The Texas Rangers could jump from promising to elite quickly

When the Texas Rangers added Jack Leiter to their system last summer, they added a bona fide prospect sure to one day lead the rotation. Call it blind optimism or just falling victim to star power, but Leiter seemed more can’t miss than prospects who cam before him.

This season the Texas Rangers fell upon another gift from the baseball gods when Martin Perez inexplicably became an ace. Sure, his 2022 performance is an outlier, but he’s shown the kind of stuff that makes you think he’s finally figured things out and reached that true No. 1 caliber level, at the ripe age of 31.

Best yet, there is indication (from him) that he wants to stay in Texas long-term and can be a veteran presence the Rangers build around.

The Texas Rangers have a promising pitching situation coming up and could push them into elite territory

Jon Gray, signed through 2025, is also starting to pay off. He’s found his stride this season and looks like a top-of-the-rotation veteran that can be  a stable force in an otherwise young and volatile rotation.

Speaking of young and volatile, the Texas Rangers have a handful of young arms coming up in the system. Cole Ragans, 24, has had a tumultuous trek through the system but seems like he’s reached the event horizon of his journey to the majors.

Cole Winn is still charging forward. He’s plateaued this season but still projects as a legit MLB starter and has been a mainstay in the pipeline for years. Zak Kent will come right after the “the Coles” but looks like will be a good compliment even if he doesn’t have blazing stuff.

The aforementioned Leiter leads the youth movement in pedigree, name recognition, hype, and arm talent.  He’s on the fast track to Arlington and should be breaking through next season sometime. The recently drafted Kumar Rocker is likely a year behind him, following a similar path, assuming everything checks out medically (man, I’m going to get sick of writing that caveat).

Finally, Owen White has been dropping jaws in AA and should be coming to Arlington roughly the same time as Leiter. He hasn’t been talked about as often as the others but is every bit as exciting.

All of this makes up a very promising near future for the Texas Rangers. We’ve talked about it for years but now we can finally see it on the horizon.

The Texas Rangers may not be able to finish a game if their lives depend on it but there’s plenty of reason for optimism.