According to ESPN.com, the Rays have the second-best farm system in baseball, trailing just the San Diego Padres.
If you favor ceiling over probability, you could make a strong argument for having the Rays ahead of the Padres, based on the fact that this system could quite easily produce six to eight players who end up as grade-60 players or better in the majors. After that first tier, however, there’s a lot less probability here than there was a year or two ago, and several executives from other clubs pointed out that the Rays have a gap in their prospect pipeline coming up that will be filled only if some of their 2011 draft picks move faster than anticipated.
This is a lot higher than what others feel about the Rays minor league system. Recently, John Sickels of Minor League Ball, ranked the Rays as the seventh-best organization. While the Rays do have some strong prospects in the lower levels, there is not much in the upper levels after Matt Moore, Hak-Ju Lee, and Alex Torres.
Multiple sites are reporting that Shannon Magrane, the daughter of former Rays television analyst’ Joe Magrane, will be one of the 24 finalists on “American Idol.”
If you missed it, here is a link to a video of her initial audition for Idol. And below is video of Shannon (now 16) signing the national anthem prior to a Rays game (we believe this was a game in 2010)…
We don’t know much about this video other than it appears that David Price filmed himself playing basketball with some kids on what appears to be an 8-foot hoop.
And because we know somebody will ask, no, this is probably not a violation of his contract. The standard MLB contract does prohibit participation in sports “involving a substantial risk of personal injury.” And among the sports listed is “professional league basketball.” So pick-up games are kosher.
Last night was opening night for Jesuit High School and David Price was on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. We were told that BJ Upton was also in attendance.
Price also spoke with the media and discussed his decision to attend college rather than turn pro after high school.
According to Marc Topkin, Evan Longoria will report to camp “10-15 pounds leaner and considerably looser, emphasizing flexibility over strength.” The goal is to avoid injuries that have limited Longoria’s playing time in previous years.
Over course, every year dozens of players show up to camp in the best shape of their lives, or with more muscle, or less muscle. And sometimes it makes a difference and sometimes it doesn’t. So we will just have to wait and see.
Evan Longoria will be signing autographs on Sunday night at a mall in Garden City, NY. Seems like he did this last year also, but we couldn’t find the report.
Former Rays outfielder Justin Ruggiano has signed a minor league deal with the Astros.
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says the Nationals have “cooled on BJ Upton,” noting that they have other options.
There has been speculation in the past that the Nationals will just wait until the off-season when Upton is a free agent.
At this point, Upton could still be dealt at the trade deadline, but that will only happen if he is having a big season with the bat and a contender feels he can be a difference-maker down the stretch. That might be asking a lot.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Jose Lobaton’s shoulder is progressing nicely and is expected to be 100 percent by spring training. [@TBTimes_Rays]
Josh Hamilton confirmed that he did indeed have a relapse from his recovery for alcohol addiction. [ESPN]
A few weeks ago it looked like the Rays and Indians were competing for Carlos Pena and Casey Kotchman, with Kotch as the consolation prize. After Pena signed with the Rays, the Indians did indeed sign Kotchman to a 1-year, $3 million deal. [ESPN]
