Tampa Bay Rays 2015 Top 10 Prospects: Where are They Now?

We look back five years at the Tampa Bay Rays’ top ten prospects of the 2015 season and how they panned out.

We’ll be using the Baseball Prospectus 2015 Top Ten Prospects List for our five-year check-in to see how the Tampa Bay Rays‘ top 10 prospects are doing now.

10. Blake Snell

Blake Snell was coming off a 2014 season in which he pitched 75.1 innings at High-A Charlotte posting a 3.94 ERA and striking out 77 batters while issuing 37 free passes. Snell also pitched 40.1 innings at Low-A Bowling Green where he posted a 1.79 ERA in 40.1 innings pitched.

At 21-years-old, Snell was still working on control issues. He finished his time in High-A Charlotte with 4.4 walks per nine.

Baseball Prospectus had his future potential capped as a no. 3 starter with a realistic role as a “High 4; 5th starter/middle reliever.”

Snell would make his debut in the Majors in 2016 and the command issues did rear its ugly head. Snell was effective at missing both bats and the strike zone. He finished his first major league season with 89.0 innings, 98 strikeouts, and 51 walks. His K/9 ratio was 9.9 with a 5.2 BB/9 and a 1.62 WHIP. He kept damage minimal with a 3.54 ERA.

The next season Snell improved his walks per nine by 1.2 batters per nine innings. Then of course, in 2018 Snell made 31 starts for the Rays and finished with a spectacular 1.89 ERA over 180.2 innings. Snell led the league in ERA and allowed the fewest hits per nine innings in the American League.

He saw his strikeouts per nine soar to 11.0 and brought his walks per nine down to a new career-low at 3.2.

Snell won the AL Cy Young that season and finished ninth in AL MVP voting. In 2019, Snell struggled through injuries but still saw more improvement upon his strikeout numbers, reaching 12.4 per nine innings and was able to still keep his walks under control.

His peripherals looked similar or improved from his 2018 season, his 4.29 ERA was a let down from the incredible 2018 numbers, but the underlying metrics indicate that Snell was still a very effective pitcher last season.

It’s reasonable to believe he’ll be rated among the best in the league again in 2020. He’s blown well past his 2015 pre-season projections as a fourth or fifth starter.

8. Casey Gillaspie

Casey Gillaspie was a first-round draft pick in 2014. The 6’4” 240lb first baseman was selected with Tampa Bay’s 20th overall pick and found himself ranked as their eighth-best prospect heading into the next season.

Gillaspie projected as a powerful, switch-hitting first bagger. He projected as 20+ homer threat with quality defense at first. He moved very well around the bag for a guy that could be a pro-wrestler.

Baseball Prospectus set his major league ETA as 2017.

In 2015 at Low A-Bowling Green, Gillaspie lived up the standard he set in college when he finished the 2014 season at Wichita State with a .394/.524/.692. He smashed 16 homers in just 234 at-bats in Bowling Green that season. Gillaspie slashed .278/.358/.530.

He was promoted all the way to AAA-Durham the following season where he slashed .307/.389/.520. Casey Gillaspie’s stock was on the rise.

As you would imagine, Gillaspie found himself in Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects list prior to the 2017 season.

Gillaspie was traded by the Rays midway through the following season. 2017 was a disaster for Casey Gillaspie in Durham. He slashed .227/.296/.357 before breaking his toe. His success from the previous season still carried enough value that the Rays were able to move him to the Chicago White Sox for lefty reliever, Dan Jennings.

Gillaspie went straight to AAA-Charlotte for the White Sox where he continued to struggle. Gillaspie would only muster a .210 batting average with a .300 on-base.

In 2018, things didn’t get much better. He slashed .220/.285/.325 with only three home runs.

By 2019, the former first-round draft pick found himself in playing for the Kansas City T-Bones of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball.

7. Taylor Guerrieri

Taylor Guerrieri was another first-round draft pick. Guerrieri was taken in the 2011 draft out of Spring Valley High School in South Carolina.

Taylor earned a top 100 ranking by MLB.com prior to 2012, 2013, and 2014 seasons, reaching as high as the 44th overall prospect in the game (pre-season rankings).

At this point, he was still being projected with a ceiling as a number two starter.

2013 was a rough year for the right-handed pitching prospect. He had worked his way up to MLB.com’s 28th best prospect and had a 2.01 ERA, 0.985 WHIP, and only 12 walks in 67 innings. July 15th marked the end of his season, he suffered an elbow injury which led to Tommy John surgery.

To add insult to injury, he was suspended 50 games for a second positive test for “a drug of abuse.”

Prior to the injury, Guerrieri had taken over as the Rays’ number one prospect.

Despite only pitching in 9.1 innings upon his return in 2014, he was still ranked as the Rays’ 7th best prospect heading into 2015.

He didn’t disappoint in 2015, pitching between High-A Charlotte and AA-Montgomery. He combined for a 1.85 ERA, allowing only 19 walks in 78.0 innings. The sinkerballer even struck out 72 batters in his 78 innings of work.

In 2017 he suffered another elbow injury and pitched in only 9.1 innings (same as his return year in 2014).

At the end of the season, the Rays placed him on waivers, and he was claimed by the Blue Jays.

Taylor Guerrieri was a certain ace in the making. He was a first-round draft pick and was unhittable before his arm was ravaged by injuries.

He made his major league debut with the Blue Jays in 2018 at the age of 25, pitching in 9.2 innings with the big club. He finished 2018 with a 5.81 ERA in AAA-Buffalo for Blue Jays.

Guerrieri is currently on the Texas Rangers where he pitched in 20 games for the major league club last season. The results weren’t very promising as he posted a 5.81 ERA. On the bright side, he did show signs of life in Texas’ Triple-A affiliate, pitching in 36.1 innings and posting a 3.47 ERA.

Taylor Guerrier is currently 27-years-old, but if his arm his in good health he could make a positive impact in the major leagues.

6. Nate Karns

Nate Karns was taken in the 12th round of the 2009 draft by the Washington Nationals. He made his way to the major league team in 2013 at the age of 25 without ever pitching in Triple-A. He only logged 12 innings with Washington but in his 132.2 innings in Double-A he posted a 3.26 ERA and struck out 155 batters.

Prior to the 2014 season, the Rays traded Jose Lobaton, Felipe Rivero, and Drew Vettleson for Karns. He finally got his opportunity to face Triple-A hitting in Durham.

The Rays loved his electric arm and flaming fastball, but he struggled with command. He finished the 2014 season with a 5.08 ERA. He did make two appearances with the Rays that season.

At the age of 27, Karns started 26 games for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2015 and went 7-5, posting a 3.67 ERA. He struck out 145 batters in 147 innings as a major leaguer.

Heading into the 2016 season, the Rays had a bit of logjam at starting pitcher. It appeared Karns would be destined for a bullpen role so they club decided to trade him, coming off of his successful 2015 campaign.

The Rays swapped players with Seattle. In exchange for Karns, C.J. Riefenhauser and Boog Powell, they received Logan Morrison, Brad Miller, and Danny Farquhar.

There was concern about Karns’ health at the end of the 2015 season as suffered forearm tightness.

Karns appeared in 27 games for the Mariners the following season and posted a 5.15. ERA. The Mariners traded him to the Royals following his disappointing season.

Karns made eight starts for the Royals before a forearm injury ended his season. He wouldn’t play another major league game until last season. Karns pitched in 5.1 innings with the Orioles. Karns again missed the majority of the 2019 season due to a forearm injury.

Karns, 32, is currently listed as a free agent.

5. Brent Honeywell

Brent Honeywell was taken in the second round of the previous year’s draft. His first pre-season ranking already had him fourth on the list of Rays’ prospects.

After being selected by the Rays in the 2014 draft, he pitched in only nine games but whetted the appetite of Rays’ fans as the 19-year-old rocked a 1.07 ERA with over 10 Ks per nine.

He made 24 starts in 2015 between Charlotte and Bowling Green, totaling a 3.18 ERA.

At age 21, he was promoted to Double-A Montgomery where he made 10 starts that resulted in a 2.28 ERA, 1.096 WHIP.

Honeywell was projected by Baseball Prospectus to be a number three or four starter. His estimated arrival was set for 2018.

This, of course, has been delayed by injuries. Honeywell is one of the few players on this list that is still in the Rays’ system.

Honeywell would have likely found his way to the Rays in 2018 had he stayed healthy. Honeywell was ranked as the 11th best prospect heading into the 2018 season by Baseball Prospectus.

He finished 2017 with 123 innings at Triple A-Durham where he went 12-8 with a 3.64 ERA. Honeywell struck out 11.3 batters per nine and walked only 2.3 hitters every nine innings.

He was recently spotted playing catch at Tropicana Field and is working his way back to throwing off of the mound by the end of February.

We hope to see Honeywell finally make his Rays’ Major League debut this season, but he’s got to take it easy on an arm that has kept him out of action for each of the past two seasons.

Should he live up to the expectation set forth in this five-year-old ranking, he would be the number three or four starter on an absolutely stacked rotation. The Rays still have high hopes for the young righty.

4. Adrian Rondon

Adrian Rondon was acquired via the International Free Agency in 2014 by the Rays out of the Dominican Republic. The Rays gave him up close to $3 million in bonus money to get the highly-touted international man of multi-dimensional talents.

Rondon was born just one day after Goldberg defeated Hollywood Hogan for the WCW title on Nitro in Atlanta, Georgia.

That means the Rays signed him at 16-years-old. His Major League ETA was set for late 2018.

Baseball Prospectus wasn’t shy about this kid’s ability. They gave his “overall future potential” rating a “7; perennial all-star.”

It’s hard to project a 16-year-old kid, but it was beginning to look like he’d develop into a strong defender up the middle, a solid contact hitter, and progressive power.

Baseball America had Rondon rated as the top prospect in the 2014 international class. 

In 2015, Rondon got his first taste of professional ball in the Gulf Coast League where the 16-year-old hit .166/.256/.234. He was only 16…

The following season he slashed .249/.301/.430. That’s a marked improvement over the previous season, and he’s still just seventeen.

He regressed the next season by slashing .221/.286/.330.

In his age-19 season of 2018, he still found himself bouncing between Low-A Bowling Green and Hudson Valley. Things got even worse as he played in 93 games slashing .182/.242/.287.

Prior to last season, the Rays cut their losses, proving what an inexact science scouting prospect can be.

Rondon is currently signed with the Angels where he spent last season between Rookie and Class-A.

He was finally able to post solid numbers but has not yet reached Double-A. On the flip side, the kid is about to enter his age-21 season. He’s still got a chance, so we’ll reserve judgment.

3. Alex Colome

Alex Colome was acquired as an International Free Agent in 2007 out of the Dominican. He’s currently 31-years-old and had been with the Rays for eight seasons prior to this ranking. The Rays clearly showed more patience with Colome than they did with Adrian Rondon.

At the time of this ranking, Colome was entering his age-26 season. He had proven himself in the minor leagues at this point and already made his major league debut in 2013 with the Rays.

The projection for Colome already had him pegged as a late-inning reliever or potentially a setup guy. That was pretty close, but he’d take it a step farther.

Colome is one of the few prospects that warranted the top-ten ranking. He’s one of the few on this list that has worked out.

He was already coming off of a 2014 major league season in which he nailed down a 2.66 ERA in 23.2 innings in 2014.

He destroyed Triple-A hitting in Durham with a 1.64 ERA over 86 innings pitched.

It was evident that Alex Colome was ready to be unleashed on the big leagues.

The season following these rankings he would start 13 games with the Rays and appear in 43 total contests. He finished his first full season with an impressive 3.94 ERA and only walked 2.5 batters per nine frames.

The next year he made the All-Star team with a 1.91 ERA and logging 37 saves. He had found his role as a major league closer just one full season removed from being ranked the Rays’ number three prospect.

In 2017 he led the American League in saves with 47.

Colome is currently the closer for the White Sox, where he just finished up a 30-save season with a 2.80 ERA. He is set to make over $10 million in 2020.

2. Justin O’Conner

Justin O’Conner was rated as the second-best prospect the Rays had in 2015 by Baseball Prospectus.

The Hoosier was taken in the first round of the 2010 draft out of Cowan High School.
He was touted as a top-tier arm from behind the plate, a great pitch framer, and a powerful stroke with the bat.

His potential future was rated as high as an average regular player in the major leaguers with a realistic projection as an occasional starter.

His estimated arrival date in the big leagues was set for 2016.

2015 would be the only season that he cracked any Top 100 rankings. O’Conner was coming off of a 2014 season in which he hit .278/.316/.466 between High-A Charlotte and AA-Montgomery.

He stuck with Montgomery for all of 2015 where he failed his pre-season rankings, hitting only .231/.255/.371.

He reached AAA-Durham in 2017 where he hit only .194/.225/.299. To this point, O’Conner had caught an incredible 43.7 percent of baserunners, despite the struggles with the bat.

Prior to 2018, he found himself with the Indians O’Conner was suspended for fifty games for testing positive for drug abuse twice. He never played a game for the club and wound up looking to the independent leagues for work.

By 2018, O’Conner found himself in the independent leagues playing in St. Paul. Justin had a pretty good season in the independent league, but it was a far cry from being the number two prospect for a major league club.

In 2018 with St. Paul, he hit .250/.292/.459. He posted 17 homers in 292 at-bats.
Last season, he found a home with Chicago White Sox where he started over in Rookie ball and began his pursuit of a pitching career.

He pitched in 14 innings and even earned a save. At age-27 he struck out 17 batters in 14.0 innings pitched. He only walked one batter and combined for a 4.50 ERA.

1. Willy Adames

Willy Adames was signed as an International Free Agent in 2012 out of the Dominican Republic. Entering 2015 he was rated as the Rays’ top prospect by Baseball Prospectus.

Still a teenager in 2014, the Rays traded their star pitcher, David Price for the rights to the talented, young shortstop.

Baseball Prospectus rated his ceiling as a first-division player and a probable role as an “average major-leaguer.”

Adames was coming off a 2014 season in which he slashed .271/.353/.429, as an eighteen-year-old.

Baseball Prospectus had this to say regarding his defense:

“not the most natural player at shortstop could potentially slide to third or second.”

Of course, Adames took a huge step in 2019 and led all American League shortstops in defensive runs saved. In addition to his defense, he blasted 20 homers for the 96-win Rays.

Baseball Prospectus proposed that he may end up moving to third because the bat was projected to be stronger than the glove, but he’s proven to be lethal with both.

Adames is approaching his age-24 season with the Rays in 2020 and has solidified his spot on the team with his outstanding defensive prowess and his knack for big knocks in crucial spots.

Adames has been so good that top prospect, SS-Wander Franco, has been discussed as a candidate to take over at third so as not to disrupt the magic Adames has brought at short.

here was a lot of hype after the David Price trade, considering Adames was the ONLY prospect swapped for the superstar Ace. He continued to rocket his way through the minors and has been a key piece for the big league club for the past two seasons, and hopefully for many to come.

Are you surprised at the names on this list?