Rays Select Xavier Isaac with 1st Round Selection

The Rays have officially secured their top pick.

The Tampa Bay Rays decided to go to the high school level with their first-round selection as they take 1B Xavier Isaac, product of East Forsyth HS (NC), with the 29th pick.

Isaac, who is built massively, coming into this draft listed as 6'4, 240 lbs according to MLB.com's draft prospect list, will provided some big pop for this Rays system granite he joins, as Isaac is currently committed to the University of Florida, now guaranteeing him to be playing in the state of Florida coming this fall.

According to MLB.com's draft prospect reports, "Almost all of Isaac's value will come from his offensive production. He's a well-below-average runner and a substandard defender at first base, though he does have average arm strength."

Isaac put up monster numbers in high school, hitting well over .400 for his batting average with 18 homers, 12 of them being put on the board this past season. Isaac came into this draft ranked "118" by MLB.com and looked like a possible outside the first-round selection due to his lack of other on-field tools.

With that said, based off his power already shown, Isaac looks to be your typical power first baseman who can be a "middle of the order" type of guy coming into the Rays system.

While I do believe we will see him start out in the complex league if he joins the organization and work his way up due to some of his lacking tools, I believe Isaac will be a project to watch over the next few years. With first baseman being a position that his hard to draft in the MLB, this could be a positive draft pick for the Rays and a player that fits the mold in terms someone the team can work with and build over the coming years.

The Rays now look forward to their next picks tonight after taking Isaac with their first-round pick as the team will select 65th in the 2nd round and 70th and 71st in the 2nd compensation round.