9 Rays prospects included in Baseball Prospectus top 101

Baseball Prospectus recently released their list of the top 101 prospects in baseball, and the Rays were featured quite a bit.

The nine players listed from the Rays' organization led baseball, with four pitchers and five position players strewn about the list.

The group is spear-headed by Carson Williams, who comes in at No. 7, but the rest of the eight athletes are below 60 with the exception of Brody Hopkins, who is slated at No. 57.

It's that kind of quantity-plus-quality approach that's made the Rays successful, and they've continued this philosophy into this season.

A few of the names listed were acquired via the very active trade deadline this past season for the Rays, while the others were mostly came into their system via the draft.

Here's a brief breakdown of each prospect (because if it got to be too long per each name, this would be quite an extensive article), going in order of their ranking on the list, with that number listed next to their name in parenthesis as well as their projected position(s).

SS Carson Williams (No. 7)

The slick-fielding shortstop comes in at number No. 7, and while the 21-year-old has yet to reach AAA, many feel the sky is the limit for this former 1st round pick.

Williams is ranked by FanGraphs as the 2nd best prospect in baseball, and is quite well regarded by the Rays, as they continue to hold off on addressing the shortstop issue due to Williams' impending arrival.

P Brody Hopkins (No. 57)

Hopkins, a 22 year-old 6th round pick from the 2023 draft, came over via the Randy Arozarena trade.

The hard-throwing righty spent his 2024 in A and A+ between the Mariners and Rays systems and shot up the prospect rankings, as he flashed an elite fastball with enough secondary pitches to ensure that, at the very least, he could become a fun high-leverage reliever with a ceiling of a solid starter.

P Jackson Baumeister (No. 60)

Another right-handed pitcher acquired during this past year's trade deadline, Baumeister came over from the Orioles in the Zach Eflin deal.

He isn't as much of a "stuff guy" as the aforementioned Hopkins, but he has better feel for a wider variety of secondary pitches, including a curveball that has a 60 future grade according to FanGraphs.

1B/OF Xavier Isaac (No. 67)

Ah Xavier Isaac, we still can't give up on you.

His struggles with contact are still apparent and wildly concerning, but his massive power makes him too enticing to fall too far down in major prospect rankings.

Some still posit that the Rays would be better off trading Isaac while his value is at his peak, but others still claim that he could turn into a valuable power hitter at the major league level, especially if he can figure out how to become a serviceable corner outfielder.

C Dominic Keegan (No. 69)

One of the more underrated prospects in the Rays system, Keegan has shown enough pop at the plate to be a fascinating catching prospect.

His defense has also been solid enough to ensure that he sticks around as a backstop as opposed to moving to another position.

2B/SS Brayden Taylor (No. 70)

Taylor has been a candidate to move to second base as his position of the future due to the logjam of Junior Caminero and Carson Williams taking up his more natural positions.

If Curtis Mead doesn't work out at the major league level, Taylor could take his place as the next fun project infielder.

CF Theo Gillen (No. 87)

Another 1st rounder for the Rays, Gillen is a superb athlete, meaning his move to center shouldn't pose too many problems due to his great athleticism.

His 55-grade speed speaks to that athletic ability, but the main concern with Gillen is if he'll develop some pop as he continues to mature.

His hit tool is pretty solid, so it'll be interesting to monitor whether or not he can start leveraging that hit tool into a bit more power.

P Trevor Harrison (No. 89)

Harrison is a local guy, as he attended J.W. Mitchell High School in Port Richey, and he had a solid start to his minor league career, posting a 3.30 FIP across A and the complex league in 2024.

The hope with Harrison is that he can mature a bit with his command and continue to work with his fine repertoire of pitches, featuring mostly a fastball, slider, and changeup.

P Ty Johnson (No. 94)

Coming over from the Cubs in the Isaac Paredes trade, Johnson looks to capitalize on his huge jump in velocity after attending Ball State in college and being drafted by Chicago in the 15th round in 2023.

With a plus fastball and a great slider, Johnson hopes to work on adding a third pitch to solidify his place as a starter, with that 3rd pitch likely being either a changeup or a slider.