• Cole Hamels - One of the best pitchers in baseball; Hamels will front the rotation for the rest of the season and, sometime in 2016, pair with Yu Darvish to provide an excellent 1-2 punch at the top of the Rangers' rotation.  Of course, one has to keep in mind that Hamels is one of the two legacy pitchers, along with Cliff Lee, who formed Philadephia's "Staff of Aces" that was supposed to keep the team in contention for years.
• Jake Diekman - High K, high walk, high ground ball left reliever
• Cash - The Rangers dump some salary by trading Harrison, but not enough to cover Hamels' $20+ million this year.  (Rumors are still running high that Texas is looking to move Choo this offseason, and may be looking at options with Elvis Andrus as well)
• Jorge Alfaro - "The Legend".  Still one of Texas' top prospects, despite running a year late in his development *before* his season-ending ankle injury.  He's not Pudge Rodriguez, but he's one of the closest to come along in a long time.  Good bat and his pop times to second base are Pudge-like.  Unfortunately, he's still a mess as a backstop, and hasn't developed as fast or as good as many expected.
• Nick Williams - development success story.  Surprising second round draft pick in 2012.  Extreme athleticism.  Made it to AA on promise and enough ability to provide depth; finally turned a corner this year.  Took a more patient approach at the plate and finally exploded.  Fast but not too smart in the outfield yet, but tons of potential.  Rocketed up several prospect lists this year, but some scouts and pundits think he's an illusion.
• Matt Harrison - one-time solid lefty starter, Matty went from a year in which he received a smidgen of Cy Young consideration and club-friendly contract extension to a back injury to a degenerative disease.  Has made three starts with the Rangers this year after a year's recovery from spinal fusion surgery.  And not the spinal fusion surgery in the neck that everyone else is getting; this was low-down.  Wasn't actually expected to ever pitch again.  Not actually expected to pitch next year, at least not yet.
• Eickhoff and Asher.  Two solid AAA arms, neither has been perceived to have a high ceiling but both have handled AAA hitting competently with flashes of talent.  #5 starters on competing teams.  Eickhoff has an arm that might play in the bullpen better.  The Rangers have lot of these guys at the moment.  Or "had".
• Jake Thompson.  Maybe the biggest hit.  Thompson was acquired in trade last year.  He was the Tigers' top prospect and immediately slotted into the top ten for the Rangers.  Filthy slider; still needs some seasoning but you can visualize him as an important part of a playoff team as early as next year, but probably 2017.

• #1 pitching prospect Chi Chi Gonzales.  Chi Chi spent some time in the bigs this year and started out great.  Once the scouts had a good look at how he handled the bigs things turned around.  The Rangers frequently bring up top prospects when they're ready to fine-tune their game, so  you can bet Chi Chi is spending his time in Round Rock learning, not just practicing.
• Nomar Mazara, a power-hitting outfielder who has been discussed by several national scouts as being in the mix for #1 prospect in baseball.
• Joey "The Face" Gallo - Extreme power and the athleticism to play third base.  Like Chi Chi, got a stint in the bigs before being sent down to work on pitch recognition and his swing.  Has a good sense of the strike zone and walks a ton, but has some holes in his swing.
• Lewis Brinson - True center fielder with a big bat; Brinson is still a few years from the bigs.
• Ryan Cordell - Another Nick Williams.  No natural position, but extreme athleticism.

Posted by: Ben at July 29, 2015 10:19 PM (DRaH+)

Posted by: Wonderduck at July 29, 2015 11:09 PM (jGQR+)

Posted by: Ben at July 29, 2015 11:53 PM (DRaH+)

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