Texas Probably Just Got a Steal

(Photo by: Ralph Trout)

With all the attention on big name free agents and speculating where they will end up most of us missed this little transaction: Philadelphia Phillies acquired outfielder John Mayberry Jr. from the Texas Rangers for outfielder Greg Golson. In my opinion This could turn out to be a minor steal for the Rangers.

The Rangers get a potential 4-5 tool player in Golson. Golson has great speed, good raw power, and is a fantastic fielder. But for every area he excels he has another area with flaws. He lacks any discipline and if he doesn’t learn any he is nothing more than an athletic 4th outfielder. He needs to learn some patience and pitch recognition as well. He strikes out a ton due to his lack of discipline more than his lack of ability to make contact on pitches in the zone. If he does put it all together he could be a potential 20-20 candidate that can play above average defense in CF.

The Rangers give up John Mayberry Jr., a soon to be 25 year old with huge raw power. He has a big frame (6’6” 230 lbs) that he uses to his advantage. One major problem with him is his inability to make contact. He has shown better pitch recognition than Golson but he can miss balls in the zone with ease. He should be average defensively in a corner outfield spot and well below average in center. He is a classic power/strikeout hitter but not a “3-true” hitter (power, walks, strikeouts) and will likely hit for very low averages and post OBP under .300.

The Rangers traded for Golson because of his upside and ability to play defense and pinch run if needed now in the majors. I could see the Phillies try Mayberry in LF next year but they might be a bit disappointed since they already have a power hitter that strikes out a ton with a relatively low OBP. As it stands right now both players are 4th outfielders but Golson brings more to the table right now and is almost 2 full years younger with exponentially more upside.

-Jonathan C. Mitchell

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