Monday 21 February 2011

In position: Centerfield

Taking you to Skole
Every year over the past three or four, I've gone through the entire Texas Rangers' franchise, position by position in order to gauge the organizational depth. This has especially been important as prospects have progressed and made it to the Majors. It also helps to discover what prospects might prove valuable in trades.

Previous: Catcher, First Base, Second Base, Shortstop, Third Base and Left Field.

Josh Hamilton
29 - Texas Rangers
Healthy and sober, there's little better. You just always look back at those lost years and wonder where he would be in the grand scheme of Major League Baseball had he kept it all together.

Julio Borbon
25 - Texas Rangers
Wound up with 438 at-bats in 130 games and 121 hits. Still, it seemed like a total disappointment. Doesn't seem like he played as much as he did and didn't make any impact despite the .276 average and 42 RBI.

Craig Gentry
27 - Oklahoma RedHawks
A salty year cut short due to injury, which has become a reoccurring theme for Gentry. A valuable piece off the bench and someone that plays balls out.

Engel Beltre
21 - Frisco RoughRiders
Figured it out in Bakersfield hitting .331. Most importantly, he walked 11 times and struck out just 34 times. He took that momentum to Frisco. It eventually tapered, but his patience at the plate stuck around. Beltre begins and ends 2011 at the upper levels of the Rangers organization. An amazing prospect.

Cody Podraza
23 - Bakersfield Blaze
Finished hitting .295 winding up in Bakersfield. Just 5-8 and 185, he doesn't have a lot of power and his speed was virtually non-existent last season.

Guillermo Pimentel
21 - Hickory Crawdads
Ripped short-season Spokane with a .344 average and was sent to Hickory after just nine games. One of the Rangers' hottest prospects is due for a huge year and a huge jump.

Jacob Skole
19 - Spokane Indians
Known as the less-than-stellar first-round pick from 2010, Skole has a lot of attitudes to change. Helped by hitting .286 in Arizona and then had 13 extra-base hits after the bump to Spokane. A safe pick with safe stats.

Teodoro Martinez
18 - Arizona Rangers
Eighteen going on 19. Registered a very, very impressive .313 average with 14 doubles, 20 steals and just 25 strikeouts in 211 at-bats. Perfect, young speed in the centerfield position.