Poll: First promotion from AA

We are roughly two months into the minor league season, and at AA Frisco, there are a quartet of position players who are off to very strong starts that include an OPS over 900.

First baseman/DH Blaine Crim is slashing .315/.384/.572 through 185 plate appearances so far this year, after having moved up to Frisco last season for the final six weeks of the season.

Infielder Ezequiel Duran is slashing .311/.357/.575 through 182 plate appearances, including 21(!) doubles. Duran spent all of last season in A ball, though he also played in the Arizona Fall League.

Infielder Justin Foscue is slashing .289/.400/.519 through 125 plate appearances. Foscue, like Crim, spent the last six weeks or so in Frisco last year after starting the year from high-A.

Outfielder J.P. Martinez, who has largely fallen off the prospect map due to underwhelming performance the last few years, has also gotten off to a great start to the year, slashing .311/.423/.563 in 142 plate appearances. Martinez spent all of 2021 in Frisco.

All four of these players are performing at a level that would seem to warrant consideration for a promotion later on this summer, and I’m not sure who I would peg as being the one most likely to move up first. Martinez and Crim are both older — Martinez is 26, while Crim is 25 — and thus from an age standpoint, more suited to be in AAA than AA. Duran and Foscue, on the other hand, are both considered to be among the best prospects the Rangers have, and thus from a developmental standpoint, having them at the appropriate level is going to be more of a priority than it would be with Crim or Martinez. In addition, Duran and Foscue are guys who could potentially be in the mix for major league playing time this season, particularly with the problems the Rangers have been having at third base and left field, which are positions one or both of those two could possibly fill.

So I figured I would do a poll today asking...which of these four players do you believe will be the first to be promoted from Frisco (whether that is to Round Rock or the big leagues)?

Cast your vote below...