After World Series title, 'Rangers way' still fueling club's pipeline

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Texas farm director Josh Bonifay likes to talk about playing the game the “Rangers way.” Entering his third season as the organization’s head of player development, he takes his charge seriously in making sure players come up the pipeline and are instilled with values that give them the best chance to be solid big leaguers.

That means being ready to win, especially after the Rangers won their first World Series title in 2023. Bonifay feels that regardless of the result last fall, players in this system learn the "Rangers way" from Day 1.

“From our organization, the standard is the standard,” Bonifay said. “The expectation is to play the game of baseball the right way, have a certain brand and style of play, follow our core values as an organization, compete with passion, dominate the fundamentals, be a good teammate and train our players to be ready for the big leagues.

“Obviously, we have an extremely talented big league club, and in order to crack that type of club, you have to prepare your players extremely well, teach them how to play and execute in high-pressure situations. That’s what we expect as the Rangers' organization now -- to be in the playoffs and hopefully play for multiple World Series championships.”

There isn’t necessarily a trickle-down effect from winning it all last year as Bonifay makes sure that readiness factor is there regardless of what the big league team is doing. But there’s no question there’s a little more electricity running through Rangers camp from top to bottom this spring.

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“I think our players want to be part of something extremely special,” Bonifay said. “They see the excitement and passion our club plays with. They know the expectation is to be ready and to be there for the end of October and early November.”

Of course, it takes talent to keep that going, and the Rangers have it with the No. 7 farm system in baseball, a group headlined by the dynamic outfield duo of Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford. No other team in baseball has two prospects as highly ranked as this pair, who come in at Nos. 5 and 6 on the Top 100. Carter already has a World Series ring and is a year younger than Langford, the club’s top pick in the 2023 Draft, who after making it to Triple-A in his debut summer is making a very strong claim for a spot on the Opening Day roster.

“It’s a really special one-two punch,” Bonifay said. “I think our scouting department did an incredible job, especially during the COVID year and getting Carter. And then Langford made his way to us with the fourth pick and we were incredibly lucky to have that pick.

"They’re just two really good players who have humility and play the game the right way. Both have their certain strengths and they come to play every single day. That’s the key to them both: their work ethic. They’re tireless when they get in the cage, they’re tireless when they do defensive work and that’s what made them so successful thus far.”

Camp standout: Cameron Cauley

In high school, Cauley got some Dustin Pedroia comps from local scouts as an undersized infielder with a hard-nosed attitude. He hasn’t hit quite as well as some expected since signing an over-slot deal in the third round of the 2021 Draft, but his other tools have been on display. And if his showing in camp this spring is any indication, the bat might be catching up.

He’s shown some pop and a lot of speed in the Minors, coming off of a 12-homer, 36-steal season across two levels of A ball in 2023. While he’s hit the ball hard, he’s gotten too aggressive at times. But he’s opened eyes on the big league staff when he’s been called over to play in big league games this spring and after a double on Monday, was hitting .462 with three extra-base hits in his first 13 Cactus League at-bats.

“He’s a baseball nut, a baseball rat and he came in in really good shape,” Bonifay said. “He plays the game incredibly fast. He’s a very good instinctual type of player at shortstop; has lots of range, understands his arm strength and understands when he needs to be more aggressive, and when he needs to pull back and make the safe play. He puts himself in really good positions to make plays. He's worked so hard, he’s diligent about it. You see the progression, the understanding, the knowledge. You see the mental mistakes early, but then he doesn’t make them twice. He’s done a very good job of coming in and standing out.”

Breakout candidate: Anthony Gutierrez

Signed for just under $2 million in January 2022, Gutierrez was the youngest position player in the Carolina League at the start of 2023 and showed off numerous plus tools while battling some injuries and his approach. He’ll be just 19 for all of 2024 and the Rangers’ No. 7 prospect hasn’t surfaced in Top 100 prospect conversations … yet. The first thing Bonifay brings up is his defense.

“I think they should be talking about him; he should be in that Top 100,” Bonifay said. “He’s outstanding in center field. Instincts, he gets off the mark extremely well, he covers ground. He’s the guy you look up and you’re like, ‘He can’t catch that.’ Then all of a sudden you see him running up underneath the baseball.”

But there are offensive tools coming as well.

“I think he’s put on some weight too this year,” Bonifay said. “It’s plus tools all around and we’re very excited about him progressing this year. It’s a line-drive swing, gap to gap and he has the potential to pop one. He likes to get on the fastball and he can use the whole field.”

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Something to prove: Jack Leiter

When you go No. 2 overall in the Draft and you’re the son of a former big leaguer, there are bound to be very high expectations. Leiter, now the organization’s No. 8 prospect, would probably be the first to admit things haven’t gone quite the way he thought they would when he left Vanderbilt from a results perspective. The right-hander has spent the majority of his first two pro seasons with Double-A Frisco and has posted a 5.37 ERA and 1.51 WHIP.

While the outside world might be looking at those numbers and worrying, the Rangers know that they’ve worked with Leiter to refine his mechanics and also had him work specifically on his fastball command to the detriment of overall production. He’s looked good this spring and there’s optimism 2024 will be the year the real Jack Leiter stands up.

“We still have a deep belief in Jack Leiter,” Bonifay said. “We believe he’s going to be an impact to our Major League roster soon. Some people are going to say he wasn’t as good as all the hype. I believe he’s as good as the hype and we’re going to see that in the future.

“He’s one of the fiercest competitors I’ve ever been around. He wants to contribute; he wants to win. He wants to have good quality outings every single time. But the development process you go through, you point out certain things that we need to work on. He took it, he ran with it and he did a really good job of locating his heaters and working on that when that was presented.”