As the 2025 MLB Draft quickly approaches, the Prospects Live team wants to make your life as easy as possible. In this series of articles, I'll be providing team-by-team analysis of their recent draft trends, their available draft capital for 2025, any areas of the draft they've heavily targeted, as well as a few names in this year's class that might fit into their historically preferred archetype.
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This analysis isn't sourced for the upcoming year, nor is it a guarantee the organization won't pivot from what they've done in the past. Simply put, this article aims to provide an in-depth look at teams and their recent draft classes to try and decipher trends that could help uncover players your favorite team might be targeting. It's far from a perfect science, but I've done my job if it makes things easier to follow on draft day.
Tampa Bay Rays
- 2025 Bonus Pool Value - $16,699,400 (2nd)
- Top 100 selections - 14, 37, 42, 53, 67, 86
The Rays find themselves with one of the most impressive hauls in this entire class, coming in with six picks in the first ninety and the second biggest allotment of bonus pool of anyone in the league. With how successful Tampa Bay has been at talent evaluation and development in the past, it seems likely Tampa will be able to use this draft as a complete system refresh, infusing an abundance of talent into an already excellent minor league system.
2024 Draft Overview
Tampa opted for the sweet swinging high school shortstop Theo Gillen (slot) out of Texas in last year’s draft, a move that’s paying some early dividends with a strong start in A-ball. Emilien Pitre ($10,00 underslot), Kentucky’s stout second baseman, followed and a future Kentucky Wildcat, Tyler Bell, didn’t end up signing and instead attended college. Canadian catcher Nathan Flewelling (slot) signed ni the third, and Nate Knowles ($180,000 underslot) kicked off a string of eight straight pitchers. With names including Jacob Kmatz ($120,000 underslot), Janzen Keisel ($50,000 underslot), Ryan Andrade (slot), and Jayden Voelker ($60,000 underslot), the Rays delved heavily into the college ranks and secured an interesting smattering of arms. They did splurge a bit on Jack Lines ($250,000 overslot) as a prep shortstop out of Florida, but Bell not signing clearly came as a surprise for the Rays who didn’t end up using the entirety of their bonus pool on draft day. It’s a fine class for now, but it certainly could’ve been better.
2023 Draft Overview
Going with TCU infielder Brayden Taylor (slot) with their first pick in 2023, the Rays followed up with speedy prep shortstop Adrian Santana ($670,000 underslot) in the Comp A round and followed up with Colton Ledbetter ($210,000 underslot) in the second. Star LSU first baseman Tre’ Morgan (slot) came in the third and Texas A&M shortstop Hunter Haas ($15,000 underslot) was their fourth rounder, however they decided to dip back into the prep ranks for their fifth rounder and scooped up hurler Trevor Harrison ($460,000 overslot). Harrison kicked off yet another streak of eight straight arms, primarily headlined by T.J. Nichols (slot), Owen Wild (slot), Drew Dowd ($200,000 overslot) and Garrett Edwards ($250,000 overslot). It was yet another solid draft for Tampa that brought in a lot of depth, but I wouldn’t say this was a massive needlemover for their deep system. They like going wide with their drafts, and I think this draft is a pretty solid example of that strategy.
2022 Draft Overview
The Rays surprised a lot of people with their first round selection of Xavier Isaac (slot) in the first round, however the large lefty slugger has shown well in his time as a pro and has more than warranted the pick. Stanford outfielder Brock Jones (slot) followed alongside speedster Chandler Simpson ($200,000 underslot) and Ryan Cermak ($180,000 underslot), clearly betting on some players with loud carrying tools. Trevor Martin (slot), Dominic Keegan ($40,000 underslot), and Jalen Battles ($80,000 underslot) went in the third, fourth, and fifth rounds, respectively, however one of their better picks in recent years, Gary Gill Hill ($345,000 overslot), has been a really nice pick up for them as a sixth rounder. This was another draft that Tampa did some unconventional things that winded up paying off for them, ultimately going with tooled up players who their elite development team could mold into big league talents. They may not have gone by the public’s book, but it seems as though Tampa’s book is better.
Early Round Demographics
Tampa Bay has always coveted up the middle defensive ability and loud tools on the diamond, though that “loud tool” they covet is ultimately less important. There’s a healthy amount of speed in these classes and it’s something they clearly look for in a player, however Isaac, Taylor, and Pitre are examples of players that had excellent contact quality and less athleticism on the basepaths. I don’t think there’s a blueprint they follow to a T every year, but it’s abundantly clear they’ll avoid arms in the first few rounds.
Late Round Demographics
This is where Tampa Bay does their shopping for arms, with a massive portion of their mid-to-late round selections being pitchers. They’ve mixed in a few prep arms over the years, but the bulk of these picks wind up being college arms they’re hoping to unlock something in. Whether it’s a tweak to their delivery, pitch mix, or something else entirely, Tampa is value hunting for potential bullpen arms down the road.
Names to Know
Gavin Kilen, Tennessee SS/2B - Kilen has one of the most polished bats in this entire class with up the middle capabilities on the dirt. He seems like a better version of Emilien Pitre, a player the Rays clearly liked a substantial amount.
Steele Hall, High School SS - Hall has the speed the Tampa Bay has gravitated toward in years past and comes with a massive amount of upside. Young for the class, he’s going to pop on a lot of teams’ models, and I’d be surprised if Tampa Bay wasn’t one of them.
Daniel Pierce, High School SS - Pierce is another prep shortstop that should get a lot of buzz in this part of the first round. Though not quite as fast as Hall, he’s got plus speed, good defensive actions, and a really nice feel to hit. He makes quite a bit of sense here.
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