This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
ARLINGTON -- The Rangers have spent three years developing Minor League talent and then trading it away for big leaguers, whether it was at the Trade Deadline in 2024 and ‘25 or last offseason to acquire MacKenzie Gore.
But the amateur scouting department and the player development group has found a way to replenish the farm as much as possible as the next wave of prospects attempt to make their way to Globe Life Field.
3 players who forced their way onto the radar this year
3B Rafe Perich (No. 19 prospect)
The Rangers’ 2026 Minor League Player of the Year was promoted to Double-A Frisco on May 29 and never looked back. The 24-year-old hit .321 with 16 homers and 58 RBIs for the RoughRiders, earning the nickname “Rake” for obvious reasons.
A relatively unheralded amateur, Perich was a seventh-round pick in 2024, becoming the second-highest drafted position player in Lehigh University history. He had a lackluster first two seasons of pro ball before turning it on in 2026.
COMPLETE RANGERS PROSPECT COVERAGE
"Rake is staying behind the ball better this year,” said Rangers farm director Josh Bonifay. “He's obviously doing damage in the strike zone. He's staying behind the baseball. That allows you to get elevated instead of hitting it into the ground.
“And man, he's been unbelievable. The heartbeat's been real slow. He's got a really good eye, so he's able to walk and do damage. He's worked extremely hard at it, and he's played really good at third base. He's got a sneaky kind of bazooka arm, so if there's a runner, he'll let it eat. But he's just been really really good this year defensively, too."
OF Dylan Dreiling (No. 13)
Another candidate for the Rangers’ Minor League Player of the Year, Dreiling was electric in his first season with Frisco after a relatively underwhelming first full pro season in 2025. With the RoughRiders this season, he slashed .312/.380/.516 with 22 homers, 27 doubles and 84 RBIs.
The 2024 second-rounder is a left-handed hitter with a sound enough approach to draw a good number of walks and make consistent contact. His raw power also sets him up for a good number of extra-base hits as he advances through the farm.
OF Hector Osorio (No. 14)
Osorio made his full-season debut in 2025, when he hit just four home runs and posted a .732 OPS in 90 games for Single-A Hickory. He returned to Hickory this season, and became one of the best offensive performers in the league before earning a promotion to High-A Hub City.
In 2026, split between the two A-ball levels, Osorio slashed .295/.411/.543 with 21 home runs. He’s always had the tools, but this season, he’s found a way to put it together more as he’s also grown into his body and produced more power.
2 possible breakout players to watch in 2027
LHP Gio Rojas (No. 3)
The Rangers’ first-round pick at this year’s MLB Draft, Rojas has yet to make his professional debut after posting a 0.58 ERA across 72 innings with 124 strikeouts in his senior season at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
The young lefty is exactly the kind of pitcher that the Rangers have been able to develop as of late. A full offseason with the player development group primes him for his debut next year.
Two-way players Seong-Jun Kim (No. 8) and Josh Owens (No. 9)
It’s cheating to choose two, but this pair of prospects will be inextricably linked throughout the rest of their Texas tenure and as they both continue on this two-way journey. Kim, a 2025 signee out of Korea, and Owens, a 2025 third-rounder, both advanced to Single-A Hickory this season.
The Rangers are still working through the day to day of managing two-way Minor Leaguers, but both have adapted well early in their professional career. The hope is for them both to continue hitting and pitching for the foreseeable future.
1 big question for next season
How big of an impact will Sebastian Walcott make in 2027?
The Rangers’ No. 1 prospect and No. 8 overall prospect, per MLB Pipeline, Walcott’s MLB ETA was delayed in 2026 due to internal brace procedure in Spring Training.
The good news is that he didn’t need full Tommy John surgery and returned to the field on July 17. He returned to playing the field in the final game of the RoughRiders’ regular season. In all, Walcott slashed .322/.398/.586 in 37 games at Frisco, earning a call up to Triple-A Round Rock for the final week of the regular season.
The question seems to be not if he’ll make his MLB debut next season, but when? And how big of an immediate impact can he make on the big league squad when he gets there?
“Obviously, not what you had anticipated happening at the start of the season, but he recovered well from that and took the time to really rework some things in his swing,” said Rangers general manager Ross Fenstermaker. “All positive and really encouraged by the progress that he made. Anytime a player gets injured, they can take it one of two ways. He took it as an opportunity to level up in a lot of ways, and we're really excited about the progress that he's made.”