The 2026 Arizona Fall League schedule kicks off tomorrow, October 3. There are six teams involved in AFL play, and all three teams will be playing on Saturday. The Surprise Saguaros — the team that the Texas Rangers’ prospects will be playing for — play their first game at 5:30 p.m. Central against Scottsdale in the middle game of the tripleheader.
You can see the full Surprise roster here. We did a write up back in mid-September when the initial rosters were announced, and the Rangers contingent
that was announced at the time was fairly underwhelming. The best prospect out of the eight members of the organization announced at the time was either pitcher Jacob Johnson, pitcher Mason McConnaughey, or outfielder Paxton Kling.
Since then, though, it has been announced that Sebastian Walcott will also be participating. Walcott — who is #8 on the MLB Pipeline top 100 prospect list that came out this morning — is the Rangers’ top prospect, and the highest-ranked prospect (per MLB Pipeline) who is currently on an AFL roster for this fall.
Walcott was briefly part of the 2025 Surprise Saguaros squad, but appeared in just one game before being sidelined with an elbow injury. He ultimately ended up undergoing elbow surgery in February, which put him on the injured list for the majority of 2026, and limited him to DH duties for most of the year. Having just logged 187 plate appearances in the minors in 2026 (with a .325/.401/.590), primarily at AA Frisco, this gives Walcott the opportunity to make up some of the reps that he missed.
Something to keep an eye on is where in the field Walcott plays for Surprise. Walcott has primarily played shortstop in the minors, with some games at third base, though he played just two of his 41 games this past season at DH, with two appearances at shortstop.
Walcott could be ready to be a major league regular at the start of the 2027 season, in which case, the Rangers will have to decide where in the field he would play. Corey Seager is the team’s shortstop, and is still quite capable there, so Walcott would presumably not be an option at shortstop unless Seager is trade this offseason (which I sadly acknowledge is not out of the question). Third base and right field, however, are viewed as Walcott’s most likely long-term home in the majors.
The Rangers have Josh Jung at third base, though his defensively metrics have not been good at the position, particularly in 2026. Putting Jung at first base, with Walcott taking over at third, would seem to be the most viable solution. The Rangers could then decide if they wanted to keep Jake Burger around in a DH role or as depth — and given Jung’s injury history, it isn’t unreasonable to think that they need a quality Plan B behind Jung, regardless of what position he plays.
Alternatively, the Rangers could look at putting Walcott in right field, where Brandon Nimmo played in 2026. That would allow them to either have Nimmo get the bulk of his plate appearances at DH, while also picking up some playing time in the outfield when one of the regular outfielders sits or gets a DH day, or put Nimmo in left field, with Wyatt Langford moving to center field.
Where Walcott gets his playing time won’t necessarily tip the Rangers’ hand in regards to their 2027 plans with Walcott — shortstop is the most challenging defensive position (other than catcher) in the field, and moving from there to another position farther down the defensive spectrum is easier than the other way around. If Walcott gets most of his reps there, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Seager is gone, or that Walcott is destined to start the 2027 season at Round Rock.
However, if we see Walcott getting a bunch of starts at third base or right field, it would potentially hint at where the Rangers view him most likely contributing in 2027.
