DRaysBay Jan 16, 2021
2021 DRaysBay Community Prospect List special election: Carlos Colmenarez
Photo by Julio Aguilar/ The Rays have added another highly touted prospect to the system. Previous winner 3B Kevin Padlo (R/R, 6’2 205, 24 in 2021) 2019 statistics with Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham: 432 PA, .265/.389/.538, 21 HR, 53 XBH, 12/16 SB, 15.7 BB%, 26.9 K% Padlo broke a hamate bone in 2017, and it took him until the 2019 season to get back on track. He’s always had power potential, and he started showing it in games. His average wasn’t bad, and he posted a high walk rate. He’s a good defender at third base and has spent time at both first...
DRaysBay Jan 16, 2021
Taylor Walls, the next great Rays player you’ve never heard of
Photo by Julio Aguilar/ The Rays future at short stop may not be the prospect you expect. During the early days of the offseason, among the first moves made by the Tampa Bay Rays front office was to add several players to their 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft. At the time however, the Rays 40-man roster was filled nearly to the brim so the team had to make sure they added the players that they 100% wanted to make sure were still with in the organization the following season. So, on November 20th, the Rays added outfielder Josh Lowe, right-handed...
DRaysBay Jan 15, 2021
Could this be the time to sell high on Willy Adames?
Photo by Ronald Martinez/ The future is coming, whether we like it or not The Rays have moved on from several faces of the franchise this offseason, despite winning the American League in 2020, but that should come to us as no surprise at this point, right? Charlie Morton was allowed to test free agency and signed with the Braves, Blake Snell was shipped out to the Padres. The previous season it was top hitter Tommy Pham and closer Emilio Pagan. The Rays sell high, and mostly when there’s a plan for another piece to step in to fill the void. That filling in may be...
DRaysBay Jan 15, 2021
Rays Free Agent Target: RHP Corey Kluber
Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports The two-time Cy Young winner is looking for a one-year deal, and the AL East is his likely landing spot. The Rays are coming off a six-game World Series run, but are also in something of a 90-win rebuild year. With finances tightening the Rays moved on from Charlie Morton so they could keep their core assets together, and hoped the market would come to them. The market did, and it demanded Blake Snell at a price the Rays could not refuse. The result is a good team in need of more moves. Part of that equation is most assuredly finding top...
DRaysBay Jan 15, 2021
Rays sign top 2021 international free agents
Venezuelan shortstop Carlos Colmenarez and Dominican outfielder Jhonny Piron are big gets. Today officially begins the 2020-21 International Free Agent signing period. In typical years this period begins on July 2, but this year it was delayed until January 15. The Tampa Bay Rays have a $6,431,000 signing bonus pool that is matched only by the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, Miami Marlins, Detroit Tigers, and Minnesota Twins. Unlike most recent seasons teams will not be able to trade for additional pool money. This is a practice the Rays have routinely participated in. Any...
DRaysBay Jan 15, 2021
View from the Catwalks: Arb Deadline Day
Photo by Alex Trautwig/MLB Photos via It’s also the start of International Signing, so lots of fun movings and shakings to happen Rays News Glasnow headlines group of arb-eligible Rays - Juan Toribio, MLB.com: The Rays don’t have a ton of Arb eligible players left, but still some key pieces to settle with by the deadline (otherwise it’s on to the awkward arb hearings). This year’s arbitration deadline is different for Rays. Here’s why. - Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay Times 2020-21 MLB International Prospects Class - Ben Badler, Baseball America: The Rays have...
DRaysBay Jan 13, 2021
2021 DRaysBay Community Prospect List No. 22
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports The first runoff of 2021 Previously: No. 20 - Runoff winner RHP Seth Johnson (6’1 200, 22 in 2021) 2019 statistics with Gulf Coast League Rays and rookie-level Princeton: 17 IP, 2.12 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 4.3 BB%, 23.2 K% Johnson was a huge riser last spring as a fairly new convert to pitching after having little success as a hitter. He reportedly stood out in the instructional league in 2020. According to Baseball America, he’s shown improved fastball velocity and a better slider ($). Because of his lack of experience, he was probably...
DRaysBay Jan 13, 2021
Tampa Bay Rays News & Links: Prepare for 162
Photo by Ronald Martinez/ Rob Manfred says prepare for a full spring training and season, DRob lands with the Brewers, and Puppies!!! This baseball news feels really unimportant right now. But it is a nice distraction, so here we go. Commissioner Rob Manfred says teams should be ready for a 162 game season. Ken Rosenthal on why expansion is on hold right now despite some financial incentives. Old friend Daniel Robertson lands a deal with the Brewers. INF Daniel Robertson has agreed to a one-year deal with the Brewers, source confirms. He'll earn $900K with another...
DRaysBay Jan 12, 2021
Looking at options to fill the open rotation spot for the Rays
Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports There are several different routes the Rays could take With the Rays having traded Blake Snell, the team is now in need of starting pitching and has some money to spend. With a few recent trades and free agent signings, the FA market seems like it may get hot soon. It will be fun to find out which starting pitchers are left in the FA market. Let’s take a look at some of the Rays options. (note : All the numbers shown below are the sum of the last two years.) Good SPs, but maybe expensive Yeah, I like Paxton a lot. He would be as...
DRaysBay Jan 12, 2021
Rays Your Voice: AL East Check-In with Jim Turvey
Photo by Christian Petersen/ Jim and I discuss the goings on around the rest of the division. Fortunately, none of your favorite players have been traded in the last week, so on this week’s episode, Jim Turvey and I had a chance to look around the rest of the division and see what the Rays’ AL East foes were up to. In what stage of the rebuild are the Orioles in? Are the Red Sox even in a rebuild? If Toronto was a year early in 2020, how dangerous can they be in 2021? As things stand, are the Yankees the favorites to win the division? Jim and I go through each...
DRaysBay Jan 11, 2021
View from the Catwalk: Can we count down to Opening Day yet?
Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/MLB Photos via If we start counting down to the start of baseball season at such a fraught time, will we just jinx the 2021 season? Well I’ll take the chance. Pitchers and catchers report for Rays on February 17, in 38 days, and the first spring training games are scheduled for February 27. Opening Day is April 1, with your defending AL champion Rays visiting the Miami Marlins. The Rays home opener and presumably first opportunity to raise the AL pennant is on April 9 against the Yankees. From the department of “who made this...
DRaysBay Jan 9, 2021
2021 DRaysBay Community Prospect List No. 20 runoff
Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports Nick Bitsko and Seth Johnson are going head to head. After not having a runoff election for two offseasons, this is the second straight offseason with one. There are only two prospects to choose from. I also want to note that when nominating a player for the next poll, please only include one player per comment. Make as many comments as you want, but multiple players in one comment makes it hard to determine what to do. RHP Nick Bitsko (6’4 220, 19 in 2021) Drafted in 2020 For the third straight season, the Rays took a high school...
DRaysBay Jan 9, 2021
Three ways a new pitch could potentially help Tyler Glasnow improve in 2021
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports But do any of them hold water? Earlier we wrote about how Tyler Glasnow is working on two “new” pitches as he inherits the role of ace in the Rays rotation. When it comes to adding an extra pitch, there are three potential Glasnow-specific ways that jump out to me that this could improve his game: Third Time Through the Order: The more varied a pitcher’s selection, the less likely a batter is to pick up on them even in a third at bat. There’s a reason relievers can rely on one or two pitches, while starters typically trot out...
DRaysBay Jan 8, 2021
Rays Trade Target: RHP Joe Musgrove
Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports Could the Pirates top arm be the answer to the Rays rotation gap? After the Tampa Bay Rays traded their former American League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell they have been looking for an experienced pitcher to help cover innings in the near term. For mine and most Rays fans I imagine they would feel more comfortable entering the season with a pitcher expected to join Tyler Glasnow and Ryan Yarbrough at the top of the rotation. One pitcher that should be looked at is Joe Musgrove of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Joe Musgrove was the major piece...
DRaysBay Jan 8, 2021
Tyler Glasnow working on two “new” pitches
Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports And it’s all about adding more two-seam action. With the exits of Charlie Morton and Blake Snell from the Rays rotation this offseason, and with Michael Wacha as the lone incoming starter at the moment, there is suddenly a lot more pressure on Tyler Glasnow to deliver on the promise he has flashed at times during his Rays career. In 173.2 innings with the Rays, Glasnow has certainly looked up to the task of “Top of the Rotation” arm. His 3.32 ERA and 3.40 FIP would rank right around 16th in baseball over the past three years had...
