People who say the Texas Rangers farm system is trash are simply not paying attention. The team has a top 5 minor league system in all of baseball, and arguably the most talented in all of baseball.
The problem is and always has been, how can you fit all that talent on one Major League Roster? In short: you can’t.
In their top 10 prospects for example, the Rangers have six infielders. The big club has a set infield for the foreseeable future.
Where are they going to play guys like Ezequel Duran, Josh Smith, Dustin Harris, Justin Foscue and others? In the outfield the Rangers have less, only 3 in the top 20.
Some of that infield talent has already begun the transition to the outfield. A major reason to compile that much talent in the minors is so that you can use them in trades.
There is a large collection of fan favorite prospects who will never play for the Rangers big league club. They will be successful elsewhere, and that is okay.
Baseball is a business first, as fans sometimes like to forget. Trading for a guy that helps the team win now is part of that business, and in order to do that you need minor league talent.
There are numerous articles and blog posts online talking about the Rangers search for starting pitching. Where does that leave pitchers like Zak Kent, Cole Ragans, Glenn Otto, Spencer Howard, Cole Winn, A.J. Alexy, Owen White and many other projected Major League arms? It leaves them on the trade block.
In the minds of the team and the front office, the Rangers are ready to win now. They need help in order to do so.
Prospects need to come up and perform, and they need to make trades to improve the team and their chances as well.
We are going to watch that farm system start depleting this winter and beyond. The Rangers are going to have to shed some of those prospects if they are serious about winning a World Series.
Some names that we all love are going to be elsewhere. The Rangers need to trade the right guy for the right guy. They can’t just give guys away, it must improve the team.
This is the reason you stockpile the minor league system the way the Rangers have. It’s time to start winning for real, first on the trade market, then on the field. 2023 is going to be a huge year for this franchise, one way or the other.
