Texas Rangers top 30 prospects: No. 12 Paulino Santana brings exceptional plate discipline

SURPRISE, Ariz. — In a recent rundown of talent in major league farm systems, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel picked a provocative word to describe the Texas Rangers organization: Volatile.

In short, McDaniel said there didn’t seem to be a lot of certainty to the talent, which he ranked 16th among all MLB organizations. There were a lot of potential big hits (Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter, Sebastian Walcott), but just as many potential misses. In some particular prospect cases, both ends of the spectrum existed.

What’s perhaps more troubling is that among the major outlets that rank organizational talent, ESPN had the Rangers’ system higher than others.

At the end of last season. MLB Pipeline had the Rangers taking a tumble from seventh overall to 26th, part of which was due to the graduations of Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter from prospects to certified major leaguers. But part of it is also the lack of surety.

Baseball America, which also ranks organizational talent, has the Rangers dropping from fourth overall to 19th.

A pair of prodigious tumbles.

Nevertheless, there is talent in the Rangers system and it’s our job to rank the prospects. Here’s our daily prospect tracker as we begin the countdown to No. 1:

No. 12 OF Paulino Santana

Age: 18

Height/weight: 6-2, 180

B-T: R-R

Who he is: Though the Rangers had their international signing pool for 2024 discounted by $1 million for signing Jacob deGrom ahead of 2023, they may still have landed one of the best players in the class in Dominican Republic native Santana. He came on strong as the international signing period neared and ended up ranked as the No. 2 overall prospect in the class. He received $1.3 million of the Rangers’ $4.644 million bonus pool.

Why he’s here: Showed exceptional plate discipline and ability to reach base in his first pro season in the Dominican Summer League with a .465 OBP and more walks (52) than strikeouts (38). He ranked second in the league in walks and ninth in OBP. Over the last 30 games of the season, he hit .330 with an .880 OPS as he started to focus on getting the ball off the ground a bit more and making more impact. He’s also got plus speed and stole 20 bases in 25 attempts. He was one of five players in all of minor league baseball 18 years or younger to meet all of these qualifications: a .400 or better OBP, a BB to K rate of better than 1-to-1, 20 or more steals with a success rate of at least 80%.

What’s his future: It’s worth noting that Santana is six months younger than teen sensation Sebastian Walcott, so he could really burst even higher on to the scene this year if he continues making progress on getting the ball in the air a bit harder. The thing that keeps him from being in the same class as Milwaukee prospect Jesus Made, the top prospect in the DSL last year (No. 56 in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline) and one of the other four players to check off all the qualifiers listed above, is slug. Made hit six homers and slugged .554; Santana didn’t homer and slugged only .364. He’s going to have to slug a bit more to be considered a potential every day corner outfielder.

Where he will start, MLB ETA: Arizona Complex League; 2028