Rays Hope To Find the Money for OF Zac Law in 23rd

Among their picks in the top 10 rounds of the MLB Draft, the Tampa Bay Rays drafted three high school players and another one out community college. All of them may take some money to sign, but they were drafted early enough that inking them should not be much of an issue. For the high school and junior college players who the Rays selected later, however, it is going to be a different story. Spencer Moran (11th), Greg Maisto (16th), and Jamie Ayende-Morales (21st) will require above-slot bonuses of varying degrees to sign. Then, in Round 23, the Rays selected outfielder Zac Law out of Robinson High School in Texas and you can add him to the list. Why did the Rays select so many players that will be difficult to sign? The answer is that teams have the Rays have nothing to gain by leaving any bonus pool money left over, and they want to make sure they use all of it to sign potential impact players.

Zac Law slipped this far in the draft for two reasons: his commitment to Dallas Baptist and his size. Law is a smaller prospect listed at 5’8″, 180, and he lacks the lean athletic frame that you want from a centerfield prospect. However, every player has a price, and Law has the tools to make up for his small stature. At the plate, Law shows good bat speed, which is always a good place to start for a hitter. He is relatively raw otherwise, requiring work on his patience and pitch recognition and needing to learn not to sell out for power. Law does have some pop, but his swing gets long when he tries to hit the ball over the fence, and he may realistically end up with only gap power. Luckily for him, he plays a premium defensive position and has good speed. Defensively in centerfield, Law moves well and also has an above-average arm for the position. Overall, Zac Law has at least four-tool potential and has the type of upside the Rays always target. Whether he ends up with the Rays or not likely depends on whether Spencer Moran decides to sign, but when a player with Law’s ability is your backup plan, you are doing pretty well.