Josh Jung is the Rangers third baseman of the future, of that I have little doubt. But is he the 2022 starting third baseman? I have my doubts, and I’ll explain why.
Why?
The way it has gone for years is this: if a player starts the season in the minors, the team gets another year of control over said player. The Rangers want Jung to be around as long as possible. Besides that, The Rangers still have a gold glove caliber third baseman in Isiah-Kiner Falefa. No need to rush Jung at the beginning of the season. We tend to forget, Jung has not even played a full minor league season yet in his career. In his professional career he has only played in 122 games, an average of 61 per his two seasons. His total of professional at bats are 478. Bubba Thompson had 429 in 2021 alone.
The Numbers
Now what I did not mention was that Jung had a slash line of .326/.398/.562 at his two stops (AA and AAA) in 2021, which is pretty darn good. He may well be ready, but I don’t know if the Rangers are ready to part ways with IKF just yet. My crazy idea is this: IKF begins the year as the third baseman, Jung is called up within the first six weeks of the season. At that point, IKF becomes a utility infielder and is traded at some point.
Conclusion
Jung would then be the Rangers third baseman going forward, and IKF would get a fresh start elsewhere. This way the Rangers get an extra year out of Jung, and he gets another 100 plus at bats in Round Rock and IKF gets to increase his trade value. It should be a win-win-win. I know that Rangers fans really want to see him in Arlington. He will be there in 2022. I am sure of that.
