Texas Rangers take the cake in MLB’s new 2022 prospect rankings

Even as the Texas Rangers have been playing bad baseball of late (but not for lack of excitement!), progress is being made with an eye towards the near future.

MLB Pipeline released their 2022 mid-season Top 100 prospect rankings and no team has it better than the one that calls Globe Life Field and Arlington home for the season. The Rangers landed six (!) prospects on the list, which is tied with the LA Dodgers and Cleveland Guardians for the most of any organization in baseball.

Of the six names that cracked the top 100 for Texas, five of them were drafted by the team, while one (Ezequiel Duran) was acquired via trade.

Texas Rangers notch six representatives on MLB Pipeline’s 2022 mid-season Top 100 prospect rankings

The six Rangers prospects are ranked on MLB Pipeline’s list as follows:

18. Jack Leiter

32. Josh Jung

58. Ezequiel Duran

63. Justin Foscue

82. Cole Winn

97. Owen White

Notably, Owen White has entered the conversation of upper-echelon prospects in the game, and his sensational minor league performance thus far in 2022 merits that. Expect to see his name rise on this list as time goes on:

“Last year’s Arizona Fall League breakout pitcher has kept his momentum going into 2022, striking out 93 batters in 69 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A. All four of White’s pitches have above-average potential, and he typically sits in the mid-90s with his velocity. He could pass No. 82 Cole Winn to become Texas’ No. 2 pitching prospect behind Jack Leiter soon.”

It’s no surprise that the other five names made the cut, as Leiter is the Texas Rangers’ best prospect, with Jung, Duran, Foscue and Winn also in the team’s top five. But having six entries on this list is indicative of what this team has been building up the last several years: an elite farm system with the ability to sustain long-term winning. The talent is finally starting to garner recognition from pundits, though we’ve always known it to be there.

The only real concern with this latest ranking for the Rangers is the precipitous drop of Cole Winn towards the bottom of this list, though with his struggles this season, that’s not entirely surprising. There was a point where Winn was the best pitcher in Texas’ system and that certainly isn’t the case anymore with Leiter and others, but it’s good that the Rangers don’t need him to be that with all of their pitching talent. That can buy Winn, just 22, some extra development time to ensure he’s really ready for the big leagues when his call-up comes.

Few farm systems in Rangers history can stack up to this one. Fans should be excited for the next wave of talent to make it big in Texas!