Texas Rangers 2022 season-opening prospect rankings: Part 3 (Nos. 36 through 19)

Texas Rangers 2022 season-opening prospect rankings: Part 3 (Nos. 36 through 19)
By Jamey Newberg
May 11, 2022

One of the things the lockout put on hold this winter — besides, you know, baseball — was the rollout of these rankings.

One unintended consequence was that, especially as we get to the top half, there was the possibility a player or two might elevate himself into a major-league role over the season’s first month. As noted in the first installment of this list, I disqualify prospects who have earned more than a cameo appearance in Arlington even if they still have rookie status (so Brock Burke, for instance, is ineligible, while Sam Huff will still be ranked).

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Glenn Otto has done just that. Called up when Jon Gray hit the injured list late in April, he pitched well in his first two starts, just like he did a month after arriving from the Yankees in the Joey Gallo trade last season. The key for Otto will be sustaining things, unlike last summer after the first couple of gems. He had been slotted at No. 17, but I’m now dropping him from my rankings.

The other part of that equation is it creates an empty chair among the top 72, and the benefit of being in-season is we’ve had a meaningful slate of games to consider. This has prompted some new conversations that, although based heavily on projection, now have some added results to factor in. Has there been a prospect in the system who has turned a corner, found a new gear, moved himself not only into a firm spot in any assessment of the 72 players worth ranking but arguably even a place in the top half?

I bounced four names off several people in the organization, and it became clear which of them has had the most intriguing start to his 2022 — not just statistically but also in terms of the big picture. Southpaw reliever Lucas Jacobsen slots in at No. 36. (Though to be fair, if I were reevaluating the whole bunch right now, I would flip him with No. 41 Chase Lee, his Frisco teammate.)

Following up on Part 1 and Part 2 of these rankings, here are Nos. 36 through 19. The final installment will land in a week, running down the system’s top 18 prospects — with a good chance that the order will probably get a little justified shuffling.


36. Lucas Jacobsen, LHP, Double-A Frisco
Round 27/2016 (U/R)

Jacobsen was a relatively quiet sign as a 27th-round pick from Long Beach State and, in the six years since, even more of a quiet prospect as a pro. He nearly quit baseball after an injury his freshman year and eventually needed Tommy John surgery, which cost him 2018 and half of the 2019 season before sitting out in 2020 with no minor-league season to be played. As a result, 2022 has been the tall lefty’s first full season since 2017, and he’s making the most of it. Jacobsen has been nearly unhittable out of the Frisco bullpen, scattering three hits in 9 2/3 innings while fanning 11 with a mid-90s fastball that he can also sink, paired with a slider and occasional change. He’s behind several relievers on the farm in terms of the big-league picture, but there’s a greater than zero chance that the 26-year-old is a Texas Ranger before the season ends.

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35. Steele Walker, OF, Triple-A Round Rock
Trade with White Sox/2019 (-16) 

Walker’s first season on the field with the Rangers since coming over from the White Sox in a December 2019 trade had its ups and downs. He played his way out of Double A in just three months but, after a strong start in Triple A, faded late, and Texas left him off the 40-man roster this winter in advance of what would have been his first Rule 5 Draft. That draft was canceled and some on the organization’s player development staff felt the 25-year-old with solid-average tools across the board was poised for a big 2022. That still may happen, but he suffered a concussion late in spring training that cost him all of April. The Prosper High/University of Oklahoma product made his season debut just last week and jumped out to a 6-for-18 start with Round Rock that included two home runs. He’ll be looking to regain the power stroke that had emerged once he reached Double A, typically considered the most challenging jump in the minors.

34. Yerry Rodriguez, RHP, Triple-A Round Rock
International/2015 (-19)

Given that Rodriguez is in his second Triple-A season and on his second of three options, it would stand to reason that the Rangers — particularly in a year that once again has an audition feel in some areas of the roster — would like to see the 24-year-old in Arlington at some point. He hasn’t yet earned the opportunity. The right-hander was consistently effective over his first four pro seasons (fewer hits than innings pitched, more strikeouts than innings pitched, fewer than two walks per nine innings), earning a 40-man roster spot following 2019. But in 2021, his walk rate doubled, and in 2022 his command has faltered considerably. He’s issued seven walks in 10 1/3 innings and is getting too much of the plate with his mid-90s fastball/change-up/curve mix when he finds the zone, as evidenced by 16 hits in that span.

33. Avery Weems, LHP, Double-A Frisco 
Trade with White Sox/2020 (-12)

With the progress Dane Dunning has made in his two seasons with Texas, the December 2020 Lance Lynn trade qualifies as a success. Weems, the second piece in the deal, can make it an even bigger win. His first season with the Rangers was fascinating: bypassing the Low-A level altogether, he held High-A hitters to a .237 batting average with a sturdy ratio of 124 strikeouts to 27 walks in 85 1/3 innings. He did allow an unsightly 16 home runs — 14 of which were surrendered in just five of his 20 outings (19 starts) — resulting in a distended 5.06 ERA. He’s been just as homer-prone in his introduction to Double A, giving up three long balls in his first 15 2/3 innings for Frisco. He’s been the RoughRiders’ Wednesday starter, going from one inning to two to three to five in his first four starts. The debate persists on whether he’d be better suited in a relief role, where his mid-90s velocity and plus slider would theoretically play up.

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32. Justin Slaten, RHP, Double-A Frisco 
Round 3/2019 (-1)

The same conundrum has hovered over Slaten ever since Texas drafted him three rounds before the White Sox took Weems in 2019. He continues to start games, working in regular rotation with Frisco, but he’s been even more susceptible to the home run. After giving up a system-high 17 in 2021, he’s allowed two in 17 innings this spring — both coming in an outlier start on April 21 in which he also issued an uncharacteristic five walks in four frames — though he’s been far less hittable overall, holding Texas League batters to an anemic .143 batting average with 20 strikeouts.

31. Nick Snyder, RHP, Triple-A Round Rock
Round 19/2017 (-5)

There is no such question about Snyder’s role. He’s never started a game on the mound. Not in college, where he sprinkled in four relief appearances as Indian River State College’s starting shortstop; not in the minor leagues, where he’s taken the ball out of the bullpen 82 out of 82 times; and not in the majors, where he’s pitched six times in relief in brief 2021 and 2022 stints with Texas. Snyder’s filthy power arsenal (headed by a fastball that touches 101 mph and a wipeout slider) is big-league material, but there is work to be done. As a minor leaguer, he’s fanned 10.8 and walked 2.4 for every nine innings. With the Rangers, the rates flip (six walks and one strikeout in 4 2/3 innings). The 26-year-old has been getting at least a day off between assignments since returning to Round Rock in late April. It will be worth keeping an eye on when and if he’s tested on consecutive days, perhaps signaling an imminent return to Arlington.

30. Cole Ragans, LHP, Double-A Frisco 
Round 1/2016 (-12)

The Rangers never had to sweat exposing Ragans to the Rule 5 Draft this winter since the lockout ensured that never happened. It may be tougher to leave him off the roster this offseason. The 24-year-old — who missed the 2018, 2019 and 2020 seasons recovering from two Tommy John surgeries — was tremendous in two months at the High-A level last year (54 strikeouts and 14 walks in 44 1/3 innings, .217 opponents’ batting average) but less effective after a promotion to Double A, where he walked 20 and allowed eight homers in 36 1/3 Texas League innings, leading to a 5.70 ERA and the exclusion from the 40-man roster. He’s been much more effective in his return to the level this spring, scattering six earned runs (2.25 ERA) on 20 hits and nine walks in 24 innings while setting 31 down on strikes. He’s fully regained the feel for one of the system’s best changeups, which he fades and tunnels well.

Yeison Morrobel. (Ben Ludeman / Texas Rangers)

29. Yeison Morrobel, OF, Extended Spring Training
International/2021 (+4)

Morrobel came as advertised in his pro debut, demonstrating an advanced feel for the strike zone and the barrel as he walked more often (30 times in 229 plate appearances) than he struck out (25 times) as a 17-year-old in the 2021 Dominican Summer League. At a wiry 6-2, 170 pounds, Morrobel is expected to fill out now that he’s in a professional strength and conditioning program and the Rangers believe that his power will arrive. Similar to what Dustin Harris has shown (and what Texas hopes Evan Carter will as well), Morrobel’s advanced approach — one that prompted the Rangers to pay him $1.8 million to sign — lays an intriguing foundation. Whether he can stick in center field like Carter or ends up on a corner like Harris remains to be seen.

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28. Cam Cauley, SS/2B, Extended Spring Training
Round 3/2021 (+12)

When I asked club officials this March in Arizona about players who were opening eyes in camp, nobody’s name came up more often than Cauley’s. The diminutive infielder is not physically imposing and probably doesn’t have much projection left, but he’s an aggressive player on both sides of the ball and the Rangers believe he will get the most out of his ability. An All-State wide receiver in high school, the 19-year-old stole 10 bases in just 24 games in the Arizona Complex League last summer after swiping 52 in 53 high school attempts in the spring. Cauley, who signed for an over-slot $1 million in the third round in lieu of playing at Texas Tech, spent most of his pro debut at shortstop, though he may ultimately profile better at second base or in center field.

27. Thomas Saggese, SS/3B/2B, High-A Hickory
Round 5/2020 (N/C)

Saggese is similar in size to Cauley and just a year older, but the San Diego-area high school product projects to get to more power and rely less on speed to pressure opponents. Though there was no minor-league season when Saggese was drafted in 2020, Texas didn’t hold him back to debut in the Arizona Complex League in 2021. Instead, they aggressively assigned him just after his 19th birthday to the Low-A level, where the average player was more than two years older. He had a remarkable run with Down East, hitting 11 home runs among his 30 extra-base hits in just 78 games. Saggese hit .262, reached base at a .371 clip, and slugged .475 with an .846 OPS, second only to Harris. This spring, he’s off to a slower start with Hickory (.247/.302/.348).

26. Dane Acker, RHP, Injured
Trade with A’s/2021 (-9)

The A’s closed the Elvis Andrus trade with Texas before the 2021 season by tacking Acker onto Jonah Heim and Khris Davis before he’d thrown a professional pitch. When Acker arrived, he was not the same pitcher the Rangers had scouted at Rice, San Jacinto Junior College and Oklahoma. He was suddenly sitting 95-97 mph and touched 99 mph with the makings of a putaway curve. Assigned to Low-A Down East out of camp, he was dominant in two starts, striking out 11 and walking one in 6 1/3 innings. But his elbow wasn’t feeling right, and he was shut down to undergo Tommy John surgery. He’s about a year out from the procedure now and could be back on a mound as soon as July, though it’s possible he’ll be held back until Fall Instructional League before being turned loose in 2023.

25. Blaine Crim, 1B, Double-A Frisco 
Round 19/2019 (+21)

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As a stocky right-handed hitter from a small college likely limited to first base, Crim is the type of player who will have to hit his way into every promotion. So far, so good. The former 19th-round pick had a .990 OPS in his four years at Mississippi College and then a .954 mark in his 2019 pro debut at the short-season level. But it wasn’t until 2021 that his impact fence power arrived. After hitting eight home runs in 246 plate appearances that first summer, he upped it to 29 bombs in 2021 against the much more advanced pitching at the High-A and Double-A levels. Back at Frisco this spring, the 24-year-old hit a soft .325 out of the gate, failing to go deep in his first 11 games. He has since found his power stroke, homering four times in 15 games. After brief experiments in left field and third base late last season, Crim has returned to playing exclusively at first base. A promotion at some point this summer to Triple A — where Matt Carpenter and Sherten Apostel have been sharing first base duties — wouldn’t be surprising. The Rangers will have an interesting call to make this winter, as Crim will be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft.

24. Jake Latz, LHP, Triple-A Round Rock
Round 5/2017 (+11)

It will be Latz’s third winter to be draft-eligible if not rostered — his late-August spot start for Texas allowed for a temporary roster spot to accommodate COVID-19 IL cases — and he’s hoping to force a return to Arlington before that decision needs to be made. The 26-year-old had his breakout season at the two Class-A levels in 2019 (.159 opponents’ average, 74 strikeouts and 25 walks in 61 innings) and split 2021 between Frisco and Round Rock (plus the lone Texas appearance), maintaining his walk and strikeout rates but not suppressing base hits like he had at the lower levels. Latz has basically been the same Triple-A starter this spring as he was last summer, aside from added vulnerability to the home run. He’s allowed six in 28 innings, an untenable rate, and he’s behind rotation-mates like Spencer Howard and A.J. Alexy (if not Cole Winn) in terms of big-league options. But the ingredients are there for a second Rangers audition, particularly if and when the organization decides he’ll be rostered following the season.

23. Cody Bradford, LHP, Double-A Frisco 
Round 6/2019 (+6)

Like Latz, Bradford finished his collegiate career on the sidelines, beset by a case of thoracic outlet syndrome that cost the 2018 Big 12 Pitcher of the Year most of his junior season at Baylor and enabled the Rangers to land him several rounds later in the draft than he’d been projected. The big lefty made his pro debut two years later, and it was a good one. After 13 High-A starts (.230/.284/.410 opponents’ slash line, 87 strikeouts and 17 walks in 61 2/3 innings), Texas promoted Bradford to Double A. He was undaunted by the challenge, attacking hitters with solid-average stuff and walking only four of the 146 he faced while allowing just one home run. His return to the Texas League in 2022 hasn’t been as clean. In just over half the Frisco innings he had a year ago, he’s walked twice as many batters (4.1 per nine innings versus 1.0 per nine last summer) and been more prone to extra-base hits — though, to be fair, most of the damage was done in one ugly, 10-run blemish on his ledger on April 22. The 24-year-old isn’t overpowering but exhibits some of the best control in the system, which makes him a prime candidate to challenge for back-of-the-rotation starts. He’s eligible for this winter’s Rule 5 Draft, which presents the Rangers with an interesting call to make since he’s only 25 starts into his pro career.

22. Chris Seise, SS, High-A Hickory
Round 1/2017 (+6)

I’ve been high on Seise for a long time, won over by conversations with more than one club official who has singled him out as perhaps the best prospect in the system — if he could stay healthy. The 23-year-old’s injury history is no longer a bullet point; it’s the story. A right shoulder injury wiped out his 2018 season, a left shoulder injury cost him most of 2019, and after the lack of a 2020 season to play, a knee injury limited the former first-round pick to 10 games in 2021. Seise entered 2022 with 82 games played in five pro seasons, and he was an easy call to leave off the 40-man roster this winter. The Rangers are handling him with care this spring, but in his DH-only role for Hickory — the only team he’s played for since 2019 — he’s hit five home runs in 82 plate appearances. When healthy, he’s a five-tool talent who could stick at shortstop.

Trevor Hauver. (Rusty Jones / Hickory Crawdads)

21. Trevor Hauver, OF, High-A Hickory
Trade with Yankees/2021 (+3)

Hauver, one of four players acquired from the Yankees for Joey Gallo last summer, has been one of several highly regarded prospects in the system to jump out to a slow start with the bat. The good news is he exhibits an advanced feel for the strike zone that the organization has been targeting for the last few years. Through the season’s first month, the left fielder was hitting just .177 with one home run and one double among his 11 base hits, but his 20 walks (in 20 games) were sixth-most in the South Atlantic League. Hauver’s productive career at Arizona State (.964 OPS) led New York to draft him in 2020’s third round, and he was drawing a base on balls once a game for the Yankees’ Low-A affiliate at the time of last summer’s trade, so this on-base aptitude is nothing new. The Rangers believe he will hit, too, for both average and power (and he will need to, as defense is not his strong suit and will limit him to a corner). It hasn’t taken hold yet, though he’s not Gallo-esque in his outcomes, as his strikeout numbers are generally better than average.

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20. Maximo Acosta, SS, Low-A Down East
International/2019 (+3)

Acosta hasn’t been on the field enough to back up the buzz that he’s generated since signing for $1.65 million in July 2019, but he’s finally playing regularly and getting the needed reps. The 19-year-old debuted in 2021 (after the lack of a 2020 minor-league season) but, just one month into the Arizona Complex League schedule, he was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome and underwent a season-ending operation. The fact that Acosta is once again playing exclusively at shortstop is a fair indication that his arm strength hasn’t been compromised. The .238 batting average and .712 OPS isn’t particularly encouraging, but it included four straight two-hit games to start the month of May — plus, he’s two years young for the Carolina League and is only 38 games into his pro career.

19. Anthony Gutierrez, OF, Extended Spring Training (Dominican Republic)
International/2022 (N/A)

The publications that track these things had Gutierrez pegged for a Nationals deal in 2023 — delayed by a year because Washington had virtually all of its $5.18 million international bonus pool for 2022 committed to Cuban outfielder Christian Vaquero — but the Rangers stepped in and got a deal done with Gutierrez for a tick under $2 million in January. The 6-3 outfielder won’t turn 18 until after the season and is expected to spend it in the Dominican Summer League before arriving stateside in 2023. He’s drawn comparisons offensively to Eloy Jiménez, though the two probably wouldn’t have been connected had they not both come out of Dominican trainer Amaurys Nina’s amateur program. Gutierrez has a far more athletic frame than Jiménez and, at least for now, projects in center field, though he has the arm for right field if a move is necessitated as he matures — and the raw power potential for the position as well. The Rangers love Gutierrez’s mentality and believe there is superstar upside. That’s a longshot label to put on just about any prospect, but only a few have the ingredients to at least merit the thought.

(Top photo of Maximo Acosta: Will Treadaway / Down East Wood Ducks)

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Jamey Newberg

Jamey Newberg is a contributor to The Athletic covering the Texas Rangers. By day, Jamey practices law, and in his off hours, he shares his insights on the Rangers with readers. In his law practice, he occasionally does work for sports franchises, including the Rangers, though that work does not involve baseball operations or player issues. Jamey has published 20 annual Newberg Report books on the organization. Follow Jamey on Twitter @newbergreport