The Texas Rangers’ system took a big hit with the MacKenzie Gore trade, as they dealt four guys who were on this list at the time of the deal, along with 2025 top-100 prospect Alejandro Rosario, who hasn’t pitched in over a year and has a mysterious situation around his torn UCL. What remains here is very pitching-heavy after the potential superstar at the top of the list, with their 2025 draft class and very recent international free agents dominating the remainder.
(Note: Tools are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale; ages as of July 1, 2026.)
Height: 6-4 | Weight:Â 190 |Â Bats: R |Â Throws:Â R |Â Age: 20
The Rangers continued to push Walcott very aggressively, starting him in Double A in 2025 even though he only turned 19 in March, making him the youngest player to start anywhere above A-ball. He hit a respectable .256/.355/.386, showing outstanding contact skills and plate discipline for his age but not turning that into much high-quality or even medium-quality contact, getting too many fastballs in the upper half of the zone and popping them up or getting on top of them and hitting them into the ground. He’s already reached 115 mph exit velocity, indicative of his enormous raw power, and perhaps we would have seen more of that last year had he been at a level more typical for his age. It’s to his credit that he only struck out 19.6 percent of the time, with just a 28 percent whiff rate and 25 percent chase rate, but he also clearly sacrificed a lot of power to avoid striking out. He didn’t have an extra-base hit all year on a pitch above 93 mph, which is mind-boggling because he has plenty of bat speed.
He’s still primarily playing shortstop, even though he’s at least going to move to third base and could follow the Kris Bryant path to the outfield, given his present size and his enormous frame. I’m still a big believer because he does know the strike zone and the power isn’t going anywhere, but he might need to repeat a level here to catch his breath, so he can convert his aptitude into more production.
2. Caden Scarborough, RHP (Just missed)Height:Â 6-5 |Â Weight:Â 185 |Â Bats:Â R |Â Throws:Â R |Â Age:Â 21
Scarborough would have been in the top 100 if he had a clear third pitch, as he already has two plus pitches and throws a ton of strikes, walking 6.7 percent of batters he faced last year in Low A and then briefly in High A. Drafted in the sixth round in 2023 out of a Florida high school, Scarborough is now sitting 94-96 with a plus slider that has late downward break, and he gains some deception thanks to a lower arm slot. He gets a ton of power from his hip rotation and finishes everything well over his front side. He does have a changeup that he barely uses and only busts out against lefties — Synergy’s data shows him throwing three changeups to righties all year — getting a lot of tumble on the pitch but not that much deception out of his hand.
He moved up to High A in August and reeled off three straight outings where he didn’t allow a run, going 13 innings, striking out 19, walking two and giving up just six hits, before getting hit around a little in his final start of the year. He’s a starter all the way if he develops one more pitch, whether it’s the current changeup or some other change-of-pace pitch to help him maintain his success against left-handed batters, with at least mid-rotation upside and probably more like No. 2 starter ceiling.
3. Jose Corniell, RHPHeight: 6-3 |Â Weight: 165 |Â Bats:Â R |Â Throws:Â R |Â Age: 23
Corniell has been on these lists since the Rangers moved from Washington (or so it seems). He finally made his major-league debut last year after multiple seasons interrupted or wiped out entirely by injuries. He pitched at five different levels in 2025, and despite all of the arm woes, his stuff was as good as it was before his Tommy John surgery the previous year, sitting 95-98 with a plus slider/sweeper, a cutter that might end up plus as well and a solid changeup that he should probably use more versus lefties. The cutter gets up to 94 and is really sharp and tight; it’s so close in velocity to the four-seamer that I think it’s going to fool a lot of hitters, maybe breaking a bunch of bats in the process. If he’d been healthy for any stretch of time, I’d say he was a future No. 2 starter and put him on the top 100.
4. Winston Santos, RHPHeight: 6-0 |Â Weight: 160 | Bats:Â R |Â Throws:Â R |Â Age: 24
Santos missed most of the 2025 season due to a stress reaction in his back, returning in late August and throwing about 20 innings in the AFL, where he topped out at 99.6 mph and worked on throwing his slider more. He’s been more of a fastball/changeup guy in the past, though the Rangers deliberately had him developing the slider when he was healthy last year, as that’s the pitch he’d need to profile as more than a back-end starter. It would flash average at times, with inconsistency in its break as I assume he’s developing some of his feel for the pitch. The changeup is still plus, and before 2024 he’d shown at least 55 control. I still think he’s a starter, as long as the back issue is resolved, he has a chance to be more than a No. 4/league-average type if the slider keeps coming along to be at least a consistently solid-average pitch.
AJ Russell came back in less than nine months from Tommy John surgery. (Brianna Paciorka / News Sentinel / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
5. AJ Russell, RHPHeight: 6-6 |Â Weight: 223 | Bats:Â R |Â Throws:Â R |Â Age: 22
Russell, the Rangers’ 2025 second-round pick, had Tommy John surgery in 2024 and returned to the mound in an unbelievable eight and a half months, hitting 97 in his first outing. Tennessee did pitch him in games last spring, limiting his innings and giving him a lot of time between them, and he was 92-95 with an above-average slider. In hindsight, it probably would have been better not to put him in games, but college coaches’ incentives are short-term, not long-term. The Rangers view him as a starter and will probably bring him along more slowly, building up his durability and having him throw more changeups, as he never had any consistent run as a starter in college — he started four games in 2024 before the injury, and then had six truncated starts after his return. If he can stay healthy in that role, it’s No. 2 starter stuff, at least, but the odds are low here just given how little he’s pitched.
6. Josh Owens, SS/RHPHeight: 6-3 | Weight: 185 | Bats: L |Â Throws:Â R |Â Age: 19
Owens was a high school prospect who went to the wood-bat Appalachian League last summer, facing mostly college pitchers, and hit .271/.419/.492 in 20 games there, boosting the Rangers’ confidence in his hit tool and plate discipline and leading them to take him in the third round. He’s a plus runner with a very good swing, showing excellent instincts on both sides of the ball. It probably helps that his father, Jeremy, had an 18-year career in the minors and independent ball. Josh Owens also pitched in the Appy League and twice after signing, touching 96 from a lower slot, and will continue to do both, with his future much more likely to come as a position player.
7. David Davalillo, RHPHeight: 6-1 | Weight: 175 | Bats:Â R |Â Throws:Â R |Â Age: 23
Davalillo is a command right-hander who throws five pitches, with the four-seamer probably his worst one as it has average velocity and below-average movement, so he succeeds with location and changing speeds constantly. His delivery is kind of funky and adds deception, while his changeup is a plus pitch with some hard tumble and his slider will flash plus when he finishes it. He’s had nothing but success through Double A, with a sub-3.00 ERA at two levels last year and a 25.6 percent strikeout rate in 56 innings for Double-A Frisco to finish the year. The ceiling is limited by the fastball, but he could be a No. 4 starter fairly soon given all of his other positives.
8. Emiliano Teodo, RHPHeight: 6-1 | Weight: 165 | Bats:Â R |Â Throws:Â R |Â Age: 25
Teodo is 98-100 with a wipeout slider, a perfunctory changeup and maybe 40 command. He missed time in 2025 with shoulder fatigue, with two IL stints that added up to more than three months on the shelf, and while he showed the same stuff in four relief outings in the Arizona Fall League, he was still all over the place. He faced 16 batters out there and didn’t give up a hit … because he struck out six (that’s good) and walked five (that’s bad). Anyway, he’s got to be a reliever, and I’m not sure that will even solve his issues with the strike zone, but the ceiling in a one-inning role is the top of the scale — those two pitches are going to miss a ton of bats if he’s even remotely close to average anything, command, control, a clue, whatever you want to call it.
9. Malcolm Moore, CHeight: 6-0 | Weight: 216 | Bats: L |Â Throws:Â R |Â Age: 22
Moore, the Rangers’ 2024 top pick, started last year in High A and hit .267/.463/.467 in his first nine games, at which point he broke his hand, missed two months and came back at half strength or worse. He stopped hitting the ball hard, and in his time in the AFL he looked tentative and weirdly undisciplined — he’s always had a good feel for the strike zone, but struck out over 30 percent of the time with just three walks in 69 PA out there, even though it’s a hitter’s league and nobody there could throw strikes. I’m inclined to just throw his 2025 season out the window and hope for a return to full strength this year, where the biggest question won’t be his bat, but his ability to stay behind the plate.
10. Yolfran Castillo, SSHeight: 6-3 | Weight: 185 | Bats:Â R |Â Throws:Â R |Â Age: 19
Castillo is a 55 defender at shortstop with really quick hands at the plate but no power to speak of yet, hitting just one home run to date as a pro in 540 PA. He’s very projectable, though, 6-foot-3 and listed at 165 pounds, and should get strong enough at least to be a solid hitter for average. He’s an above-average runner and rarely swings and misses, making a lot of outs in the air right now that should become hits when he starts to fill out. He turns 19 this February and should start the year in Low A.
Dylan Dreiling played collegiately at Tennessee before going to Texas in the 2024 second round. (Colin E Braley / Associated Press)
11. Dylan Dreiling, OFHeight: 5-11 | Weight: 197 | Bats: L |Â Throws: L |Â Age: 23
The Rangers’ second-round pick in 2024, Dreiling had a disappointing first full season in pro ball last year, doing some damage against righties and nothing against lefties, to the point where right now he’s a power-over-hit platoon guy who at least can back up all three outfield spots. There is a silver lining in that he continued to make a lot of contact overall; his whiff rate in the regular season was just 17 percent, and it was 23.5 percent in the AFL, where you typically see a lot of premium velocity/pure stuff that may or may not be in the same dimension as the strike zone. He needs some help with swing decisions to become the strong side of an MLB platoon in a corner-outfield spot.
12. Elorky Rodriguez, OF/2BHeight: 5-10 | Weight: 175 | Bats: L |Â Throws: R | Age: 18
Rodriguez signed last January for just over $1 million and hit very well in his debut in the Dominican Summer League, with a .337/.473/.506 line and more walks than strikeouts (by one). He’s a 5-10 left-handed hitter with a no-load swing that’s pretty short to the ball but long enough through contact to drive the ball to the gaps, profiling more as a hitter for average than for power even five years down the road. He was an outfielder before he signed but the Rangers tried him at second base in the DSL, and that’s definitely the better spot for him, as he’s not a burner and doesn’t have a great arm for the outfield.
13. Mason McConnaughey, RHPHeight: 6-3 | Weight: 220 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 22
McConnaughey blew out his elbow last spring after three starts for Nebraska and was later the Rangers’ fourth-round pick. Before the injury, he showed a good delivery and 55 control of a three-pitch mix where his fastball was the worst offering and his slider and changeup might both have been 55s. He should be able to return at some point midyear, with fifth starter potential for now, and maybe more upside if his velocity creeps up post-rehab.
14. Jacob Johnson, RHPHeight: 6-3 | Weight: 165 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 20
The Rangers went a little over slot in the 11th round last year to sign Johnson out of a Mississippi junior college, betting on his youth and projection. He’s been up to 96 but sits more in the low 90s with a short, low-80s slider. He has a ton of room to fill out his 6-3 frame and a loose, quick arm that gets some extension out front. He’ll turn 20 in May, so he’s akin to a high school pitcher rather than a typical two-year JUCO guy or a college arm.
15. Paxton Kling, OFHeight: 6-2 | Weight: 210 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 23
Kling went undrafted as a 21-year-old sophomore at LSU in 2024, transferred to Penn State, and had a much better year that included 13 homers (versus one the year prior). In the 2025 draft, he went to the Rangers in the seventh round. He’s a center fielder with power and above-average speed, showing a propensity to swing and miss too much even against the weaker pitching of the Big Ten last spring. He’s much toolsier than the typical 22-year-old college guy, and looked good on both sides of the ball in his limited pro debut against younger players in Low A and High A. The odds are still that he’s not going to touch the ball enough to get to the power or other production, but his physical tools give him a chance for some real impact if he does improve his contact skills.
16. Cam Cauley, UTHeight: 5-10 | Weight: 170 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 23
Cauley started playing some center field last year to add versatility, with almost as many starts there as he had at shortstop, and he might have some super-utility upside if he can hit enough for that. He’s very athletic, with plus speed and at least solid-average power, but he’s held back by his trouble making contact, with a 30 percent whiff rate in Double A that held across all pitch types, and he had a real issue with fastballs middle-up.
17. Izack Tiger, RHPHeight: 6-2 | Weight: 175 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 25
Tiger was 96-98 with a plus slider in the spring of 2024 but got hurt early in the season, eventually undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing all of 2025. He’s a reliever even if he comes back 100 percent, with two plus pitches and iffy control that should matter less in a power relief role. He has the upside of a leveraged reliever if his control gets to average.
18. Paulino Santana, OFHeight: 6-2 | Weight: 180 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 19
Santana is a power/speed center fielder who walked 20 percent of the time in his pro debut in the DSL in 2024, but was nowhere close to that in the Arizona Complex League or Low A last year, with an 8.2 percent walk rate and 30.7 percent strikeout rate across both levels. He played the whole year at age 18, so even Low A was advanced for him, but he’s a ways off from picking up spin. There’s 20-20 upside if he develops some kind of pitch recognition and zone awareness.
19. Anthony Gutierrez, OFHeight: 6-3 | Weight: 180 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 21
Gutierrez hit .258/.333/.320 last year in High A, repeating the level after a half-season there before shoulder surgery ended his 2024 season. He still didn’t look 100 percent at the plate, but did put the ball in play (20.7 percent strikeout rate), ran well and played mostly center field, so he has a fourth/fifth outfielder floor. He just turned 21 in November and should be somewhat stronger this year as he’ll be further removed from the surgery.
20. Owen Proksch, LHPHeight: 6-3 | Weight: 225 | Bats: B | Throws: L |Â Age: 22
Proksch moved into Duke’s rotation last spring and it was not a good switch, as anyone who’d seen him could have predicted. The 2025 ninth-round pick needs to be in a relief role, as he’s a low-slot lefty whose slider needs work and could profile as a good full-inning reliever because he does have a solid changeup, just using it too little in college.
2026 impact
For actual impact, no one. I would be zero percent surprised if Walcott debuted in September, though.
The fallen
Aaron Zavala was the Rangers’ second-round pick in 2021 out of Oregon and has now spent parts of the past four seasons in Double A, never hitting close to expectations at any spot, including his brief debut in Triple A last year. He went unselected in the Rule 5 draft this December.
Sleeper
Owens, as a shortstop much more than a pitcher or two-way player.