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The Rangers acquired four prospects from the New York Yankees for Joey Gallo, three of whom are middle infielders. Two play the same position, second base, as 2020 first-rounder Justin Foscue.
Two of the three infielders are just behind Foscue in the BA prospect rankings. Foscue is fourth, Ezequiel Duran is fifth and Josh Smith is sixth.
Smith is a shortstop, and Duran said he is comfortable there. The Rangers believe he is best at second, though.
While it might look like there isn’t a place on the Rangers’ for either Duran or Smith, because of Foscue or a potential free-agent addition at shortstop, that isn’t necessarily the case.
“It's ultimately going to come down to something that we wanted to do a better job of, that is creating competition in the minor leagues,” Fenstermaker said. “No path is paved for these players. Foscue has got to continue to prove it every day.”
Foscue and Duran are playing in the Arizona Fall League, with Foscue designated as the Rangers’ primary infielder so that he can catch up on at-bats after missing time during the regular season with a rib injury.
Foscue had three home runs entering Friday, but Duran had 10 extra-base hits and was batting 98 points higher, .320 to .222.
Foscue welcomes the competition.
“I love it,” he said. “You can take it as like, ‘Oh, I want him to fail and I want to do good. That’s the wrong mind-set to have. I had this mind-set going in to Mississippi State. If you want to be the best, you’ve got to compete with the best. You’ve got to come to work every single day to get better. I think a lot of people have that mentality. Competition is what makes an organization good.”
The Rangers acquired four prospects from the New York Yankees for Joey Gallo, three of whom are middle infielders. Two play the same position, second base, as 2020 first-rounder Justin Foscue.
Two of the three infielders are just behind Foscue in the BA prospect rankings. Foscue is fourth, Ezequiel Duran is fifth and Josh Smith is sixth.
Smith is a shortstop, and Duran said he is comfortable there. The Rangers believe he is best at second, though.
While it might look like there isn’t a place on the Rangers’ for either Duran or Smith, because of Foscue or a potential free-agent addition at shortstop, that isn’t necessarily the case.
“It's ultimately going to come down to something that we wanted to do a better job of, that is creating competition in the minor leagues,” Fenstermaker said. “No path is paved for these players. Foscue has got to continue to prove it every day.”
Foscue and Duran are playing in the Arizona Fall League, with Foscue designated as the Rangers’ primary infielder so that he can catch up on at-bats after missing time during the regular season with a rib injury.
Foscue had three home runs entering Friday, but Duran had 10 extra-base hits and was batting 98 points higher, .320 to .222.
Foscue welcomes the competition.
“I love it,” he said. “You can take it as like, ‘Oh, I want him to fail and I want to do good. That’s the wrong mind-set to have. I had this mind-set going in to Mississippi State. If you want to be the best, you’ve got to compete with the best. You’ve got to come to work every single day to get better. I think a lot of people have that mentality. Competition is what makes an organization good.”
