Texas Rangers Top Prospect Could be Star at Arizona Complex League

The Arizona Complex League features a wealth of talent, most of which is well away from making it to the Majors.

It’s stateside, short-season rookie league designed for players that are still in the building stages of preparing for a full season affiliate. Most of them are high school age and began their careers as international prospects.

For the Texas Rangers, Yolfran Castillo is one player headed to the ACL for the second straight year and Baseball America believes he is a player to keep an eye on this season.

Texas signed him for $647,500 out of Venezuela last January. MLB.com wrote that part of the reason the Rangers were able to sign the 6-foot-3 outfielder was that other teams ran out of money in their international bonus pool.

That may benefit the Rangers down the road, as he is the organization’s No. 8 prospect per MLB Pipeline.

Like many international prospects, the Rangers sent him to the Dominican Summer League, typically the first stop for international prospects. He didn’t last long.

He played just 20 games in the Dominican and slashed .414/.552/.471 with no runs and 20 RBI. He scored 27 runs. But what stuck out the most was his walks and strikeouts — 22 walks to eight strikeouts. He showed great plate discipline.

The Rangers opted to move him stateside to the ACL, where he played 15 more games. It was step up in competition and it didn’t faze him. He slashed .333/.379/.350 with six RBI. He scored 10 runs and drew five walks against seven strikeouts.

That left him with a season slash of .377/.481/.415 with 26 RBI, 27 walks, 15 strikeouts and 37 runs. He also stole 10 bases and was caught four times.

Right now, he’s a contact hitter with great discipline but not much pop. Baseball America’s scouts believe his future in baseball is dependent on one thing.

“Castillo’s future hinges on the way his body goes,” their scouts wrote. “If he can add strength and impact to his 6-foot-3 frame, he might begin to tap into his obvious upside.”

His progress in the Rangers’ organization will depend on a couple of factors. If he stays at shortstop, there is the matter of veteran Corey Seager, who is in the fourth year of his 10-year contract. The organization’s top prospect is a shortstop, Sebastian Walcott, who is currently at Double-A Frisco.

Castillo is probably a few years away from being in a position to make the Rangers have to make a decision. But he has the potential to track that way.