Rays & Reds
Submitted by: ShaquilleOatmeal
Rays
| Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availability | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt McLain | 26 | Majors | 2B | 4 | 38.5 | 19.8 | 18.8 | 15 | 18.8 | 22.5 |
Total Value:
18.8
Reds
| Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availability | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chandler Simpson | 25 | Majors | OF | 5 | 36.6 | 16.3 | 20.3 | 16.2 | 20.3 | 24.4 |
Total Value:
20.3
Comments
10
The Rays have too few middle infield options and too many outfielders. Worst case scenario, McLain becomes a new version of Taylor Walls, providing an excellent glove at multiple positions, but with very little offense, and becomes a 1 win utility. But like with Walls, the days he's an average hitter, he's the best player in the field. A 100 wRC+ makes McLain a 3-4 win SS/2B/CF. I Don't think the Rays are very good in 2026, and most important positions are in the middle of the field...catcher, shortstop, center field, second base...they are horrible at all four of them. It would be hard to put a worse group of four on the field than Nick Fortes, Cedric Mullins, Carson Williams, and Taylor Walls. If they they intend on winning games in 2026, upgrading second base from Taylor Walls is a must.
NEWSLETTER? SURE, SIGN ME UP!
Can’t argue with the logic. Rays have too many outfielders and too few infielders. I don’t think Carson makes the OD roster though. Think Walls plays SS and Palacios plays 2B to start the season. How ya like the Rays middle infield with that pairing. 🤣🤣🤣
Holy shit, we are gonna get a good draft pick with that pairing!
It’s the tankathon season. Seriously though, the Rays will want to gain an extra year of control by sending Williams down to start the season. They aren’t playing for anything this year, so what does it matter?
Took a peak at ya'lls rankings today over at the D. I'm not sure if it's funny because of how wrong some are/will end up being, or if it's funny because of how utterly atrocious the Rays system is, that some are legitimately making a case for voting Areinamo into the top 4 prospects 50 games after we got him in a salary dump from the Brewers, a team I trust to evaluate talent much more than I trust our own decision makers. Either way, Areinamo getting votes this early is not something the Rays should be proud of. Aidan Smith is my #2 prospect though, so who am I to criticize. He has a very similar swing to Brandon Lowe, albeit from the right side. Combined with 65 grade speed, 60 grade glove in CF, 60 grade raw power, he has the highest ceiling in the organization. Not a great A+ season as a 20 year old, but not a disaster either. 2026 is make or break, as AA has a way of exposing the pretenders, and elevating the true talent. Outside of Hopkins, I don't see anyone else capable of being a legit star capable of a 5 win season, and I wouldn't recommend voting probable platoon and relievers into your top 5 unless you think the whole system is a complete clusterfuck. Sadly, I'm not sure the entire system isn't a exactly that. I wish y'all luck in trying to determine the top 30, because we don't have 10 true prospects. This system is really really bad, and our 10th best prospect probably doesn't make our top 25 in 2024.
Yeah, it’s a hard System to rank this year. I assume you saw my comments on both Areinamo and Johnson, so I won’t rehash them, except to say I don’t think Johnson needs a changeup to be a legit SP. I have Williams, Hopkins and Johnson top 3. I think the Rays have a ton of mid-rotation 3 WAR pitchers in the system, but few TOR candidates. The position player side should get clarification as the year goes on. Too many injury risks and bad seasons to truly know anything right now. I don’t think the position player side is as bad as we all currently think though.
Haven't read all the voting comments yet. I skimmed through the first 2 rounds, but didn't have time to do a deep read. If you can't respond, there's not much sense in reading it. But I do look at the +1 votes. I saw you were voting Ty, but don't know your opinion on Areinamo. I'll read through it tonight so I know it. So you don't have to write it again. Y'all need an antagonist over there. Too many people agreeing. I'm pretty sure that there's some AI responses. People who've never been able to spell before and speak in quarter sentences, suddenly have some really insightful opinions that are well researched and immaculately punctuated. Hell, I even saw indented paragraphs LOL. Either somebody's got their wife checking their grammar, or chat GPT has taken over. I responded to one of your Ty Johnson trades here the other day. I don't think you saw it. I'm busy right now and just don't have time to spend a lot of time on baseball. But when dry January turns into drunk February, it gets a little easier.
Sounds good. I’ll look at my posted trades to find your comment but I don’t think it was to a trade I proposed. I don’t want to trade Johnson.
Here you go - https://www.draysbay.com/rays-prospects/86674/2026-draysbay-community-prospect-list-vote-for-no-2#comments
Cool. I'll take a look. This is the comment I was talking about regarding Ty Johnson. I posted it like a week and a half ago, so it's not A response to anything else you've written. I haven't yet read what you've written We had been talking about Ty Johnson though, and I just shared a few thoughts. https://www.baseballtradevalues.com/trades/207404