Three Texas Rangers make BA top centerfield prospect list

Baseball America’s top center field prospect list is out, with BA ranking the top 40 centerfielders in the minors right now. The Texas Rangers have three centerfielders among their top prospects, and all three of those guys make the BA cut.

J.P. Martinez is the highest ranked of the Rangers prospects on the list, checking in at #12, behind Daz Cameron and Brandon Marsh. Leody Taveras comes in at #19 on the list, behind Estevan Florial of the Yankees, and Bubba Thompson is #21, between Everson Pereira and Austin Beck.

All three of these guys seem likely to start the 2019 season at high-A Down East, though Martinez, who turns 23 in March, could move to AA Frisco fairly quickly — he’s viewed as an advanced player who spent 2018 playing short-season ball in order to shake off the rust from over a year of inactivity after leaving Cuba to sign with an MLB team. All three are also considered true center fielders, rather than guys who will have to move to a corner outfield spot as they move up the ladder, which is good news for a Ranger team that has a question mark at the major league center field position currently.