Grading Chris Young and the Texas Rangers front office at the season’s midway point
By Bill Felber
Farm system
Far and away, the most impactful farm system product has been third baseman Josh Jung. He got a significant call-up at the end of 2022, but at 102 plate appearances, that call-up fell short of disqualifying him for rookie consideration.
This year, Jung has plugged a hole at third base with a .274 average, 16 home run and 48 RBI, all of that equating to a +1.1 WAA.
Young has called on a half-dozen other rookies for lesser levels of production but, almost without exception, they’ve been liabilities. Of the six, only two remain with the big team; two have been sent down and the other two are no longer on the roster.
The two survivors are pitchers Grant Anderson and Cody Bradford. Both are lower-level bullpen hands.
Anderson has pitched 18 innings with a 3.06 ERA, while Bradford has worked 19 innings with a 5.59 ERA. The sum total of their impact on Ranger success adds up to -0.2 WAA.
At least they have role models. If there’s one thing Young’s system has produced in his first three seasons, it’s bullpen arms. Brock Burke, John King and Joe Barlow all came up through the system, and all are presently laboring in the Rangers bullpen.
Position players Duran and Taveras are also graduates of Young’s farm system.