The Rays always draft well. Maybe it's not always apparent right after the draft, but when we look back five and ten years later, they always draft well (okay, maybe Tim Beckham didn't work out). I liked what they did this year, starting off with six consecutive position players, the first four of which were all infielders, then going with pitching almost the entire rest of the way. Which makes sense, because the Rays are known to find random pitchers that nobody has heard of and turn them into studs, much like the Dodgers and Indians. I'm really interested in all of their picks, but perhaps my favorite was the big, live armed Austin Vernon in the tenth round.
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1-28: SS Carson Williams, Torrey Pines HS [CA]. My rank: #39.
The Rays started things off by drafting one of the more malleable talents in the class, shortstop Carson Williams. He was a riser this spring and while he doesn't have one single standout tool aside from his arm, he does a lot of things well and all of his tools carry projection, giving the Rays a great opportunity to help him grow into his game. He's a somewhat lanky kid at 6'2", showing a smooth right handed swing that finds the barrel regularly and sprays the ball around the field. Though he lacks present strength, his body type and ability to barrel up the baseball should enable him to grow into at least average power, if not above average, and he did hit some impressive home runs this spring. On defense, he's a smooth shortstop with a cannon for a right arm, and if he gets a little bit more consistent with his glovework, he could be a plus overall defender at the position. The San Diego native is young for the class and just turned 18 shortly before the draft, giving the Rays even more time to develop his game, and he could grow into a star down the line. He's committed to California but in the first round, I doubt he requires a large overslot bonus given the slot value of $2.49 million.
CBA-34: 2B Cooper Kinney, Baylor HS [TN]. My rank: #70.
With the way they develop players, giving the Rays an extra pick in the competitive balance round is almost unfair, but then again they have no money so this is how they stay competitive. Cooper Kinney can come in and play across the bag from Carson Williams, though he does bring a bit of a different game. While Williams has a very well-rounded game, Kinney is very much a bat-first prospect with clear strengths and weaknesses. First and foremost, he's a hitter. The Chattanooga product brings a smooth left handed swing that gets the barrel long through the zone, and he deployed it by barreling up virtually everything he saw in 2021. There's power in his 6'3" frame that should especially start to show up once he gets a little stronger, and with his innate hittability, he should tap it very consistently as it emerges. Kinney is not quite as athletic as Williams, though, and is probably limited to second base at best in pro ball if not further down the defensive spectrum. He doesn't run well nor does he have a great arm, so you're banking on the bat. That bat is pretty special though, and he could be the rare fast-moving high school hitter. Committed to South Carolina, I doubt it will take more than the $2.15 million slot value to redirect him south.
2-63: 1B Kyle Manzardo, Washington State. My rank: #98.
The Rays continued filling out their infield in the second round, and like Kinney, Kyle Manzardo is definitely bat-first. After he ripped .435/.500/.694 (yep) in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, I tabbed Manzardo as a bit of a sleeper heading into the 2021 season, and he made good on that by slashing .365/.437/.640 with eleven home runs and a 29/25 strikeout to walk ratio over 47 games. The northern Idaho native, like Kinney, is the definition of a pro hitter in that he manages the strike zone very well and rarely strikes out, the latter of which you don't see often in a power bat. In another parallel to Kinney, he gets the barrel long through the zone from the left side, enabling him to easily go the other way with authority when he's not turning on baseballs. He reminds me a bit of Red Sox prospect Triston Casas, albeit with a better hit tool and about a grade less raw power. Manzardo is not a gifted defender and will be an average first baseman at best, with DH a real possibility. Regardless, his bat will carry him, and he has a ceiling of 20-25 home runs a year with high on-base percentages in addition to a high floor. Slot value is $1.08 million and I don't think he'll need all of it to sign.
3-100: SS Ryan Spikes, Parkview HS [GA]. My rank: #93.
Sticking in the infield, Tampa Bay went out and grabbed another shortstop in Parkview's Ryan Spikes. He was a favorite of area scouts that didn't quite get as much national attention as he perhaps deserved, but a strong finish to his spring season and a good showing at the draft combine upped his stock in the end. Undersized at a stocky 5'9", he's a tough sell for those who want their prospects to "look the part," but like so many others in this Rays draft class, he can flat out hit. The Lilburn, Georgia product has consistently gotten better and better with his right handed swing, finding the barrel more and more against good pitching out there in the Atlanta metro. And even though he's small, finding the barrel means very loud contact and some home run power as he really drives the ball with authority. Spikes is consistently getting better on defense as well, convincing more and more scouts every day that he has the ability to stick at shortstop with a strong arm and stronger instincts. As a high baseball IQ type with great feel for the game and an upward trajectory, he certainly fits the mold of a sleeper, especially once he gets into the Rays' extremely deep farm system. Spikes is committed to Tennessee and I'm not sure where his bonus demands will fall with regards to the $581,600 slot value.
4-130: OF Dru Baker, Texas Tech. Unranked.
We're five picks in and we're still on the infield, though Dru Baker probably won't stick at his listed position of third base. He's a career .324/.400/.469 hitter at Texas Tech and had his best year yet in 2021, slashing .343/.406/.484 with four home runs and a 42/22 strikeout to walk ratio over 51 games, also stealing eighteen bases in twenty attempts. The Houston-area native is another undersized guy at 5'11", using his quick bat to spray line drives around the field consistently and against good pitching. From there, his plus speed enables him to stretch for extra bases and steal once on, and it will also help him on defense if he's forced to move to the outfield. That defensive position is up in the air right now, as he hasn't shown the most consistent infield glove and hasn't gotten consistent innings at any one position anyways, bouncing around the field to play wherever Texas Tech needed him. Once he settles in at one spot, he should grow into either an average second or third baseman or an above average outfielder. Because of his lack of power, it's hard to project Baker as a regular, but he could be a valuable bench piece especially on a team like the Rays that loves to get creative. Slot value is $434,300, and I doubt he'll require that much to sign.
8-251: LHP Patrick Wicklander, Arkansas. My rank: #212.
In the eighth round, the Rays got a fun story and a good pitcher in Patrick Wicklander. The San Jose native spent his first two seasons in Fayetteville riding ups and downs as he tried to figure out who he was as a pitcher, then found out during the pandemic that he was a type one diabetic. Once he got that all straightened out, he returned in 2021 with his most consistent season to date, posting a 2.09 ERA and an 85/24 strikeout to walk ratio over 77.2 innings against an extremely tough schedule. Wicklander attacks hitters primarily with a two pitch mix, sitting in the low 90's with his fastball and adding an average slider that lacks the power to be a true out pitch. He also throws a fringy curveball and a changeup, but doesn't use them as much. Everything in the 6'1" lefty's arsenal plays up because he hides the ball well in his delivery and locates his pitches to both sides of the plate, giving him some upside as a back-end starter if he can refine either his curve or changeup. Regardless, he still has a nice floor as a lefty reliever who can be counted on to throw strikes and create tough at bats for opponents, one who could move relatively quickly if the Rays went that route. Slot value is $163,400, which sounds about right.
9-281: LHP Alex Ayala Jr., Florida Southwestern State. Unranked.
The Rays didn't have any true hometown picks, but I try to highlight at least one semi-local guy in each draft and we'll go with Florida Southwestern State's Alex Ayala Jr., who grew up in Doral near Miami and attended JUCO in Fort Myers. He's a 6'1" lefty with a running low 90's fastball, a slider, and a changeup, doing a pretty good job of locating at least the fastball and the changeup. As a true freshman this year at Florida Southwestern State, he put up a 3.53 ERA and an 84/32 strikeout to walk ratio across 63.2 innings, which isn't half bad for a 19 year old going up against some of the best junior college competition in the country. The Rays probably like what he can do with that fastball and are hoping to bring his secondaries even further along, but as a young arm he can really develop in a lot of directions. Slot value is $150,100, and I'm not sure what his signing bonus demands will be.
10-311: RHP Austin Vernon, North Carolina Central. My rank: #169.
I really liked this pick. Austin Vernon is a massive, 6'8", 265 pound righty that might have created the toughest at bats in Raleigh-Durham this year, even with the presence of UNC and Duke. Vernon comes in with a mid 90's fastball that tops out at 98, also adding a pair of power breaking balls in a slider and a curveball. Add the power stuff and size to a high effort delivery and long hair flying everywhere, and it's not easy to stand in the box against him. The Raleigh native can struggle to throw strikes at times, but filled up the zone pretty well in 2021 and put up a 2.55 ERA and a 109/31 strikeout to walk ratio over 70.2 innings, albeit against a weaker schedule. And while the delivery still remains high effort, he's been cleaning it up a bit and won't require a ton of work in pro ball. It's probably a relief profile, but as with Wicklander (and for different reasons), there is starter upside. Slot value is $142,300 and as a 22 year old at a school that's shuttering its baseball program, he won't have much leverage.
11-341: RHP Sean Mullen, UCLA. Unranked.
Sean Mullen is another fun one for the Rays. After pitching sparingly over his first two seasons (albeit to a 0.56 ERA over 16 innings), he got in a full season of work for UCLA in 2021 and responded with a 3.39 ERA and an 89/38 strikeout to walk ratio over 77 innings. The 6'1" righty sits around 90 with his fastball as a starter, usually on the higher end, and has touched 95-96 in short stints. He adds a relatively inconsistent slider that flashes above average, and he can also work it into a cutter to give hitters a different look. To this point, his changeup isn't much of a factor. He has a springy delivery in which he drives hard off his back leg, and his command improved to fringe-average in 2021. There might be a little bit of projection remaining for the Bakersfield native, and for that reason, he (like Wicklander and Vernon) does have a chance to remain a starter with some progress in a couple of areas. If not, he should be a useful reliever that I'm sure the Rays will turn into a stud.
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