3rd round of the 2012 draft as a well-below-slot senior signee, but he's made an impression with his defense.
Bonilla is a reliever currently on the 40 man roster, but he's one of the "bubble guys" that the Rangers will have to make a tough decision on this offseason, in regards to whether to keep him on the 40 man roster or expose him to waivers.
Cody Kendall is a 24 year old reliever who has put up a 1.21 ERA while pitching mostly in Hickory this year. McElwee is a 25 year old reliever who has pitched for Hickory, Myrtle Beach and Frisco this year, putting up a 2.63 ERA in 61.2 IP.
I expect that there will be a couple more Ranger minor leaguers assigned to the Sagueros later on.
