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The Texas Rangers top 10 prospect list for 2017 has been released by Baseball America, and there are a couple of surprises on there.
The top part of the list is dramatically different from where it was last year, of course, with Joey Gallo and Nomar Mazara graduating, and Lewis Brinson, Dillon Tate and Luis Ortiz all being traded last summer. Topping the list is Leody Taveras, the just-turned-18-year-old switch hitting outfielder who has drawn comparisons to Carlos Beltran. Yohander Mendez and Ariel Jurado are next, followed by 2016 first rounder Cole Ragans.
Middle infielders Andy Ibanez and Josh Morgan check in at #5 and #6, with Ronald Guzman at #7 and 2016 second rounder Alex Speas at #8.
Perhaps the most surprising person on the list is Joe Palumbo, a lefthander who was 21 during the 2016 season, and had a very impressive campaign at Hickory. I knew the 30th rounder in 2013 had generated buzz, but didn’t expect him to be this high on any lists. Rounding out the top ten is lefthander Brett Martin.
Not as strong a list as we’ve seen in the past few years, and BA says the strength in the system is the depth, rather than the top-end talent. But hey, if you’re losing talent because they are going to the majors or being used to acquire winning pieces, well, you can’t complain about that.