The Texas Rangers’ best-known prospects keep grabbing most of the attention, with Sebastian Walcott, Caden Scarborough, Josh Owens, Gio Rojas and now Dylan Dreiling headlining the conversation. But behind that group, a few more farmhands quietly turned in seasons that deserve a closer look.
One of the biggest breakout years came from Rafe Perich, the Rangers’ seventh-round pick in the 2024 Amateur Draft. The 6-foot-1, 225-pound switch-hitting corner infielder finished the year at Double-A Frisco after opening at High-A Hub City, and the organization just named him the minor league player of the year, the Tom Grieve Player of the Year.
Across 511 plate appearances with the Spartanburgers and RoughRiders, Perich hit .315/.401/.586. Of his 140 hits, 62 went for extra bases, including 31 doubles and 27 homers, and he drove in 92 runs.
Perich will be 24 when Rangers camp opens in Surprise, Arizona in 2027, and he looks like a player who could start forcing the issue at first base. The possibility of him pushing Jake Burger there is very much on the table.
Jonah Bride doesn’t fit the prospect label the same way, but he still belongs in this conversation because of how steady he was for Round Rock. The 30-year-old spent all of 2026 with the Express and hit .278/.404/.413 in 119 games and 421 at-bats.
He brings value everywhere on the infield, handling first, second and third base, and he has major league experience with the Marlins, Twins and Athletics. Plate discipline remains his calling card: he walked 90 times and struck out 80.
He also chipped in 10 home runs and 76 RBIs. With his age, every spring matters for Bride as he keeps trying to win a spot on the opening day roster.
Then there’s Seong-Jun Kim, the Rangers’ No. 8 prospect and one of the more intriguing names in the system. The 19-year-old spent all of 2026 in Single-A with the Hickory Crawdads, and the numbers jump off the page.
At the plate, he hit .287/.392/.522 with 8 homers and 37 RBIs in 57 games. On the mound, he showed real promise too, recording 20 strikeouts and a 0.57 ERA in 15.2 innings.
Kim’s overall line across two levels this year was a .931 OPS and a 0.71 ERA in 12.2 innings, and the raw stuff is easy to see. He can reach 95 mph with his four-seam fastball and pairs it with low-80s sliders and a mid-80s splitter.
He still has time on his side, and the Rangers can afford to let that two-way skill set develop. If things go well in 2027, getting him to Double-A Frisco as a dual-threat would be a reasonable next step.
In Other News...
Dylan Dreiling Just Made One Rangers Roster Decision A Lot Tougher
The Rangers have already got one eye on 2027, and Dylan Dreilings name is starting to hover around the kind of roster conversation that usually gets more interesting the deeper you get into the season. After a strong 2026 campaign, the prospect is expected to open at Triple-A Round Rock, but his path up to Texas looks much more realistic now than it did a year ago, especially with the organization still sorting out what the outfield picture may look like around Evan Carter.
For all the momentum Dreiling has built, there are still a lot of moving parts standing between him and a major league call-up. The biggest one may be outside the Rangers control entirely, with MLB owners and the Players Association still negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement and a possible lockout looming if no deal is reached by Dec. 1. Even if the labor situation settles cleanly, Texas still has to map out roster moves and decide how aggressively to push Dreiling, which makes this one of those spring-to-summer storylines worth keeping an eye on. [Read more 🡒]
Jack Leiter Is Giving The Rangers A Playoff Roster Dilemma
Jack Leiter took another step in his recovery Sunday, throwing a bullpen session as the Rangers continue to sort through their pitching picture. The right-hander has been working back from a biceps injury, and his progress has put him back in the conversation as Texas eyes a possible postseason push. For a club trying to balance health, flexibility and October depth, any sign of Leiter getting closer matters.
The complication is the roster math. If the Rangers want to activate Leiter for the postseason, they may need to open a spot by moving someone to the 60-day injured list or by designating a player for assignment. His role would also need to make sense once he is back, with the team weighing how effective he can be in bullpen work and, of course, whether Texas finishes the job and secures a berth at all. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Enter A Final Week That Could Change Everything
With the National League field largely settled, the American League is still sorting itself out in a final week that could reshape both the division race and the wild-card picture. For Texas, the focus remains squarely on the AL West, where the Rangers hold a one-game edge over Houston, but the Astros have the head-to-head tiebreaker in hand, which keeps every remaining game meaningful.
The White Sox are right in the middle of that jumble, too, sitting one game behind Cleveland in the AL Central while also protecting the final wild-card spot from Houston, Toronto, and Baltimore. With several tiebreaker scenarios still in play, the closing stretch could decide whether Chicago is playing for a division crown, a postseason berth, or both, and the Rangers have a direct stake in how all of it sorts out. [Read more 🡒]