Rays Send Non-Roster Invites, 26 Players Coming To Camp

The Tampa Bay Rays have made some bulk moves in the last couple of days in terms of the future and the present, as the Rays announced their 26 non-roster invites coming to Spring Training.

As is no surprise with most of the invites, the Rays are bringing mostly pitchers to spring training, with Heath Hembree, Ben Heller, and Trevor Kelley standing out as the last of the veterans that the Rays will have at camp.

In terms of prospects, two names stand out: Kyle Mandrazo, a first base prospect who we discussed in an earlier article on players who could see major league action, and Mason Montgomery, one of the Rays' top pitching prospects. 

The team will also invite two Southern League end-of-season all-stars from the Montgomery Biscuits in Niko Hulsizer and Kameron Misner, both of whom should see some playing time during camp.

While there may not be many high-intrigue invitees, this year's spring will create some different dynamics.

With the World Baseball Classic, players such as Misner and Montgomery will maybe see some extended playing time and possibly a start from time to time this spring as some Rays stars such as Arozarena will be participating in the WBC, which will also feature Rodney Linares, who will be coaching a star-studded Dominican Republic team.

These dynamics could result in the possibility of having one or even two of these non-roster invitees make the big-league camp if they impress this spring.