Rangers Talent Pipeline: Max Wagner Posts Incredible Start at Frisco

Prospect watchers rightly focus on players like Texas Rangers top prospects Sebastian Walcott and Caden Scarborough. But they’re not the only players worth tracking.

This week, the focus of Rangers Talent Pipeline is on players that don’t necessarily dot the Top 30 prospect list but are worth tracking after great weeks.

Who The Heck is Max Wagner?

The Rangers signed Wagner to a minor league deal on April 21 and assigned him to Double-A Frisco. The former Baltimore Orioles farmhand never got much traction, never played above Double-A and was released in March. Landing with the Rangers seems to have given him a fresh start.

In his first four games with the Frisco RoughRiders, he had a slash of .267/.313/1.067. That slugging percentage on the end looks crazy, doesn’t it? Well, that’s because he hit four home runs in those four games.

The third baseman went off last week. Now, the question? Can he sustain it? Even with those four games he has a carer minor league slash of .224/.320/.377. But minor league deals are for taking fliers. Per Zack Bigley, who calls RoughRiders games on the radio, Texas has done a really good job of identifying minor league free agents this season.

The Rangers did an incredible job with MiLB Free Agents this year with the RoughRiders.

Free agent signees Orlando Martinez, Marcus Lee Sang, Corey Joyce and Max Wagner have combined to hit:

.329/.424/.618/1.041 with 16 HR, 52 RBIs in 64 combined games
— Zach Bigley (@zachbigs) May 3, 2026

Teams must cast wide nets for talent. Some don’t come with the pedigree of a Top 30 prospect. But you give them rope to succeed.

J.D. McReynolds, Future Closer?

Closers are hard to develop for Major League teams. In many cases, they’re converted starters who weren’t suited to be Major League starters. Not many come to the minors with the tools to do the job. They learn how.

J.D. McReynolds may be the exception. Texas drafted him in the 10th round of last year’s MLB draft out of Division II Central Missouri. He was a Division II all-American as a reliever. So far at Class-A Hickory he is 1-1 with a 4.66 ERA in eight games. More importantly, he has four saves in five chances and 18 strikeouts in 9.2 innings.

On paper, he could get a promotion at midseason. Division II players tend to start at rookie league due to the competition they faced in college. McReynolds is quickly showing that he may be ready for a new affiliate.

Keyber Rodriguez Keeps Raking

Keyber Rodriguez and Keith Jones II go back-to-back on back-to-back pitches 💣💣

B4 | FRI 2, AMA 2 pic.twitter.com/jZovsR6M9n
— Frisco RoughRiders (@RidersBaseball) April 18, 2026

Back at Frisco, shortstop Keyber Rodriguez is among the best hitters in the Texas League, as his batting average is among the Top 10 going into a new week.

The 25-year-old from Venezuela has been in Texas’ system since 2018 and he’s pacing toward a career year at the plate. Through 25 games he’s slashed .321/.330/.528 with three home runs and 11 RBI. He’s played just five games at Triple-A Round Rock in his career, so if he keeps pacing like this, he could land another promotion.

Texas has plenty of shortstops in the pipeline. But he’s also played nearly 300 games at third base and has outfield experience. With the Rangers’ emphasis on players with high on-base percentages and speed — he stole 32 baes in 2023 — he’s worth watching this season.

Paulino’s Production

Paulino Santana is the only Top 30 prospect highlighted this week, as he is No. 18 in the system per MLB Pipeline. For the 19-year-old from the Dominican Republic, he’s thriving as he starts the year at a full-season affiliate for the first time.

Through 27 games at Hickory, he is slashing .297/.445/.416 with two home runs and 11 RBI. The on-base percentage is off the charts for early in the season and is likely to come down. But he’s drawn 23 walks against 36 strikeouts. While that latter rate is high, the spread is much better than 2025 when he struck out 94 times and walked 25 times in 74 games. His approach has clearly changed, and the on-base percentage is benefiting.

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