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Ports, Draft Picks, and Organization All Struggle
Stockton, CA- The pressure is on in the Texas Rangers organization. On June 2'nd, just twenty-four hours after the amateur draft, the Rangers had the tenth ranked minor league system. Now just two and a half months later the Rangers have fallen to the lowly spot of twenty-seventh, with only two Top 100 prospects.
The Stockton Ports epitomize the organization's struggles with an embarrassing 50-80 record. Hope was high following the June draft, which saw an influx of such talented players as Davis Holden, Clemente Padula, and Robert White.
Davis Holden, the team's first round pick and the July Player of the Month, has struggled in August. His season-long average has dropped to .279 and he has only driven in four runs over the last three weeks. Perhaps most disappointing of all though is that the team was forced to suspend Holden for three games because of a clubhouse confrontation with Dwayne Miranda. "It definitely looks like I won't be winning that Outback dinner this month," said Holden in a rare moment of levity.
Clemente Padula, the team's second round pick, has been the biggest disappointment of all though. Fresh out of the draft Padula earned the starting spot at second base but just five weeks later, he would be gone. Padula, who made a diving stop and came up lame on the throw, is expected to miss the rest of this season and perhaps part of next season with shoulder surgery.
"I can't really pinpoint what is wrong with the club. We've got a lot of guys that can drive the ball but we just haven't been doing it," said Davis Holden. The young player refuses to discuss publicly the fight that earned him his suspension but he will say that "clubhouse chemistry is something that this team struggles to maintain."
The Rangers are in need of a massive influx of quality young talent. The aging team is currently in last place in the West and over the next few years will be looking to replace veterans with cheaper homegrown talent.
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