The Texas Rangers have established a tremendous core of players at the Major League level and look set to make the playoffs for not only 2012 but for the next several years to come. But future dominance will depend on an solid influx of players through the draft, and the Rangers hope that Lewis Brinson and the rest of his class from the 2012 MLB Draft will find their way to the majors soon enough.
Keith Law recently released a quick analysis of each team’s first several players taken this year, and he seems to think the Rangers have a lot of raw potential from their early choices. The Rangers are certainly the kind of team who can take such chances and hope they pay off. He writes:
Lewis Brinson (1) was one of the most tooled-up athletes in the draft, and did show progress with his ability to hit this spring, although it’s the power/speed combo that got him in the first round. Joey Gallo (1A) has 80 raw power and an 80 arm off the mound and at third base, with a lot of swing and miss that he will have to work to lessen so that huge power can come into play. Collin Wiles (1A), a Vanderbilt commit, is a command right-hander who was 87-90 most of the year but spiked to 90-93 right before the draft. Jamie Jarmon (2) is so raw he makes Brinson look well-done, but has similar upside as a highly athletic kid with limited baseball experience.
Nick Williams (3) has regressed badly since his junior year of high school; he has some tools, but his pull-everything-and-hope-for-the-best approach exposed how limited his hit tool is right now. They went conservative/college after that, but did take Sam Stafford (14), a potential lefty reliever who the Yankees took last year but didn’t sign due to concerns about his medicals, and Jameis Winston (16), who is committed to Florida State to play quarterback.
Be sure to head over to Lone Star Ball to discuss Texas' draft class with fellow Rangers fans.