Final Report Card Grades for Texas Rangers' Prospects at the Arizona Fall League

The 2014 Arizona Fall League is in the books, and it is time to see how the players representing the Texas Rangers fared in this year’s campaign.

The Surprise Saguaros, the club the Rangers are affiliated with, were unable to defend their crown this year.  They finished 16-15-1, winning 12 of those contests on the road. Many of Texas’ prospects played well during the league, adding an extra stanza to their resumes.

Grades will be given to each of the club’s representatives and will be based strictly on statistics and playing time. The amount of innings a player was involved in is a factor because it is difficult to base a player’s success on limited playing time.

The Rangers had four hurlers and three position players. We will get started with those who took the mound for the Saguaros.

RHP Cody Kendall (B)

Cody Kendall saw time in 10 ballgames during the league, tossing 11.1 innings in the process.

The right-hander gave up four runs while allowing 12 hits and two walks. He gave up a hit in all but one of his appearances, and two of the knocks he allowed found the outfield bleachers. However, he did strike out six and limited the damage, posting a 3.18 ERA. That is the fourth-best among Saguaros who saw action in at least 10 games.

Kendall was able to carry over his success from the regular season into Phoenix. He earned a spot on the AFL Rising Stars team and could see time in spring training in 2014 for the Rangers.

RHP Josh McElwee (A)

Josh McElwee was easily the Rangers’ top-performer this fall.

The 25-year-old appeared in 12 games, giving up just three runs in 14 innings of work. He allowed 12 hits during that span, with all three runs and half of those hits coming in two of his appearances. McElwee did walk four batters but also struck out 20, which was the most of any Surprise hurler and 10th-best in the entire AFL.

He made it all the way to Double-A this season after stops in Hickory and Myrtle Beach. Like Kendall, McElwee’s year-long performance could earn him some time in spring training next season, considering the need for bullpen arms in Arlington.

RHP Kelvin Vasquez (C+)

Kelvin Vasquez only saw time in two games during the AFL, accumulating just two innings of work.

He did not allow a run and only surrendered one hit while striking out three. However, he gave up three free passes. His limited playing time hurt his overall grade, but besides the hat trick of walks, he was effective during his time.

Vasquez is only 21 years old and has shown promise in 2014 while in Class-A Hickory. He was mostly a starter with the Crawdads, but both of his appearances in Phoenix came out of the pen.

RHP Sam Wolff (C-)

It was a rough for fall in the desert for Sam Wolff who posted the worst ERA of any Ranger in the AFL.

He gave up runs in four of his nine appearances, including getting knocked around for four runs and four hits in .2 innings of work on Oct. 22. He allowed 15 total hits and walked six in 13.2 innings while striking out eight. Wolff started his final three games for Surprise, surrendering just one run in seven full innings.

Wolff gets a passing grade thanks to his last three times on the mound. He is accustomed to being a starter and it showed during that particular stretch.

C Pat Cantwell (D)

Of the three position players for the Rangers, Pat Cantwell had the most struggles at the dish.

All three catchers for the Saguaros got similar playing time, making it difficult to find a groove on offense. However, Cantwell had the worst average of the three (.162) and had more strikeouts (nine) than total bases (seven). The 24-year-old only scored twice and drove in just one run in 11 games.

This was a good opportunity for the New York native to prove his worth. Either way, he is a long shot to be selected for work as the backstop in Arlington, even with the organization being fairly thin at the position.

SS Michael De Leon (C+)

Michael De Leon was the youngest player on the Surprise roster in 2014 and didn’t do too bad for a 17-year-old.

The Dominican Republic native had a slash line of .240/.291/.280, accumulating 12 hits in 50 at-bats. He drove in eight runs and scored seven in 13 games of work, drawing four walks and striking out eight times. Although he posted just two extra-base hits, De Leon is obviously still growing into his 6’1” frame and hasn’t shown much gap ability in his debut season.

De Leon is another example of the middle-infield depth the Rangers currently have. He still has a few years to mature but has shown he can play against some of the best young talent in baseball.

OF Nick Williams (B-)

Nick Williams saw the most work of the Rangers’ crop of talent in the AFL, playing in 27 games of the 32-game schedule.

Williams proved why he is one of the Rangers’ top-10 prospects in the organization, hitting .277 with two homers, two triples and six doubles. He drove in 19 runs while scoring nine times and accumulated 47 total bases, good for fourth-most in the entire AFL.

He was knocked for the 32 strikeouts he posted, which led the AFL. It is something he has struggled with since being drafted in 2013 but has shown a knack for driving the ball to all fields.

All stats courtesy of MLB.com.

You can follow Trey on Twitter @treydwarren.