The minor league season begins tonight, but only for Round Rock. Trey Supak and company will face Houston’s Sugar Land affiliate on the road. Following Supak will be Josh Stephan and Cal Quantrill. The other clubs must wait until next Thursday. Here’s the “break camp” rosters with my thoughts:
AAA ROUND ROCK EXPRESS
Pacific Coast League
Round Rock, Texas
The Dell Diamond (2000)
Pitchers
Dane Acker (Age 26)
Robby Ahlstrom (26)
Aidan Anderson (28)
Ryan Brasier (38)
Marc Church (24) (on 40-man roster)
#30 Gavin Collyer (24)
#4 Jose Corniell (22) (on 40)
Luis Curvelo (25) (on 40)
Alexis Diaz (29)
Austin Gomber (32)
Peyton Gray (30)
Patrick Murphy (30)
Michel Otañez (28) (on 40)
Cal Quantrill (31)
Josh Sborz (32)
Josh Stephan (24)
Trey Supak (29)
#17 Emiliano Teodo (25) (on 40)
Mason Thompson (28)
Numbers for Corniell and others are from MLB Pipeline’s Texas top 30.
I admit to a lukewarm feeling about the Express entering Spring Training, but the actual roster is more engaging than I expected. Texas will need reinforcements, of course, and we have a host of interesting battles for depth chart supremacy. Luis Curvelo probably tops the relief list, but even that is uncertain. Will Sborz improve enough to warrant a spot (and what happens if he does but none is available)? Can Marc Church (on his final option) and Emiliano Teodo finally maintain both health and consistency? Collyer has the stuff, but can he throw enough strikes? Can the outrighted Diaz recover past form? Might Peyton Gray and his unhittable changeup leapfrog all of them?
The rotation could be Corniell, Gomber, Murphy, Quantrill, Stephan and Supak. None is tickling my fancy as an MLB replacement starter at present. I’d ultimately prefer Corniell, who made his MLB debut late last season, but he has only 34 innings above high-A.
This afternoon, Texas re-signed Ryan Brasier to a minor deal.
Late edit: Of the players listed, Acker, Anderson, Corniell, and Pratto are inactive tonight. Pratto specifically is on the development list.
Catchers
Jose Herrera (29)
Cooper Johnson (27)
Willie MacIver (29) (on 40)
MacIver and Herrera will battle for the upper hand should Jansen or Higgy suffer an injury. Herrera has much more MLB service but a very poor record at the plate. MacIver has better AAA production and the advantage of an existing 40 spot.
Infielders
Jonah Bride (30)
#13 Cam Cauley (23)
Justin Foscue (27) (on 40)
Richie Martin (31)
Nick Pratto (27)
Tyler Wade (31)
I suppose Cauley had a small chance of repeating AA for a little while, but his standout spring assured a promotion. He and Tyler Wade are the primary competitors for an infield job in Arlington should need arise. Foscue, on his last option, is also a competitor but of a different sort, mostly as a replacement for either Jake Burger or Joc Pederson. Despite his lack of success in MLB, he’s ahead of Nick Pratto, a former top prospect who couldn’t maintain an MLB job a few years ago and hasn’t even hit AAA pitching lately.
Outfielders
Trevor Hauver (27)
Michael Helman (29) (on 40)
Alejandro Osuna (23) (on 40)
Aaron Zavala (25)
April is Osuna’s chance to prove he deserves a promotion before the older Helman, although Helman is probably preferable as a last-man-on-bench role in order to keep the at-bats flowing for Osuna in AAA.
Zavala, the 2021 second-rounder, had surprisingly solid chase and whiff rates in AAA following multiple years of trouble recovering from elbow surgery. Those rates ballooned in March, although he continued to post fancy numbers. I wouldn’t totally discount Hauver, who has a bunch of bodies in front of him but has evolved into a solid AAA hitter.
AA FRISCO ROUGHRIDERS
Texas League
Frisco, Texas
Riders Field (2003)
Pitchers
Austin Bergner (28)
Jonathan Brand (26)
Wilian Bormie (24)
Zach Bryant (27)
#7 David Davalillo (23) (on 40)
Janser Lara (29)
Ryan Lobus (25)
Eric Loomis (23)
#14 Leandro Lopez (23) (on 40)
Dylan MacLean (23)
Bryan Magdaleno (25)
Austin Roberts (27)
#5 Winston Santos (23) (on 40)
Blake Townsend (24)
#23 Josh Trentadue (24)
Ricardo Velez (27)
Frisco has four ranked starters led by Winston Santos, who made a season-ending start at Round Rock in 2025 but returns to AA for at least a little while. Last year, I ran a daily feature of Texas’s minor league history including best pitching performances during 2007-2025. In my updated rankings, Davalillo’s 2025 ranks sixth. He has exceptional control, an aspect I’m going to cover more in the upcoming Daily Primer.
Texas prospect watchers have had an eye on Lopez since he was known as Leandro Calderon and known mostly for a mesmerizing curve. Injuries and oft-errant control have delayed his ascent, but he progressed exceptionally in 2025 and wowed in Surprise. Trentadue pitched much better than his 2024 ERA of 4.46 would indicate, and he steamrolled high-A last season before running into control issues at Frisco.
Bormie can reach 100 and miss bats at will. He could reach the Majors this year. He could also issues bases-loaded walks in back-to-back outings. Loomis was indomitable in high-A and a hot mess in 7.2 Frisco innings (39% SO, 24% BB+HBP).
Frisco has six offseason mound signings: Bergner, Brand (a minor league Rule 5), Bryant, Roberts, Townsend and Velez.
Catchers
Julian Brock (24)
Tucker Mitchell (25)
Ian Moller (23)
Here’s where we run into trouble. At the calendar end of 2025, Frisco had six position players, and no hitters in Hub City other than perhaps Dylan Dreiling had made a strong case for promotion. (And Walcott’s injury sure didn’t help.) So, absent aggressive roster assignments, management would be forced to sign several free agents to complete the roster, and that in fact is what occurred.
At catcher, though, everyone is home-grown. Ian Moller is the highest pick (4th round, 2021), reaching AA almost entirely via patience (219 career BB+HBP, 217 hits). All three were here for at least part of 2025, and Frisco’s batteries were among the best in minor league ball at shutting down the running game.
Infielders
Jack Blomgren (27)
Frainyer Chavez (26)
Theo Hardy (24)
Keyber Rodriguez (25)
John Taylor (24)
Rodriguez and Chavez are in their ninth seasons in the organization. The undrafted Hardy has bounced around multiple levels during 2024-2025 depending on organizational need. Taylor was plucked out of the indy Atlantic League last year and reached base at a nice clip while playing six positions, mostly shortstop. The free agent Blomgren has a nifty .398 career OBP but only 300 plate appearances in the past four seasons.
Outfielders
#10 Dylan Dreiling (22)
Keith Jones II (23)
Marcus Lee Sang (25)
Orlando Martinez (28)
Jake Snider (27)
The 2024 second-rounder Dreiling hit .226/.319/.381 at Hub City, not awe-inspiring but good for a 112 OPS+ in the light-hitting South Atlantic League. Dreiling has a terrific contact rate and air-oriented swing. He was also very patient, arguably to a fault, watching 62% of pitches and taking a very high number of called strikes.
Jones, a 9th-round senior sign from the same class, was the first 2024 pick to reach AA. His approach is similar to Dreiling, if more inclined to grounders. Lee Sang, Martinez and Snider are all offseason signings.
HIGH-A HUB CITY SPARTANBURGERS
South Atlantic League
Spartanburg, South Carolina
Fifth Third Park (2025)
Pitchers
Joe Adametz (26)
#28 Ismael Agreda (22)
Aidan Curry (23)
Joey Danielson (25)
J’Briell Easley (24)
Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa (25)
Thomas Ireland (23)
D.J. McCarty (23)
#12 Dalton Pence (23)
Brock Porter (22)
Josh Sanders (24)
Luke Savage (24)
Enrique Segura (21)
Cole Stasio (24)
Anthony Susac (23)
Paxton Thompson (26)
Adonis Villavicencio (25)
Pence has adapted well to starting and might spend more than half the season at Frisco. Agreda was a short-burst starter at Hickory, facing around 16 batters per outing, stingy with hits but generous with free passes. He had the second-fastest recorded pitch of any Ranger in Spring Training, 99.9 MPH.
Danielson was Loomis’s tag-team partner in Hub City, very effective and promoted simultaneously to Frisco, but he had trouble with walks as well in AA. He didn’t appear in a spring game and finds himself back in Hub City for the moment. Porter (2022 4th-round pick but 1st-round talent) spent most of 2024 in Hickory, where he posted a 3.06 ERA and fanned 27% of opponents but walked or hit 17%.
Catchers
Ben Hartl (23)
#18 Malcolm Moore (22)
Cal Stark (23)
Hub City has a bunch of repeating position players, not a surprise given the fairly aggressive nature of last year’s assignments to the squad. The good news is that nobody in Frisco is blocking a promotion.
Top 2024 pick Malcolm Moore had a rough 2025, and not just because of an unlucky injury that sidelined him for two months. He hit .198/.293/.271 (72 OPS+) at Hub City and .213/.275/.328 in the Arizona Fall League. True, catchers require more patience, and perhaps the injury affected his results, but 2026 still feels like a make-or-break year.
Infielders
Arturo Disla (25)
Gleider Figuereo (21)
Luke Hanson (22)
Rafe Perich (23)
Chandler Pollard (21)
Gleider Figuero has fallen off the lower levels of the top 30. He’s still just 21 and popped 38 homers the last two years but hasn’t provided much else, and he’s strictly a corner man. Perich (2024, 7th round) impressed me in Surprise last spring but didn’t really shine at the A levels aside from a predictably high walk rate.
The undrafted Disla is generously listed at 240 pounds. He belted eight homers in just 34 high-A games in 2024 but only nine in 99 games last year. The speedy, versatile Pollard (2022, 5th round) was injured in his first high-A game last June and missed the rest of the season.
Outfielders
#29 Anthony Gutierrez (21)
#21 Paxton Kling (22)
Antonis Macias (21)
#24 Maxton Martin (20)
Yeison Morrobel (22)
Quincy Scott (23)
An outfield collision ended Kling’s 2025 a little early. He hit only .244/.329/.311 in 11 games but was far better at Hickory and generally impressed in all aspects. Martin took a big step forward after two ordinary seasons at the complex, clubbing 14 homers and 34 other extra-base hits. He’s not fast but has exceptional base prowess, swiping 21 bases without ever being caught as a professional.
In 2024, Anthony Gutierrez radically altered his swing, but his production didn’t budge, and 2025 was a repeat. He’s six months younger than Figuero but also beginning his fourth season at an A level. He can run and man center capably in terms of both range and arm. Morrobel is one of good number of Texas prospects who has struggled with the sizable jump from the complex to low-A. (That’s not a Texas issue per se, as the elimination of short-season ball has made life tougher for many pro players.)
LOW-A HICKORY CRAWDADS
Carolina League
Hickory, North Carolina
L.P. Frans Stadium (1993)
Pitchers
Angel Anazco (24)
Alejandro Chiquillo (23)
Aidan Deakins (22)
Jake Jekielek (23)
Jesus Lafalaise (21)
Louis Marinaro (21)
Frank Martinez (23)
J.D. McReynolds (23)
Aneudis Mejia (22)
Moises Morales (22)
Luimy Munoz (23)
Jormy Nivar (22)
Geury Rodriguez (21)
#3 AJ Russell (21)
Evan Siary (22)
Michael Trausch (22)
Wily Villar (27)
Russell has no real-game pro experience but is the one ranked pitcher. Reading about him in various publications reminds me of Alejandro Rosario in that the Rangers saw a strong but underdeveloped pitch mix that they intend to improve.
The other newcomers are Chiquillo, Marinaro, McReynolds, Morales and Munoz.
Management put Jormy Nivar and Wily Villar on the same team specifically to confuse me. Villar is a fun story, a 26-year-old rookie who reached 100 MPH and struck out 41 in 30 innings between the DSL and Arizona. His late-season stint in Hickory was marked by extreme wildness. Nivar pitched well in 17 low-A innings after getting knocked around in Arizona.
Catchers
Josh Springer (19)
Juan Sulbaran (20)
Jhocsuanth Vargas (19)
Infielders
Angel Arredondo (19)
#8 Yolfran Castillo (19)
Carter Garate (22)
Pablo Guerrero (19)
Luis Marquez (20)
Esteban Mejia (21)
Texas’s system isn’t rife with hitting prospects, the brightest of them is injured, and several will remain in Arizona, so Rangers Nation turns its lonely eyes to Yolfran Castillo. Castillo hardly ever misses, but his impact was oddly muted: .269/.310/.366 at the complex and .255/.325/.321 in Hickory. I’m hoping for more.
Vlad’s son reached low-A a day before reaching adulthood in 2024, but he’s yet to hit his way out. Garate, undrafted out of Oregon, is the lone position player lacking any full-season experience.
Outfielders
Braylin Morel (20)
Hector Osorio (20)
#22 Paulino Santana (19)
Marcos Torres (21)
Deward Tovar (19)
Osorio and Torres have the most low-A experience and are likely the first two outfielders to graduate. Osorio commands the zone best (55 walks, 43 strikeouts in 2025) and might have a little more pop hiding in there. Torres repeated the level last year and improved his contact rate from a futile 61% to 75%.
Morel had a bear of a 2025, losing contact, walks and power from his promising 2024 at the complex. The younger Santana had a more patient approach but wasn’t rewarded, as he didn’t walk much and missed just as often when he did swing. Tovar is the greenest, having spent all but seven 2025 games in Arizona (.313/.434/.536).
Unassigned MLB Top 30 Prospects
#1 IF Sebastian Walcott (injured)
#2 RHP Caden Scarborough (recovering from offseason melanoma surgery)
#6 IF/P Josh Owens (headed for Arizona Complex League)
#9 OF Elian Rosario (young)
#11 RHP Izack Tiger (TJ recovery)
#15 IF/P Seong-Jun Kim (18, presumably Complex)
#16 OF Elorky Rodriguez (18, presumably Complex)
#18 IF Jack Wheeler (19, presumably Complex)
#20 RHP Mason McConnaughey (TJ recovery)
#26 LHP Ben Abeldt (TJ recovery)
#27 RHP Jacob Johnson (19, presumably Complex)
Unassigned
AAA/MLB level in 2025 – pitchers Ben Anderson and Josh Hejka, IF Andrew Velazquez, OF Dairon Blanco, Mark Canha and Gilberto Celestino
Blanco was designated for assignment to make room for Andrew McCutchen. He’s been outrighted before and can declare free agency if he clears waivers. Texas chose this rather than placing one of the Codys (Bradford, Freeman) on the 60-day IL, which would have sustained a spot for Blanco.
Canha will stay in the organization (per local reports) but wasn’t named to the initial AAA roster. Celestino was a mid-camp addition.
High-A level – pitchers Jesus Gamez, Case Matter, Caden Scarborough, Kai Wynyard
Low-A level – pitchers Kamdyn Perry, Owen Proksch and Maicol Reyes, catcher Jack Collins, IF/P Josh Owens, and OF Marco Argudin.
Scarborough and Owens I mentioned. Argudin received a late-‘25 low-A assignment straight from the Dominican Summer League but didn’t appear. I expect he’ll debut at the complex.