Get ready for the Max Acosta Show, which starts Monday in the Arizona League
One of the Rangers' top prospects has never played in the U.S., but will be the shortstop and leadoff hitter for the Rangers' rookie team.
Credit: Jesse Behr/Texas Rangers
Just when you were getting the hang of following the Rangers’ four full-season minor-league affiliates, here come the Arizona rookies.
The Arizona League opens its season Monday in the scorching heat of the desert, where many current Rangers got their start. Joey Gallo made a mockery of the hot thin air in 2012, when he swatted a league-record 18 home runs and was the unanimous choice as MVP.
That team was loaded with premium young talent, including Nomar Mazara, Ronald Guzman, Jerad Eickhoff, Alex Claudio and the cool-headed Keone Kela.
Nine years later the player to watch will be shortstop Max Acosta, universally considered one of the Rangers’ top prospects. Signed for $1.65 million as part of the July 2 class in 2019, Acosta will be making his professional debut.
Rangers officials don’t like to stick comps on young players, but the tools he has plus the set of intangibles are similar to former Rangers prospect Jurickson Profar.
So, yeah, Acosta has a chance.
“We’re going to find out,” assistant general manager Mike Daly said. “He’s an all-around player, a true shortstop with a line-drive bat. He has a lot the ingredients.”
Acosta missed minor-league spring training with a nerve issue in his right arm, but finished out the extended spring season at full strength. That strong arm and advanced instincts are what make him a quality shortstop who, for now, is still developing his speed and athleticism.
The power is expected to develop as well, with perhaps 25 home runs in his bat some day. The Venezuelan won’t turn 19 until Oct. 29, so there’s a lot of growing for him still to do.
But, more than anything, he needs to be on the field getting the game experience he didn’t get in 2019 after signing or last season because of the pandemic. As helpful as the instructional league is, it’s not the same as an actual season.
“The biggest thing is Max Acosta being able to play,” Daly said.
Acosta won’t be the only player on the field.
Yosy Galan, a toolsy 20-year-old outfielder signed over the winter, opened eyes at extended spring training with tremendous power. How tremendous? He hit a ball an estimated 501 feet.
“He’s twitchy. He’s talented,” Daly said. “We’ll see how much contact he makes in an actual game.”
Jose Corniell was acquired in December as part of the Rafael Montero trade with Seattle, where he was the Mariners’ 20th-ranked prospect. Emiliano Teodo is a 20-year-old right-hander already hitting 100 mph.
Aidan Curry, who turns 19 on July 25, signed as an undrafted free agent last summer and has been getting high marks in Arizona.
Left-hander Dylan MacLean will start Tuesday night, six days shy of turning 19. The Rangers’ fourth-rounder in 2020, MacLean is the definition of a projectable pitcher who is expected to get better and better as he grows.
But MacLean knows how to pitch with a fastball that sits in the upper-80s to low-90s but should increase.
(And the Dominican Summer League fires up July 12.)