A few days ago, ESPN released their annual future power rankings, and the Rays unsurprisingly were right up there at the top, finishing third behind the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers. ESPN writers Buster Olney and Keith Law praised the Rays for the Wil Myers trade and the young players and prospects in the system. Among the five criteria ESPN used to rank the 30 teams was finances, and it’s pretty incredible that the Rays were able to overcome that obvious bias against them to finish third in the rankings. If you needed a reminder, the future still looks very bright for the Tampa Bay Rays.

Chris Archer is a pitcher who has caught the eye of a lot of people at Rays camp by touching 98 MPH with his fastball in his last appearance. But while Rays fans are exciting to see what the coming years with hold from Archer, Marc Topkin talked to Archer about his past, how he overcame having essentially no relationship with his biological father and mother to get as far as he has in his career and in his life with the help of his adopted parents, his maternal grandmother and her husband. Archer has always been a pitcher that has been different than your average fireballing young right-hander, always being a thoughtful guy and really making an effort to get involved in his community, and his journey to get to this point played a big role in him becoming just that.

The Rays actually made a few roster moves over the past couple days, albeit only minor ones. Firstly, they agreed to deals with all their pre-arbitration players, a formality but still something nice to get out of the way, and then they reassigned right-handers Matt Nevarez and Jim Paduch and lefties Jimmy Petterson, and Neil Schenk to minor league camp, and considering only Schenk even spent most of 2012 at Triple-A that wasn’t too surprising. Nevarez is the most interesting pitcher of that group, featuring a mid-90′s fastball and a sharp slider, while Patterson has a chance to be a pitcher who could get both lefties and righties out with a fastball with late life, a slider, and a chnangeup. It was the first big league camp for all four of them, and although it didn’t last very long, it had to have been an exciting experience that makes them even hungrier to achieve their dream of pitching in the major leagues.

Leonardo Reginatto‘s stats in 2012 for the Short Season-A Hudson Valley Renegades were not all that impressive. The 22 year old third baseman and shortstop managed just a .276/.329/.323 line with 8 doubles, 1 homer, 29 RBI, 8 of 12 stolen bases, and a 26-16 strikeout to walk ratio in 254 plate appearances. But when it matters most, Reginatto always seems to come up huge. Reginatto slammed a go-ahead 2-run homer in the 9th inning to guarantee the Renegades their first New York-Penn League playoff berth since 1999 and then proceeded to have a huge postseason including a game-tying homer in the 9th in one game and 2 hits in the clincher as the Renegades won the championship. Then for Brazil in World Baseball Classic qualifying, he was even better, going 7 for 12 (.583) including a 3-hit game as he tied for the highest average among all players in qualifying minimum 10 at-bats. Reginatto just has the clutch gene in him and the Brazilians are going to be relying on him a lot to keep delivering. And after Reginatto has really come into his own ever since the stakes got high for the Renegades and for Brazil, the Rays have to be keeping a careful eye on him wondering whether something has finally clicked and 2013 could be a breakout year for him.

Iago Januario, who celebrates his 20th birthday today, does not have nearly Reginatto’s track record and spent all of 2012 at the Rays’ Venezuelan Summer League affiliate. But one thing that Januario does have is quite a bit of power. A big 6’6″, 205 first baseman, Januario clearly has raw parts of his game after hitting .232 in 52 games for the VSL Rays, striking out 73 times versus just 24 walks in 217 plate appearances. However, even while Januario struggled so mightily, his big-time raw power came out in earnest as he slammed 11 home runs, the most in the Venezuelan League. Januario’s pitch recognition skills are not yet up to par, but he features power and bat speed and the ability to do something not a single Brazil player did in three qualifying games: hit a home run. As a player who was already a year too old for his league last season when he was 19, the World Baseball Classic is a big opportunity for Januario to prove that he deserves an opportunity from the Rays to play professional ball in the US and show what he can do. And although Januario will probably come off the bench at least initially for Brazil, the Brazilians are hoping that at least a transient flash of Januario’s potential can come through and he can their team a lift with a big home run.

It’s crazy to think that a Brazilian team that will be one of just 16 teams from around the world competing in the World Baseball Classic will be relying on players from the low minors to play key roles on their team. But as Reginatto and Januario show, the ability is there from them and you never know what can happen. The Brazilians face an uphill battle, but if Reginatto can stay clutch and Januario can bring out his power as part of an enormous team effort, they may just surprise.

World Baseball Classic Qualifying: Brazil 7, Colombia 1

Brazilians aren’t supposed to know about baseball? Don’t tell that to Leonardo Reginatto and this squad that’s one win away from qualifying from the World Baseball Classic after rolling over Colombia. Rays prospect Leonardo Reginatto had a great game for Brazil, going 3 for 4 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored. Reginatto was down at Short Season-A Hudson Valley in 2012, but great to see him stepping up even when the quality of competition is getting higher.

Dominican Winter League: Leones de Escogido 4, Gigantes del Cibao 3

A total of 5 current and former Rays appeared in this one, which came down to the final pitch in a crazy finish. Julio Lugo went 2 for 4 and Willy Aybar went 1 for 4 with a run scored for Escogido while Rhyne Hughes went 1 for 3 with a triple, a walk, and a run scored for Cibao. Enny Romero tossed a great inning for the Leones, striking out 1 and getting the other 2 outs via groundouts. Jhonny Nunez, unfortunately, was victimized by his defense at the end of this game. Aybar singled with 1 out in the 9th with Kelvin Perez on the mound. Nunez entered the game, and after Freddy Guzman, who pinch-ran for Aybar, stole second base, Nunez intentionally walked Fernando Tatis. Then he got Jackson Williams to hit a taylor-made groundball to second base and looked to have escaped the jam. But after Alexi Casilla fed Jean Segura for one, Segura’s throw to 1st was wild to win the game for Escogido.

Estrellas de Oriente 4, Aguilas Cibaenas 3

Cibaenas got stellar performances by three ex-Rays, but it was not enough as they were edged by Oriente. Tim Corcoran got the start for the Aguilas and went 6 innings allowing 3 runs, 2 earned, on 3 hits, striking out 8 while walking none. Corcoran, the one-time Devil Ray, has been money for Cibaenas, posting a 3.19 ERA and a 26-6 strikeout to walk ratio in 6 starts and 31 innings pitched. Omar Luna went 2 for 4- but made another error at shortstop, his 5th in 24 games. I would say to try Luna at third base, where he played primarily in 2012 and was excellent, but the Aguilas have somebody named Miguel Tejada playing there, so that’s not happening. Luna has already been moved from the leadoff spot to 9th, so the next step is onto the bench, so he better get his defense on track. Manny Ramirez also went 1 for 3 with an RBI and he’s 4 for 10 in his first 3 games back in the Dominican for the first time since after the 1994 season.

Mexican Pacific League: Yaquis de Obregon 8, Naranjeros de Hermosillo 3

Iker Franco had a big game for Obregon to help lead them to victory over Hermosillo and their two ex-Rays. Franco went 2 for 4 with a homer, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored for the Yaquis while Jorge Cantu went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored and Humberto Cota went 0 for 4 for the Naranjeros. Cantu has hit in 4 straight games and in 9 of his last 10 games, but is hitting just .262 during the streak and .254 on the MPL season.

Venezuelan Winter League: Navegantes de Magallanes 3, Bravos de Margarita 1

Saturday’s VWL game in Margarita was unfortunately a major rarity- Leslie Anderson had an extra-base hit and a walk IN THE SAME GAME! OK, that’s not that exciting. But for Anderson, he doesn’t do much of either of those, so it is. Anderson went 1 for 2 with a double, a walk, and an RBI for the victorious Navegantes. He’s hitting .346 for Magallanes, but with just a .407 OBP and a .385 SLG, with just 2 of his 18 hits going for extra-base hits and just 5 walks in 57 plate appearances- although he hasn’t struck out at all, striking out just 6 times, and that’s nice. Erold Andrus also went 1 for 3 with a walk for Magallanes while Sean Burroughs saw his average slip to .333 after an 0 for 4 day for Margarita.

Caribes de Anzoategui 3, Leones del Caracas

Henry Wrigley went just 1 for 4 in this one but the one was a solo home run. Wrigley’s homer was his 9th of the season, tied for the most in the VWL with Phillies prospect Darin Ruf, and his RBI was his 27th to lead the league. Wrigley has a .331/.382/.570 line on the season with 2 doubles, 9 homers, and 27 RBI- but just 24 strikeouts versus 8 walks, which remains Wrigley’s critical flaw. But he’s on a power tear right now and the homers and RBIs just keep coming.