Friday on the Farm: Offseason has arrived, but development continues for Texas Rangers minor-leaguers in Arizona

The rebuilding plan requires a farm system with quality depth, and the instructional provides another chance for players to get better.

Dustin Harris has one of the most complete seasons in all of minor-league baseball and has jumped into the Rangers’ prospect rankings (Hickory Crawdads/Ashley Salinas).

Every minor-league level except for Triple A has been finished with its regular season for more than a week, and the Triple A campaign ends Sunday.

This year marked some significant changes to the minor-league structure, with six-game series and a guaranteed off day in between. Older players were at lower levels because they lost the 2020 season to COVID-19.

In some cases, players were playing for the first time as professionals even though they may have been drafted or signed in 2018 or 2019.

They are still playing catch-up, even after a full minor-league season, and more than one-third of the Rangers’ minor-leaguers have been dispatched to Surprise, Ariz., for the annual fall instructional league.