This offseason could be tough because longtime Ray Carl Crawford as well as Carlos Pena and Rafael Soriano are probably headed elsewhere. While it could turn out to be a retooling year of sorts, the Rays still have some awesome talent coming up the pipeline and this was documents in Baseball America’s Top Ten Rays Prospect list.
While he’s not as much of a prospect anymore since he showed he can get the job done at the big league level, Jeremy Hellickson checks in at number one. The right hander was dominating at the Triple A level and had a nice showing in 36 innings for the Rays. This kid is ready to take a spot in the rotation and while he’ll probably be in the back half of the starting five, this is just for now because the Rays have so much good starting pitching.
Number two is left hander Matt Moore. He struck out 208 in 145 innings for High A Charlotte and while he’s still over a year away, this kid has a ton of potential and looks to be a steal as an eighth round pick in 2007. Desmond Jennings is the top position player at number three. The outfielder should be Carl Crawford’s replacement in 2011 after hitting 36 home runs for Durham last year.
Lefthander Jake McGee comes in at number four and he’s also major league ready and could become the team’s closer at some point in the future. 2010 first round pick Josh Sale rounds out the top five and he’s likely headed for short season ball this upcoming year.
