Rangers trade Spencer Patton to Cubs for prospect Frandy De La Rosa

This afternoon the Texas Rangers traded relief pitcher Spencer Patton to the Chicago Cubs for infielder Frandy De La Rosa. Here's a quick take on the newest Ranger.

Frandy De La Rosa, 2B: Signed by the Cubs from the Dominican Republic in 2012, De La Rosa earned a bonus of $700,000. At the time he drew notice as an athletic switch-hitter with a good measure of baseball polish but a lack of physical strength. He showed middle infield range but not the arm strength for shortstop, leading scouts to project a move to second base. The positional issue probably hurt his bonus stock a bit but the bat projected well and his makeup was considered excellent.

He debuted in the Dominican Summer League in 2013, hitting just .077 in 11 games with 20 strikeouts in 39 at-bats and just two walks. Given that he was supposed to be polished for his age, this was disturbingly poor performance, though of course the sample was small. He returned to the DSL in 2014 and was much more effective, hitting .281/.336/.402 with 19 doubles, 19 walks, and 39 strikeouts in 249 at-bats. De La Rosa played for Eugene in the Northwest League in 2015, hitting .273/.315/.367, slightly below average production for context.

Age 19, De La Rosa is a switch-hitter listed at 6-1, 180. His defense at second base still needs considerable work (he made 15 errors in 61 games) though he has the physical tools for the position. It would be very helpful if he can remain in the middle infield, lacking the power or speed to profile well elsewhere. He doesn't strike out much but his overall sense for the strike zone comes and goes and he's not likely to be a consistent source of home runs. If he makes it, it will be as a batting average/gap power type.

In general he has gotten physically stronger as scouts expected but the bat hasn't taken off. That said, he is still just 19 years old and has time to refine his game.

There is no publicly available recent game video for FDLR, but Youtube has several clips from his days in the Dominican Prospect League. The videos are three and four years old but give the general idea how he looked back then.