MLB Draft 2016: Rays mock draft round up

Earlier this month, John Town took a stab at projecting the first 34 picks. Baseball mock drafts are really, really hard. Here was his conclusion about what the Rays will do tonight:

13. Tampa Bay Rays-LHP Joey Wentz, Shawnee Mission East (KN) HS

Wentz is a good fit in the Rays system with plenty of upside on his projectable frame. His fastball tops out in the mid-90s (and could get higher with time) with two solid backup offerings. Wentz's delivery is easily repeatable and the club should be able to develop his control over time.

Left handed pitching is certainly a system need, so it's a reasonable selection!

Since then, many resources have connected the Rays with high school short stops Gavin Lux and Josh Lowe. If you are interested in reading what professionals think of the draft, there are several more resources:

Baseball America top 500 (reports are for subscribers only)
ESPN top 100 (subscriber only)
Baseball Prospectus top 125 (subscriber only)
MLB.com top 200

It seems likely that the top sources are done releasing mock drafts. Here are some of those projections for No. 13 overall:

Baseball America's John Manuel:

13. RAYS: Gavin Lux, ss. Joshua Lowe also could be in play here.

ESPN's Keith Law ($):

13. Tampa Bay Rays

Gavin Lux, SS

Indian Trail Academy (Kenosha, Wisconsin)

They've been tied to Lux lately, as well as Rutherford, and I think they're the high mark for Josh Lowe.

MLB.com's Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo:

13. Rays

Callis: Joshua Lowe, 3B, Pope HS (Marietta, Ga.)
Another club on Rutherford's trail, Tampa Bay is associated mostly with high schoolers. This choice could come down to Lowe vs. Lux, with Whitley also a factor.

Mayo: Gavin Lux, SS, Indian Trail Academy (Kenosha, Wis.)
While the Rays could go college arm here, especially if someone like Dunn got to them, there are many high school players they have an interest in, including (but not limited to) high school arms like Manning, lefty Joey Wentz (Kan.) and right-hander Whitley (Texas) and prep bats like Alex Kirilloff (Pa.), Lowe (Ga.) and Lux, who has taken a huge step forward by getting stronger and showing he definitely can stay at shortstop.

Minor League Ball's John Sickels:

13. Tampa Bay Rays: Blake Rutherford, OF, Chaminade Prep, CA

The Rays look up and see Rutherford is still available. It's hard to mess this one up. Although I could see them grab Josh Lowe or Nolan Jones here as well. Rutherford may be old for his draft class, but his bat is more advanced than some of the college guys who are going to be picked in the first round. So humbug to the age criticism.

CBS Sports' Mike Axisa:

13. Rays: SS Delvin Perez, International Baseball Academy (PR)

Perez is one of the most tooled-up players in the draft class and a no-doubt long-term shortstop. He's a long-term project because he's raw and needs work with his approach at the plate. Tampa has shown they are a patient team when it comes to player development -- they're perfectly fine with letting a player spend 4-5 years in the minors, if necessary -- making Perez a good fit for the Rays, and the Rays a good fit for Perez.

Minor League Ball's annual community mock draft:

13 Tampa Bay Rays Blake Rutherford, OF, Califronia HS
53 Tampa Bay Rays Heath Quinn, OF, Samford
77 Tampa Bay Rays Dane Dunning, RHP, Florida
90 Tampa Bay Rays Zach Linginfelter RHP, Tennessee HS
120 Tampa Bay Rays Errol Robinson, SS, Mississippi

Tampa Bay can spend up to $7,643,100 on their picks.

Go Rays!