Getting Familiar: Alex Cobb, Austin Hinkle, Justin Garcia and JESSE DARCY!

trade has other issues attached

Too bad, he’d look good somewhere in a Rays uniform

Meanwhile we are loaded with pitching prospects throughout the minors

Carlos Pena underwent surgery to repair a torn abdominal muscle earlier this month and will miss the World Baseball Classic.

The Rays are calling the surgery minor and there’s no indication that it will impact Pena’s readiness for spring training.
Source: Tampa Tribune

and I know I’m gonna take a lot of crap for it ‘cause you’re all so protective of your system prospect status.

Your system has some very good top end prospects, and many are at high levels, so the regard makes sense – you’ve got some good guys that look like contributors in the majors.

But it isn’t a terribly deep system, and in my opinion is on the way down in the ranks. I say this predominantly regarding your lower level guys, but the upper levels aren’t crammed with guys either.

Don’t get me wrong – I think top quality prospects in the high minors are what really should be emphasized. And you’ve got a good mix of good ones and useful ones – Price, of course, Davis, Niemann, F. Perez, Brignac, Talbot, maybe Jaso. Hellickson and Rollins in AA, and McGee should rebound by next year. Jennings – though I have to say KLaw’s rating seems more than a bit aggressive, especially since he said he emphasizes closeness tothe majors, and Jennings has hardly played above low A. Barnese and Moore look real good in the low levels, have to figure Beckham will be good, and Jeffries is well regarded. And surely some sleeper types will rise.

But look at the list for Sally pitchers for example – there’s just not that much there, and nobody brags much on low A relievers. Hell, AA and AAA relievers struggle to get attention form prospect guys. And your A ball guys once Rollins and Hellickson were promoted weren’t much to hoot about either. Heck, outside of Price and Davis, the AAA guys are backend starters or relievers, and bench / depth guys. Brignac has a shot to be a regular, but he’s had 2 seasons of some offensive slippage. If he wasn’t so young for AAA he’d have sunk farther in the ranks – but he’s still got a future.

My take is BA is much closer to the mark than KLaw here. You guys like to talk about the lazy analysts that just skim off the top info and reputation. In this area I think Tampa might benefit from a rep as a prospect place with a good system.

If by some chance a number of your guys lose their rookie eligibility – Price will of course, but Niemann, Talbot , Davis, Perez, Jaso and Brignac could too if injuries strike. Where will the system strength be then?

Maybe Kline and Newmann from ‘07 will rebound in a big way from injury, and Salem , Fronk, and Vogt will keep moving forward. Maybe Royster will rebound. Lobstein’s debut could be interesting. Why isn’t there more talk about Otero or your 3B from Boogie Nights, Burt Reynolds (was it the 33 errors in 58 games)? A few pitchers in Princeton had some decent numbers besides Moore, and a handful of guys in SS showed some promise besides Barnese and Jefferies – Corder, Scelfo, Dyer, Satow, and Gorgen. But that’s not so many guys really.

that the expansion into the Caribbean is relatively recent, so we likely will not be seeing a lot of prospects for a few years yet. In fact, I think they are increasingly stressing that area as a source of talent, especially as draft talent not only is expensive but with winning records, less likely to be the best available any more.

But it seems clear that the Rays are increasingly mining for international talent, not only in the Caribbean but in Asia where I think they have expanded their scouting presence. We always have to keep in mind that a lot of what the Rays do is just 3 years old. We should not conflate the Sternberg regime’s efforts with the preceding one.