Tampa Bay Rays 2010 Top 10 Prospects: Where Are They Now?

1. Desmond Jennings

Major League Career: 7 years (7 w/ Rays)

Career rWAR: 13.4 (13.4 w/ Rays)

Desmond Jennings is a credit to the Rays scouting system. He was drafted by the Rays in the 10th round out of a community college in 2006. Desmond Jennings was ranked as high as the sixth-best prospect in baseball by Baseball America heading into the 2010 season. Jennings was coming off of a fabulous 2009 season between AA-Montgomery and AAA-Durham. He slashed a combined .318/.401/.487 while clubbing 31 doubles, 10 triples, 11 homers, 62 RBI and 52 stolen bases. Jennings also tantalized the Rays’ front office by adding 67 walks to his total.

In 2010, Jennings continued his on-base skills and tore up the base paths stealing 37 more bags while only getting caught four times. His slugging percentage crashed back to earth at .393. It wasn’t surprising to see that one of the top prospects in the game did get a taste of the big leagues in 2010. The Rays’ number one prospect played in 17 games and hit .190 with two steals and was caught twice…which must have been a shock to his system since he had only been caught four times in 41 attempts in Triple-A.

Jennings made a solid impression in 2011 with the big club when he slashed .259/.356/.449 and hit 10 homers in just 63 games. He also added 20 stolen bases for good measure. Jennings played all seven of his major league seasons as a Tampa Bay Ray. He finished his career with 567 games played. During that time he slashed .245/.322/.393 and hit 99 doubles, 22 triples, and 55 homers. Jennings finished his career with 95 stolen bases and was caught 27 times.

He brought a lot of excitement and hype but never quite lived up to the lofty standards of being a team’s number one ranked prospect in any given year. For Jennings, a seven-year major league career is a heck of an accomplishment, and to finish with a 13.4 total rWAR is another feather in the cap.

Jennings was released by the Rays on August 26, 2016. He sighed with the Reds for the spring of 2017 but didn’t make it out of camp. The Mets later gave him a shot in April but he was released by June. Jennings never played a major league game for a team other than the Tampa Bay Rays.

Do you think this crop of prospects was a success?