Tampa Bay Rays news and links: Rays awarded Competitive Balance Round B draft pick in 2020

MLB announced this year’s Competitive Balance draft picks, and the Rays were awarded the current 69th overall selection in Round B (after the second round).

Round A

1. Baltimore Orioles
2. Pittsburgh Pirates
3. Kansas City Royals
4. Arizona Diamondbacks
5. San Diego Padres
6. Colorado Rockies
7. Cleveland Indians
8. St. Louis Cardinals

Round B

1. Miami Marlins
2. Detroit Tigers
3. Tampa Bay Rays
4. Milwaukee Brewers
5. Cincinnati Reds
6. Minnesota Twins

The exact numbers in the draft order are likely to change, as teams can lose a draft selection if they sign a player attached to a qualifying offer from their previous team, while the team losing the player will also receive a selection immediately following Round B.

Clear?

Here are the 8 players who declined to Qualifying Offers:

Astros -- Gerrit Cole
Braves -- Josh Donaldson
Cardinals -- Marcell Ozuna
Giants -- Madison Bumgarner, Will Smith
Mets -- Zack Wheeler
Nationals -- Anthony Rendon, Stephen Strasburg:

Smith has already signed with the Braves, and Wheeler is said to be signing with the Phillies. That has already eliminated two draft picks above Round B for the signing teams.

As things stand this morning, the Rays have four selections in the Top-100 of the 2020 draft: No. 24 (1st Round), No. 61 (2nd round), No. 69 (Comp B), and No. 98 (2rd Round).

You can follow the MLB Draft order for the first three rounds at this page (with explanations given for Compensation picks in detail, if you’re interested).

Rays News

• St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman has denied the Rays request to pursue a split-city concept with Montreal during the team’s contract (which runs through 2027).
• In response, both Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg and prospective Montreal principal owner each doubled down on the Sister City concept denied by St. Petersburg before 2028. You can read Sternberg’s response here, and Bronfman’s response in the following tweet.

• Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan, the local politician who failed to secure a Rays stadium deal in Tampa and is now under investigation by the FBI, put the odds of the Rays leaving at 25% in an interview on WDAE yesterday evening.
• Tyler Glasnow sang praises to Kyle Snyder on MLB Network Radio:

• Toribio: The Top 10 games of the past decade for the Rays

Other Links

• Zack Wheeler will sign with the Phillies on a five-year, $118 million deal — which is one year less than Patrick Corbin pulled a year ago (in an admittedly weaker pitching market)
• The Braves are shelling out yet again, signing Cole Hamels (who did not receive a QO from the Cubs) to a one year, $18 million deal (which is higher than a QO).
• The Mets ownership will transition from the infamous Wilpon family to minority shareholder Steve Cohen over the next five years.
• The Angels will remain in Anaheim after reaching a deal to buy their stadium and the surrounding parking lots for... less than Mike Trout’s contract! The Angels will now consider whether to renovate or build anew on their contract that runs through 2050.
• The Marlins are moving the fences in at their ballpark by 12 feet, making the distance 400 to dead center.
• Smoking isn’t cool, but Sheff is doing his best to prove otherwise

Seriously though, don’t smoke.