“Veteran scouts are blown away by [the] Rangers’ farm system, counting 16 legitimate prospects, easily the most in MLB, giving them ammo for trades.
“So, yes, the Rangers, who need bullpen help, have plenty of prospects to land whoever they desire at the trade deadline.”
So tweeted USA Today’s Bob Nightengale yesterday.
San Diego traded closer Fernando Rodney to the Marlins, also yesterday, for Low A righthander Chris Paddack, a Cedar Park product whose last three starts, presumably some of which the Padres had pro scouts sitting on, went like this: 15 Greensboro Grasshopper innings, zero hits, one walk, 28 strikeouts.
In the third of those three starts, this past Saturday, your Hickory Crawdads scored three times in the ninth and tenth to pull out the win. Does the scout Nightengale talked to count that day’s Hickory starter, righthander Pedro Payano (.213/.296/.285, 25 walks and 75 strikeouts in 69 innings), among his 16? Debatable.
If Texas hadn’t made its trade with Philadelphia this month last year, that scout would have his number over 20.
But the Rangers wouldn’t have Cole Hamels (9-1, 2.60), or Jake Diekman (.173/.256/.288, 34 strikeouts and 10 walks in 29.2 innings), or a playoff berth in 2015, and who knows what in 2016.
Prospect inventory is meant to be built and to be spent.
On July 2, 2011, Texas signed 16-year-olds Nomar Mazara, Ronald Guzman, Yohander Mendez, and the aforementioned Payano, a few months after signing Rougned Odor, a 2010 J2-eligible player who signed late because teams weren’t stepping up financially over concerns about his size, average speed, and defensive limitation to second base. (Texas paid Odor $425,000, less than a tenth of the record-setting amount it paid Mazara.)
Mazara and Odor aren’t on that scout’s list because, just five years later, the 21- and 22-year-old are established big leaguers, but Guzman and Mendez surely are, even if Payano may or may not be.
Texas added more punch from Venezuela and the Dominican Republic in its 2011 J2 class than the Angels have in their entire system.
As for the Rangers’ 2011 draft, a month before that J2 splash, it was disappointing at the top (first-rounders Kevin Matthews and Zach Cone have been released), but tremendously strong in the middle (8th-rounder Kyle Hendricks, 11th-rounder Connor Sadzeck, 14th-rounder Andrew Faulkner, 15th-rounder Jerad Eickhoff, 17th-rounder Ryan Rua, 18th-rounder Nick Martinez, 30th-rounder Phil Klein), and forever anecdotal late (48th-rounder C.J. Edwards).
While Texas went to its second straight World Series that year, in the trenches the franchise was adding layers and layers of prospect ammunition.
Tomorrow is July 2, and the Rangers will again make noise. Rumors tie them to the top catcher on the international market, Venezuelan 16-year-old David Garcia.
The big club coming away with a split this week in New York (arguably acceptable given that three of the games were started by reinforcements Martinez, Chi Chi Gonzalez, and A.J. Griffin), failing to coming away with a winnable three or even four, might have the Yankees, at least for the moment, deciding not to put their late-inning relievers on the trade market. That’s notable, including here.
Rodney has moved, which theoretically opens the bullpen market for business, but the price is going to be high — for now — until a few more teams fall out of perceived contention over the next few weeks.
There isn’t going to be an equivalent Sam Dyson deal for Tomas Telis and Cody Ege — two players that Nightengale’s source wouldn’t have included on his list a year ago — early this July.
Texas could use some help in the bullpen. Keone Kela is the best bet for now, and he’s getting closer.
You can count on a boost from outside as well. This month.
But the Rodney trade removes one chip from the market — not that he was on the Rangers’ radar, but whoever else might have been interested besides Miami theoretically now gets in on whoever Texas is targeting — and there are a lot more buyers (or at least non-sellers) for now than there will be in four weeks. And everyone needs bullpen help.
The point is this:
Jon Daniels and his crew are going to add significantly to the pipeline tomorrow.
And subtract from it, likely significantly, very soon.
Happy New Month.
