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The last time we discussed the top prospects in the Rays farm system was recapping our DRaysBay writers poll:
|
# |
Player |
Total |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Wil Myers |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
120 |
|
2 |
Chris Archer |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
115 |
|
3 |
Taylor Guerrieri |
3 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
112 |
|
4 |
Hak-Ju Lee |
6 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
107 |
|
5 |
Jake Odorizzi |
4 |
6 |
5 |
5 |
104 |
|
6 |
Richie Shaffer |
7 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
100 |
|
7 |
Alex Colome |
5 |
8 |
7 |
7 |
97 |
|
8 |
Enny Romero |
12 |
7 |
8 |
8 |
89 |
|
9 |
Jake Hager |
8 |
9 |
10 |
9 |
88 |
|
10 |
Josh Sale |
11 |
11 |
11 |
10 |
81 |
Following any of the hyperlinks on each writer's names will send you to their personal top-30 prospect lists, which include write ups on the players listed. On the outside looking in to the our top 10 were Blake Snell, Drew Vettleson, and Mikie Mahtook.
Jason Parks of Baseball Prospectus published his top 10 for the Rays yesterday. He matched our writers' list for the first six prospects, but made quite different choices afterward.
Parks took a risk and ranked Drew Vettleson at No. 7, skipping more "sure thing" players like starting pitchers Colome or Romero, appealing shortstop prospect Jake Hager, or outfielder Josh Sale - who has a similar profile to Vettleson, but with a louder bat.
Sale lost momentum last season due to a suspension for amphetamine use and was not mentioned anywhere in Jason Park's list. Vettleson is an outfielder with intriguing power but okay defense, that and has yet to play in AA. His upside is an ability to climb quickly through the minors if everything pieces together, but it's quite a vote of confidence.
Following at No. 8 was southpaw Blake Snell, who fixed his velocity issues last year and raised his ceiling considerably to a No. 3 starter (something I'd agree with Parks on); however, Snell has yet to pitch a full season. Again, quite a vote of confidence.
Next was a bit of a shocker, Felipe Rivero at No. 9. Fresh off his first season in low-A ball, Rivero was ranked 16th on our list in aggregate, between a high of 14th on Scott's list, and 23rd on Michael's, and 20th overall by Baseball America.
Rivero doubled his work load in his first full season at 113 innings, and has yet to prove durability - something Parks mentions his body does not project to handle well either. The upside is an ability to reach the majors, with an excellent fastball-curveball-changeup arsenal.
BPro rounded out the list with Alex Colome, who has worked his way through the minors and will start the season in AAA. Colome has legitimate potential to last in the bullpen alongside Joel Peralta and Jake McGee in high leverage situations.
Jason Parks added three more prospects to watch at the end of his list: the aforementioned Jake Hager, the "finally healthy" Jesse Hahn (No. 15 on our list), and catching prospect Oscar Hernandez (our No. 24), a promising 19 year old hitter who has a long way to go.
Read the full report by Parks behind the paywall at Baseball Prospectus.