In position: Shortstop

Profar, so good

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 and Second Base.

Shortstop is the new catcher.

Two years ago, the Texas Rangers apparently flush with backstops. We now know how fleeting hype, expectations and unfinished talent can truly be.

I think, now, that shortstop is the deepest singular position in the Rangers organization. It helps that the guy with the big-league club is only 22, is an All-Star and it allows the Rangers to stockpile talent.

Most notably, the depth here is representative of the Rangers' focus on the Latin American kids.

Elvis Andrus
22 - Texas Rangers
He's young. Already an All-Star. And I sincerely believe he's only getting better.

Guilder Rodriguez
27 - Oklahoma City RedHawks
Want to give him a little credit. An older guy looking for a spot to play ball. There are plenty of worse upper-tier minor league fillers. He's not a total drag in the line-up, gets on base. Zero power, but that's OK. You need the Andres Blancos of the world.

Davis Stoneburner
26 - Frisco RoughRiders
Hit .290 in Bakersfield. Gets bumped to Frisco. Hits .297 there. Gets a spot look at Oklahoma City at the end of the season. Clearly, he carries big lumber. He followed up his 33-double performance in 2009 with 16 homers and 30 doubles in 2010 among his multiple stops. I don't know how good or bad he is defensively. The times I've seen him, he wasn't knocking my socks off. Still, he had just three errors in 10 Double-A games. I wonder if he'll be in line for a position change?

Andres James
23 - Bakersfield Blaze
Hit .280 with 17 doubles in High-A. This last season was by a country mile his best season in professional baseball.

Leury Garcia
19 - Hickory Crawdads
Feels like he's been around forever and he's only just now turning 20. Cripes. It's impossible to ignore the 47 stolen bases in 2010.

Jonathan Roof
21 - Hickory Crawdads
Rode a .357 average in the rookie league straight outta Michigan State all the way to Low-A Hickory. Even there, he held his own. Someone, given the opportunity, that could make a leap.

Jurickson Profar
17 - Spokane Indians
Yes. He's still property of the Texas Rangers. A very nice stateside debut hitting .250 with 19 doubles. Worked 28 walks compared to 46 strike outs. If you want to know of a guy that might make a huge leap this season, the search begins and ends right here.

Odubel Herrera
19 - Spokane Indians
The lefty Venezuelan hit .337 in the Arizona Rookie League prompting the bump to Spokane.

Luis Sardinas
17 - Arizona Rangers
When trade rumors swirled this winter and the Rangers were looking to get Zack Greinke and other starting pitchers, Sardinas was always in the mix. Basically, it was Sardinas or Profar. He's a switch-hitting Venezuelan teenager who hit .311 in Arizona. We have not seen the last of Luis dSardinas. Even if he's with another team by July 31.