Jan 26
Matt Moore is the top prospect in baseball according to MLB.com. And overall, the Rays are well-represented on the first top prospects list of the year, with six players total.
Joining Moore on the list are Hak-Ju Lee (46), Chris Archer (74), Tim Beckham (92), Mike Mahtook (96) Taylor Guerrieri (99). Lee and Archer came over to the Rays organization via the Matt Garza deal. Tim Beckham was the number one overall pick of the 2008 draft. And Mahtook and Guerrieri were drafted by the Rays this past season.
While it is nice to see six players on the list, it also shows that with the promotions of Jeremy Hellickson (#2 in 2011) and Desmond Jennings (#11 in 2011), Moore is now the only big-time prospect in the system. Last year, the Rays had four players in the top 50. In addition to Hellboy and Jennings, Moore was #27, and Archer was #47.
Dec 21
Baseball America has released their annual list of the top 10 prospects in the Rays’ organization. And while the top player is no surprise, there are a few names in places we did not expect…
- Matt Moore, LHP
- Hak-Ju Lee, SS
- Chris Archer, RHP
- Taylor Guerrieri, RHP
- Alex Colome, RHP
- Alex Torres, LHP
- Tim Beckham, SS
- Enny Romero, LHP
- Drew Vettleson, OF
- Mikie Mahtook, OF
A few notes on the list…
- With Jeremy Hellickson no longer eligible, Matt Moore jumps from #2 to #1.
- Also coming off the list due to no longer being eligible are Desmond Jennings (#3 last year), Jake McGee (#4),
- Josh Sale (#5 last year), Justin O’Connor (#8), and Jake Thompson (#10) all fell out of the top ten after a rough 2011 season.
- Six players are new to the list this year, including Read the rest of this entry »
Apr 20
Most of you are familiar with our “Rays Prospects Meta-Analysis.” Well, over at Business Insider I did the same thing for all of the top prospects in Major League Baseball. In the overall ranking, Jeremy Hellickson is the fifth best prospect in baseball. He is joined by Matt Moore (15), Desmond Jennings (16), and Chris Archer (35). The Royals are the only team with more prospects (5) on the list. [Business Insider]
Feb 22
It is time for our annual Meta-Analysis of the Rays top prospects. In the science community, a meta-analysis is what we do when we don’t want to do any work ourselves and instead want to take the work of a bunch of other people, tease the data a little, draw some conclusions that nobody had noticed before, and then pawn it off as our own.
Presenting the 2011 Tampa Bay Rays Top Prospects Meta-Analysis.
A few notes on the final rankings…
- See below for notes on how the list was constructed.
- Last year, everybody had the same top 3 prospects, although there was disagreement about the exact order. Two of those guys (Desmond Jennings, Jeremy Hellickson) are back this year and everybody agrees on the top 3 and their exact order.
- Chris Archer, Robinson Chirinos Read the rest of this entry »
Feb 22
Finally we get Baseball Prospectus’ list of the Tampa Bay Rays Top 11 Prospects. The list includes three “five-star” prospects and two more “four-star” prospects…
Five-Star Prospects
1. Jeremy Hellickson, RHP
2. Matt Moore, LHP
3. Desmond Jennings, OF
Four-Star Prospects
4. Chris Archer, RHP
5. Jake McGee, LHP
Three-Star Prospects
6. Alex Colome, RHP
7. Josh Sale, LF
8. Hak-Ju Lee, SS
9. Alex Torres, LHP
10. Brandon Guyer, OF
11. Robinson Chirinos
The top five is almost Read the rest of this entry »
Jan 28
Yesterday we learned that ESPN.com had the Rays organization ranked second. Today we get their top 10 Rays prospects and the overall top 100 (player’s overall rank is in parentheses).
1. Jeremy Hellickson, RHP (14)
2. Matt Moore, LHP (16)
3. Desmond Jennings, CF (20)
4. Chris Archer, RHP (40)
5. Hak-Ju Lee, SS (49)
6. Alex Torres, LHP (77)
7. Alex Colome, RHP (89)
8. Jake McGee, RHP (97)
9. Josh Sale, 3B
10. Justin O’Conner, C
The eight prospects among the top 100 is tops in baseball.
ESPN.com is not very high on Hellickson and are very bullish on Moore. For comparison, MLB.com had Hellickson as the second-best prospect in baseball and Moore as just the 27th best prospect.
Both Archer and Lee came to the Rays in the Matt Garza deal. Sale and O’Conner were the Rays two first-round draft picks this past summer.
Jan 27
The Rays minor league system is ranked second by ESPN.com…
Probably second even before they dealt Matt Garza, they’re now No. 2 with a bullet and not far behind Kansas City for No. 1. They’re absolutely loaded, with top-end talent near that of K.C., but not the extensive depth of prospects the Royals have. The Rays have focused on arms and impact bats in the middle of the field, mixing in the occasional corner bat (Josh Sale), but mostly recognizing that replacement level is so low right now for certain positions and roster spots that there’s still some hidden value to be found. They also boast more picks in the first three rounds of the 2011 draft than any other club, so look for the prospect-rich to get richer.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- If you go to the Podcast section of the 620 WDAE homepage, you can listen to Rocco Baldelli’s retirement press conference. [620 WDAE]
- Marc Topkin has some quotes from Rocco Baldelli and Andrew Friedman. [TampaBay.com]
- And here is some video Read the rest of this entry »
Jan 26
MLB.com released their list of the top 50 prospects and the list includes four players from the Rays organization…
2. Jeremy Hellickson, SP
11. Desmond Jennings, OF
27. Matt Moore, SP
47. Chris Archer, SP
Archer came to the Rays as part of the Matt Garza trade. And while Hellickson is one of the top prospects in all of baseball, there are some that think Moore, a left-handed pitcher, has a chance to be the best of the group. In 2010, Moore led all of the minor leagues in strikeouts (208) for the second consecutive season.
Jan 11
Marc Topkin reports that the Rays are still interested in Brian Fuentes and that the Matt Garza deal may have freed up money for signing Fuentes.
The Rays continue to show interest in free agent left-handed closerBrian Fuentes, though nothing appears imminent. The salary freed up in the Garza deal might help them bolster the bullpen.
The Rays are just one of several teams interested in Fuentes. And while he may like the idea of closing for the Rays as opposed to setting up for another team, this will still come down to money. But with a projected payroll of just $33.3 million right now, Fuentes seems more realistic.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Here is a look at what the Rangers offered the Rays for Matt Garza, which ironically, would have also included Robinson Chirinos. [ESPN Dallas]
- Our hope for the Rays signing Jim Thome just took a hit as now the Rangers are reportedly showing interest. [MLB Trade Rumors]
- Jason Bartlett signed a Read the rest of this entry »
Dec 20
John Sickels has released his Top 20 Rays prospects list along with each prospect’s grades. Be sure to check out his write up with a brief explanation for the grading system and each player’s grade…
- Jeremy Hellickson, RHP
- Matt Moore, LHP
- Desmond Jennings, OF
- Jake McGee, LHP
- Josh Sale, OF
- Alex Colome, RHP
- Alex Torres, LHP
- Enny Romero, LHP
- Jake Thompson, RHP
- Justin O’Conner, C
- Drew Vettleson, OF
- Alex Cobb, RHP
- Nick Barnese, RHP
- Joe Cruz, RHP
- Scott Shuman, RHP
- Wilking Rodriguez, RHP
- Braulio Lara, LHP
- Leslie Anderson, OF
- Ryan Brett, 2B
- Tim Beckham, SS
Lot’s of top pitching is always good to see, but outside of Jeremy Hellickson, most of it is still a year or two away. At the other end, Tim Beckham has killed the Rays depth of position players. Outside of Desmond Jennings, there isn’t a lot to get excited about.
