2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays Prospects

2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays Prospects

1. Delmon Young, OF, Grade A (Seven Skill player)
   
2. Reid Brignac, SS, Grade A- (Breakthrough season with the bat)
   
3. Evan Longoria, 3B, A- (plate discipline an issue?)
   
4. Jacob McGee, LHP, B+ (breakthrough lefty increased velocity)
   
5. Jeff Niemann, RHP, B+ (can he stay healthy?)
   
6. Wade Davis, RHP, B+ (I still love him)
   
7. Elijah Dukes, OF, B (Grade A if not for attitude)
   
8. Jeremy Hellickson, RHP, B (breakthrough for 2007)
   
9. Mitch Talbot, RHP, B (nice find from Astros)
   
10. Joel Guzman, INF-OF, B (status has slipped but still very young)
    
11. Matt Walker, RHP, B- (great arm but mixed results)
    
12. Juan Salas, RHP, B- (hasn't received much attention but looks solid)
    
13. Justin Ruggiano, OF, B- (sleeper outfield prospect)
    
14. Josh Butler, RHP, B- (nice arm from `06 draft)
    
15. Andrew Sonnanstine, RHP, C+ (promising control artist)
    
16. Jason Hammel, RHP, C+ (should be decent starter eventually)
    
17. James Houser, LHP, C+ (intriguing southpaw from Cal League)
    
18. Shawn Riggans, C, C+ (decent catcher if he stays healthy)
    
19. Sergio Pedroza, OF, C+ (power and patience)
    
20. Elliot Johnson, 2B, C+ (I don't have a great feel for him but a lot of people like him.

Others of Note: Nevin Ashley, C; Wes Bankston, 1B; Jon Barratt, LHP; Alex Cobb, RHP: Desmond Jennings, OF; Chris Mason, RHP; Mike McCormick, 3B; Ryan Owen, LHP; Fernando Perez, OF; Chris Seddon, LHP; Wade Townsend, RHP; Eric Walker, RHP; Mike Wlodarczyk, LHP.

The Devil Rays in One Sentence: This system is very strong.

Not much else to say, other than this organization has a lot of potential talent if they can find a way to use it right.

ALL GRADES ARE PRELIMINARY. If you hate a grade, feel free to make a case for me to change it, though remember that cases phrased respectfully using logic and facts are more likely to be viewed positively than those featuring insults and invective.

There is a lot of slack in the B-/C+/C range and players may move up and down depending on how my thinking progresses. Feel free to make comments, point out sleepers I may have missed, etc. Note that there is only a limited amount of space in the book, and the max I can do is 35-36 players per team.

And, as always, there is the helpful reminder to Buy My Book, which will lay out reports for all these guys (and more) in detail.