Texas Rangers: Leody Taveras is the organization’s prospect to watch in 2020

The Texas Rangers are reaching a point where their top prospects need to have breakout seasons and none is more important in 2020 than Leody Taveras.

The 2020 season is a pivotal year for the Texas Rangers as an organization. We’ll get our first look at baseball inside the near finished Globe Life Field. We’ll see perhaps the best rotation the club has had in a long time. Players like Joey Gallo, Willie Calhoun and Nick Solak enter the season with high hopes for breakout years. Others, like Rougned Odor and Ronald Guzman are trying to right the ship and establish themselves as cornerstone pieces. However, one of the most important individual seasons to watch won’t come in Arlington, but rather, about 35 miles north to the Dr. Pepper Ballpark, home of the Rangers Double-A affiliate, the Frisco Roughriders. Long considered one of the organization’s top prospects, Leody Taveras is entering a crucial season in his baseball career.

Taveras has long been considered a top prospect in the Rangers organization almost immediately after he signed as an international free agent in the summer of 2015. A switch-hitting outfielder, Taveras began to garner more and more recognition within prospect scouting circles and climbed to the ranking of the #28 prospect in all of baseball in 2017 per MLB Pipeline. However, since that peak, he’s slowly dropped off and been passed up falling out of Pipeline’s Top 100 rankings and finishing 2019 as the 5th ranked prospect in the organization. Still, while Pipeline might have soured a bit on Taveras, plenty of prospect services are high on the 21-year old’s talent and consider him the best player the Rangers have to offer.

But for Taveras, it’s nearing time for that talent to truly emerge as he continues to move up levels in the minors. In a quick overview of his scouting report, the question with Taveras does not lie with his defense. He’s already an elite Minor League center fielder and should continue that prowess with the glove in the big leagues when the time comes. He’s got plus speed and fielding grades and an above average arm. In fact, I’m confident that he could man center field come Opening Day this season and hold his own fairly well. However, while the glove and arm are tools that shine bright, his bat has yet to appear as a big league level asset.

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In 2019, we started to see some flashes that have been long awaited as Taveras started the season in High-A ball with the Down East Wood Ducks. Staying with DEWD meant he was repeating the level he spent 2018 at and in his 66 games at that level to open up 2019, he hit an impressive .294 with a .745 OPS and 21 stolen bases. That breakout remained us of what Taveras could be and earned him a promotion to Double-A Frisco where he spent the remainder of the season. His time with Frisco, while solid, was less inspiring. He played in 65 games and hit .265 with a .695 OPS. His slugging percentage saw just a single point drop following the promotion, but his on-base percentage dropped 48 points as his walk rate dipped.

Taveras is never going to be a big power guy. His frame isn’t meant to generate a lot of homers and really, with his defensive ability he doesn’t need to be. However, he has the speed to rack up doubles which is something he’s struggled to do along his path in the minors. For him to have hopes of playing a bigger role with the Texas Rangers in the future, he’ll have to show he can be a consistent hitter, especially one who can rack up doubles and maintain a high on-base percentage.

The reason this year is an important year for Taveras though isn’t just for his personal development, but also because of the Rangers current roster construction. After the Rangers sent Delino DeShields to the Indians for Corey Kluber, Texas doesn’t really have a true, everyday center fielder on their big league roster. Danny Santana, Scott Heineman and potentially Nick Solak could battle for some time right now, but Texas has no long-term answer currently in the big leagues.

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Leody won’t be in Arlington in 2020, at least not until September call-ups, but for a long-term plan, he’s the next man in line. He’s the highest ranked outfielder prospect in the organization and is also going to enter the season at the Double-A level meaning he’s not too far away from being big league ready. If he can have a real breakout year, he has the opportunity to be the Opening Day center fielder for Texas come 2021 and cement his place as a core young piece of the future. However, he isn’t without some competition. Texas recently acquired another promising outfielder who could compete for a future center field job in Steele Walker. Walker likely will join Taveras in Frisco this season meaning we’ll get to watch the two compete side-by-side.

Along with Walker, the Rangers also brought in Adolis Garcia on waivers from the Cardinals who could compete for an outfield role. He doesn’t possess the high ceiling it seems that Taveras or Walker do but he has the benefit of already having Major League service time under his belt. He’ll be given a shot to compete for a job in 2020 and while he profiles best as a right fielder, he has spent time in center.

I don’t see Texas bringing in a center fielder this offseason that will block Taveras long term but they have been linked with Pittsburgh’s Starling Marte who has two years left on his deal. That at least signals that the club recognizes the need they have in center. Despite being just 21, Taveras has a great opportunity to force his way into center field for Texas long-term, now it’s up to him to put together the needed breakout year.