In position: Third Base

In with the Olt

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 and Shortstop.

Adrian Beltre
31 - Texas Rangers
He's the big fish Jon Daniels and Nolan Ryan are holding up and getting their picture taken with. For their sake, I hope he works out. Hell, I hope he works out for my sake. Still, it's so hard for me to ignore those faulty years in contrast with those two major contract years.

Mike Young
34 - Texas Rangers
I think we'll see Young at third base more so than any other position. So, I'll put him here. I still contend that the move to third base revitalized Young's career. The physical toll of shortstop impacted his ability at the plate. To me, it's no surprise his numbers jumped after the move. I like the guy on the field, but I think he's kind of a douche off of it.

Renny Osuna
25 - Frisco RoughRiders
A usable utility guy. I saw him play second and shortstop on any given night. Followed a disappointing 2009 with a really good 2010 hitting .293 with 30 extra-base hits and 20 steals. He gets on base at a decent rate. If he can improve that a bit more, he might find a lot more success moving forward.

Mitch Hilligoss
25 - Frisco RoughRiders
Hit .304 in a 24-game stint in Frisco. The issue is that he had two home runs in 243 2010 at-bats, which isn't a good number for a corner infielder.

Tommy Mendonca
22 - Bakersfield Blaze
Turned in what we're learning is a typical Mendonca year: .248 average, 126 strikeouts. Still, he's young and those power numbers (26 doubles, 10 homers) keep you hopeful.

Jonathan Greene
25 - Bakersfield Blaze
Injuries derailed Greene's 2010. Considering he's good for 20 home runs and 20 doubles a season, that means something. Consequently, he's dropped a level for third basemen in the organization. Time is not on his side.

Matt West
22 - Hickory Crawdads
The highly-touted high schooler has hit .234 and .223 in consecutive years, stuck in Low-A Hickory. He's also struck out 261 times in two years. He finally showed a little pop with 13 home runs and 25 doubles in 2010. The dude needs to step up in 2011.

Michael Olt
22 - Spokane Indians
Became the Rangers' best prospect out of the 2010 draft quickly by hitting .293 with 16 doubles and nine home runs. Furthermore, he walked 40 times driving his on-base percentage up to .390. Olt will not be in Spokane very long if at all.

Daniel Lima
23 - Spokane Indians
Hit .345 in 15 games last season and hit very well the year before. However, in those same two years, he's shown zero power and a total lack of control at the plate.

Christian Villanueva
19 - Arizona Rangers
Youngster hit .314 with 14 doubles in the rookie league last season.