Tuesday newsletter time: Baseball America’s post-draft top 100 is out. Kumar Rocker isn’t on it
(Rangers Today/Jeff Wilson)
Baseball America has updated its rankings of the top 100 prospects in baseball, after the 2022 MLB Draft, and it’s pretty good news for the Rangers.
They have six in the top 100. Evan Carter is the highest-ranked at No. 43, and Josh Jung follows at No. 44. Ezequiel Duran is No. 57, Jack Leiter free falls to No. 67, Owen White climbs to 89, and Luisangel Acuna, recently promoted to Double A Frisco, rounds out the Rangers’ representatives at No. 90.
There are a few notable exceptions, namely the recently drafted Kumar Rocker and Brock Porter (and former first-rounders second baseman Justin Foscue and right-hander Cole Winn).
The highest of the 2022 draftees is No. 2 overall pick Druw Jones at No. 21. That’s 20 spots higher than No. 1 overall pick Jackson Holliday. No. 5 overall pick Brooks Lee is one spot ahead of Holliday. Termarr Johnson, the No. 4 pick, is ranked 46th.
Rocker, No. 3 overall, and Porter, one of the highest-ranked pitchers in the draft, are absent.
Fangraphs has updated its rankings after the draft, and Rocker is the No. 13 Rangers prospect. Porter slides in at No. 8. Baseball America has not updated its team top 30 rankings.
Rocker and Porter are in Arizona for the rookie mini-camp, which started last week. They will begin their buildup for the fall instructional league, which again is expected to end with a barnstorming tour of Texas (including a game at TCU). However, it’s possible that Rocker and Porter are both shut down by that point.
Dugger, Walker claimed
The Rangers’ outfield logjam was cleared somewhat Sunday when Stephen Duggar and Steele Walker were claimed on waivers.
Dugger was snatched up by the Angels, who are dealing with injuries to their outfielders, and Walker was snagged by the Giants.
It was somewhat surprising to see the Rangers designate Walker for assignment after he made his MLB debut earlier this season. However, the consensus was that he has been a below league-average player the past two seasons, and Leody Taveras and Bubba Thompson had passed him in the outfield pecking order.
The Rangers used the two 40-man spots created by the DFAs of Duggar and Walker on left-hander Cole Ragans and Thompson, who were both added Thursday.
Evan Carter, who turns 20 later this month, is the highest-ranked outfielder in the Rangers’ system by Baseball America, followed by Dustin Harris, Aaron Zavala and 17-year-old Anthony Gutierrez.
Newsletter news
I was going to send this out in a separate email, but this serves the same purpose and keeps me from having to design another email. Plus, it was a quiet day on the Rangers front.
A few things:
The goal is to have our new email system in place by the end of the month. At that point, all stories can be emailed when published. No one is looking forward to that more than me.
Becoming a paid subscriber is quick and cheap — only $5.99 a month, $35 for six months or $60 for a year. Baseball news can happen anytime during a year, especially with another potentially big offseason ahead, and Rangers Today will have it.
It’s also easy and cheaper (free) to subscribe to our YouTube channel. If each of you takes a minute to do that right now, well, I’ll be a happy camper.
Also, we are now actively seeking advertising partners for the website and podcast. If you know any business owners who might be a good candidate, email me at jeff@rangerstoday.com. That would make me an even happier camper.
Doggy video!
First off, nice house. Second, great take down. Enjoy. See you Wednesday.
Those are my bubbles!! pic.twitter.com/uKo3Rh8NOf
— UOldGuy🇨🇦 (@UOldguy) August 7, 2022
Jeff Wilson, jeff@rangerstoday.com
