Tampa Bay Rays Top 20 PRE-SEASON Prospects in Review
by John Sickels on Sep 9, 2009 8:00 AM EDT
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PrintTampa Bay Rays Top 20 PRE-SEASON Prospects in Review
This list was originally published November 10, 2008. This is a review of the PRE-SEASON list for 2009, not a revision of that list. This is a REVIEW of the old list. I'm not doing new grades or lists until I start working on the 2010 book.
1) David Price, LHP, Grade A: 4.75 ERA with 81/44 K/BB in 97 innings for the Rays, 98 hits allowed. I still believe in him long-term.
2) Wade Davis, RHP, Grade B+: 10-8, 3.40 with a 140/60 K/BB in 159 innings for Triple-A Durham, 139 hits. He still has some command issues but I like him.
3) Jeremy Hellickson, RHP, Grade B+: 2.61 ERA with 123/29 K/BB in 107 innings, 69 hits combined between Double-A Montgomery and Durham. All stats are excellent and did not deteriorate as he moved up despite complaints about lack of plus velocity. Has struck out 32 hitters in his last three starts, with five walks..
4) Tim Beckham, SS, Grade B+: Hitting .281/.335/.400 for Class A Bowling Green. Needs more polish but ceiling remains immense.
5) Desmond Jennings, OF, Grade B: Hitting .322/.406/.496 with 52 steals in 57 attempts, 66 walks, 66 strikeouts in 484 at-bats combined between Montgomery and Durham. Breakthrough season after shoulder problems in '08.
6) Jeff Niemann, HRP, Grade B-: 12-5, 3.80 with a 92/47 K/BB in 147 innings for the Rays, 143 hits. Hard to complain here. Perhaps a case example of how a full season of Triple-A makes major league adjustments easier?
7) Nick Barnese, RHP, Grade B-: 2.53 ERA with 62/25 K/BB in 75 innings for Bowling Green, 56 hits. Very solid pitching.
8) Jake Jefferies, C, Grade B-: Hitting .270/.332/.371 for Bowling Green. Makes contact, but lack of power looks like a problem.
9) Matt Moore, LHP, Grade B-: 3.15 ERA with 176/70 K/BB in 123 innings for Bowling Green, 86 hits. Love the K/IP and hit rate, needs to lower walks.
10) Reid Brignac, SS, Grade C+: .282/.327/.417 for Durham, .254/.277/.365 in 22 major league games. Still finding his way.
11) John Jaso, C, Grade C+: .257/.356/.350 for Durham. Good contact hitter but lacks power.
12) Jacob McGree, LHP, Grade C+: 7.45 ERA with 22/9 K/BB in 19 innings for Class A Charlotte, 24 hits. Rehabbing from Tommy John and it shows.
13) Eduardo Morlan, RHP, Grade C+: 3.84 ERA with 60/29 K/BB in 68 innings for Montgomery, 66 hits. OK but not terrific performance.
14) Fernando Perez, OF, Grade C+: Injured most of the season with a bad wrist. Hitting .278/.395/.361 in 13 games for Durham, with eight steals in nine attempts.
15) Mitch Talbot, RHP, Grade C+: Currently on rehab in the Gulf Coast League after vaguely described "arm problems.". Posted 4.47 ERA with 40/18 K/BB in 54 innings for Durham earlier in the year.
16) Heath Rollins, RHP, Grade C+: 3.83 ERA with 83/33 K/BB in 134 innings for Montgomery, 147 hits. Hittable control type, but I think he has sleeper potential.
17) Reid Fronk, OF, Grade C+: .201/.321/.286 in 112 games for Charlotte. Power totally vanished.
18) Kyle Lobstein, LHP, Grade C+: 2.81 ERA with 65/22 K/BB in 67 innings for Hudson Valley in the New York-Penn League, 51 hits. Impressive performance, breakthrough guy for 2010.
19) Emeel Salem, OF, Grade C+: .251/.324/.327 with 24 steals in 32 attempts for Charlotte. Lacks power, but makes contact and has speed.
20) Albert Suarez, RHP, Grade C+: Made just two starts in the NY-P.
Price hasn't quite lived up to expectations, but the stuff is clearly there and as long as he remains healthy I remain positive about his long-term outlook. Niemann has been better than expected, and Davis and Hellickson aren't far behind. Moore's power arm is highly intriguing, and Barnese and Lobstein look like a breakthrough pair for '10. On the hitting side, Jennings is elite and will move to the top of the list next year. There is less hitting depth after that, but overall the emphasis this system has put on pitching should pay dividends.
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The success of the prospects makes the big club's season a little easier.
You look ahead and wonder how it all shakes out.
I’ve really come around on Hellickson this year. You hearh the reports about how his stuff would play at the higher levels, and you had to wonder. He seems to be the real deal after all. I’m a pleasently suprised so far, and hopefully he can dominate in Durham next year.
Talbot will be starting game 2 of the IL playoffs for Durham
Vroom vroom party starter
www.raysprospects.com
I'll be at that game
If he is pitching, I’ll be curious to see how he does.
I just wish there was more hitting depth
For every pitcher who took a step back, there’s a pitcher who took a step forward (Colome, McEacheren, Cobb, Wilking Rodriguez), but the position player depth is just obliterated.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
That's why it's good to have young positional talent in the bigs.
Longoria is a legitimate star. CC isn’t far behind. BJ? Then in the upper levels there’s some decent talent. I wish there were more top 100s, but you can always trade pitchers if need be.
top 10 for me
right after Dom Brown.
- to be specific.
Heyward
Strasburg
Posey
Stanton
Montero
Santana
Brown
Jennings
ugh at #3.
I was on the Beckham train (or Alvarez) prior to the draft. It would be very nice to have Posey instead right now.
Where do people think the Rays system slots?
You have to think top 5 even with Price and Niemann graduating.
top 5 for sure
DJ
TB
MM
JH
WD
5 players in the top 30.
and Briggy not far behind them. so 6 in the top 50. probably a top 3 system
Between #3 and #6
Depending on how much you like their top guys. Not a ton of depth, at least with respect to position players. A lot of people aren’t fans of Hellickson, Moore, Jennings, etc. If you don’t rank them all that highly, I could see them dropping a bit.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Reid Brignac is a top 50 prospect?
"Chicks dig the long ball, although fat chicks will settle for warning track power" - Nick Diamond
Doubt it
Not the way his offensive numbers have dropped in the second half.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
That's fine
But they don’t rank a prospect higher overall just because there’s a dearth of good players at his position.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
No chance
I have had him in one of my keeper league for 4 seasons and I love the guy. However, even I know that he is nowhere close to a top 50 prospect as he has only really had the one great season.
"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."
-Jonathan Swift
by King Billy Royal on Sep 10, 2009 6:45 PM EDT up reply actions
id put them at 2 or 3 honestly
they have a ton of quality players, mostly at the upper levels too
Feliz says his greatest thrill was striking out Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, one of his heroes. Yet, when he called to tell his parents, his mother had a request: Strike out New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, too.
"So when I did that," Feliz says, "I told my mom, 'There you go. There's your present. Don't ask me to strike anyone else out, OK?'
i still don't get the brignac love
he’s good defensively. yes. so are a lot of ss’s in the minors. is there ANY indication he’s going to hit? or are we still living off like 3 years ago when he hit the CAL league of all places.
if he can be Jack Wilson…great. that’s a good player. but even Wilson had a better record of hitting in the minors than Brignac has had.
baseball rules.
His numbers look a lot worse now than they did a month ago
Most of the year, his AAA OPS was floating a little north of .800.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
i know you are better than this man...i do
is there any real concrete reason that i should believe he will hit?
baseball rules.
If he reproduces his Triple-A numbers from this year in the majors
Then he’s a pretty good starting shortstop.
because this argument is old.
Brignac can hit. he has a bat. you don’t put up numbers like he did in Cal league without having the ability. and really he did ok in AAA this year as well.
he’s still hitting plenty of doubles.
he’s still young for his league.
we know he’s been trying to improve his D for the past few seasons.
he has vastly improved his Defense, now once he settles in and gets some ML ABs, he’ll be fine.
what is incorrect about his statement?
Jennings, Hellickson, Davis, Brignac, Beckham, Moore > Your top 3
And I would add
that he cut his K rate dramatically, from over 26.4% to 16.6%. His BB rate did not improve, but making more contact is a plus. He may have lost some of his luster, but he remains a solid prospect.
does .330 batting average for 600 triple A at bats mean anything
And Bartlett also had a minor league season in which he stole over 40 bases.
I don’t get it when people wonder where Jason Bartlett came from…
Because his track record doesn't show this kind of power and average ability?
It’s not that hard.
by Lunkwill Fook on Sep 10, 2009 9:31 AM EDT up reply actions
doesn't show this kind of average ability?
Clean your glasses. The HR power is the only surprise.
Does anyone know...
…if the Rays are looking to move Upton? I’d heard he was in Maddon’s doghouse. It’s too bad Dukes was such a reprobate: an outfield of Crawford-Jennings-Elijah would’ve been pretty compelling.
or if they had Josh Hamilton
dont forget they lost him in the rule 5 after he came back from all his addictions (you cant really blame them for not putting him on the 40 though)
Feliz says his greatest thrill was striking out Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, one of his heroes. Yet, when he called to tell his parents, his mother had a request: Strike out New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, too.
"So when I did that," Feliz says, "I told my mom, 'There you go. There's your present. Don't ask me to strike anyone else out, OK?'
Hellickson having a split personality start tonight
4 innings 3 runs 3 hits (2 HR) 2 BB 10 K 17 Swinging Strikes so far. The K and SS #‘s are amazing but the 2 HR’s are a bit troublesome.
Jennings, Hellickson, Davis, Brignac, Beckham, Moore > Your top 3
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