Tampa Bay Rays 2025 Top 20 Prospects

Team Outlook

There are a few things you can always count on, and one of them is the Rays having one of the strongest farm systems in the game. Carson Williams is a prime example, with his elite glove, plus power, and speed. The Rays have also reloaded their system this year through some savvy trades—8 of their top 20 prospects were acquired in deals this season alone. The most impressive of those might be Aidan Smith, who was criminally underrated before he was traded to Tampa. Given the financial constraints of the Rays, they have to get creative with roster construction. A noticeable trend is how they acquire pitchers with a variety of arm slots, and Tampa seems more comfortable than any other organization in deploying unconventional approaches. They’re also one of the best at refining arms. Look at Ty Johnson—he was traded to the Rays, and after tweaking his fastball and adjusting his arm slot, he’s emerged as one of the top pitching prospects with a unique fastball that gives hitters fits. Though the Rays missed the postseason this past year, they’ve retooled in a way that sets them up to stay competitive for years—at least until arbitration starts to break things up.

About Our Top 20 Lists

Prospects Live, led by its evaluating team & Director of Scouting Rhys White, is proud to begin rolling out its annual offseason system reports. The team combines industry feedback, our live looks, film, and available data to compile each org. We believe this effort has enabled us to present you, the reader, with our best possible view of the prospects in the organization.

We have constructed this list using the Overall Future Potential (OFP) scale. There is no perfect equation for ranking prospects or assigning value to them, but we believe this method is the best possible approach. Every prospect on this list has been graded based on the tried and true 20-80 scouting scale. An 80 is the highest tool and OFP grade on the scale, reserved for MVP-caliber players or tools. Conversely, a 20 is reserved for non-prospects (NPs). A 50 OFP falls in the middle, indicating our evaluators deem this player a future average major league player. Below the 50 OFP tier are the 45s and 40s, comprising a large majority of players on each list. These are specific-role players, such as platoon hitters, utility players, or low-leverage relievers. Above the 50 OFP tier are the 55s and 60s. A 55 represents a future above-average player, and a 60 OFP designation is reserved for future All-Star caliber players.

In addition to the tool grades and OFP, we will also include a 'Risk' associated with each prospect. We use this to better communicate to you, the reader, whether a grade is more aggressive or conservative in nature. The evaluation team has worked hard to apply both the grades and risk components to better illustrate how each individual prospect stacks up in their respective system and in the baseball ecosystem.

Evaluators: Rhys White, Matt Thompson, Trevor Hooth, Tyler Jennings, Alex Kempton, Grant Carver

Find all the Top 20 Lists here:

2025 Team Prospect Lists - Prospects Live

Prospects LiveRhys White

Top 20 Prospects

1. Carson Williams, SS - 60 
2. Xavier Isaac, 1B - 55 
3 Santiago Suarez, RHP - 55
4. Aidan Smith, OF - 50
5. Chandler Simpson, OF - 50
6. Tre' Morgan, 1B - 50 
7. Brody Hopkins, RHP - 50 
8. Brayden Taylor, 3B - 50 
9. Brailer Guerrero, OF - 50 
10. Theo Gillen, OF - 50 
11. Gary Gill Hill, OF - 50 
12. Yoniel Curet, OF - 50 
13. Ty Johnson, SS/OF - 50 

14. Dylan Lesko, OF - 50  
15. Hunter Bigge, RHP - 45 
16. Mac Horvath, 3B - 45 
17. Jackson Baumeister, RHP - 45  
18. Trevor Harrison, RHP - 45  
19. Gregory Barrios, SS - 45  
20. Dominic Keegan, C - 45

Scouting Reports

SS Carson Williams

DOB: 6/25/2003 

HT: 6-2

WT: 180

H/T: R/R

Acquired: 2021 Draft, Round 1 ($2,347.500)

Highest Level: Double-A

ETA: 2025

Rule V: 2025

Grades:

SCOUTING REPORT 

Carson Williams has an incredible collection of tools, but his hit tool is a genuine concern. He’s a well-built athlete with the modern shortstop frame and room to fill out as he matures. One of the twitchiest athletes in the sport, Williams displays excellent lateral explosiveness, allowing him to reach batted balls and make plays to both his left and right. His defensive acumen at shortstop is impressive—he can make any play you’d want, with plus defensive range that will be valuable for the Rays, at least while he’s still arb-eligible. He also possesses a plus arm with a remarkable touch, consistently making accurate throws from any arm angle and providing valuable support for first base. Williams’ explosiveness translates to the basepaths, too. With his plus first step, some might call him a “jitterbug,” given the current state of the run game, he could easily steal 30 bases a season. His speed also allows him to score from second or go from first to third when needed. However, Williams’ hit tool is alarming—it borders on unplayable. The main issue is his swing, which gets too long and includes a hitch that makes it nearly impossible for him to handle velocity up in the zone. He’s also one of the more passive hitters in the minors, almost appearing disinterested in swinging the bat sometimes. His struggles with reading spin often lead to ugly, Javy Báez-esque swings on breaking balls away. Despite these issues, when he gets a pitch in the narrow zone where he can do damage, he has the loft and bat speed to hit 20-25 home runs, even with a below-average hit tool. Williams is a frustrating prospect. He could become one of the game’s better shortstops on a WAR basis, thanks to his elite defense, but he has little to no floor because of his swing decisions. The Báez comp fits him well—early in his career, he might get by with a below-average hit tool because of his power, glove, and baserunning. If he loses a step athletically as Báez did, the problem is that he could completely crater.- Rhys White 

FANTASY SPIN 

Potential Gold Glove shortstops with power and speed are what fantasies are made of. So he might not hit as often as we like. Rhys mentioned Baez above, and it’s a good comp; the winds of time and his spat of poor seasons have erased in the collective fantasy mind how dominant of a force Baez was for a few years. The glove and speed will keep Williams in the lineup and give them plenty of chances to figure out his swing. He should be viewed as a top 50 prospect at least and could quickly vault into the top 10 prospects if he shows even a modicum of improvement in swing decisions. - Ryan Epperson