Such as high draft picks.  The Rays now have far and away the best minor league system in all of baseball because of their futility.  Some guys have already made their presence known in Tampa, like B.J. Upton, Evan Longoria, Andy Sonnanstine, and James Shields.  This of course isn’t mentioning their players acquired through trades, such as Dioner Navarro and Matt Garza.  A ton of others are still in the minors, but are almost ready for the bigs.

They’re pretty balanced in terms of hitters and pitchers in the farm.  As far as hitters, they have a few guys that have all star ceilings.  Reid Brignac and Desmond Jennings are two of them.  Brignac has been a top prospect ever since he’s been in the minor leagues and has excelled.  The 22 year old is currently struggling a little in AAA, but still projects to be an elite shortstop with above average power.  Jennings burst onto the prospect scene last year after a huge year in A ball in which he hit .315 with 9 home runs, 21 doubles, 5 triples, and 45 stolen bases.  He’s a prototypical leadoff hitter.  He hits for great average, has decent power, and has jet engines for legs.  Add to that the fact that he’s only 20 and you have the makings of a fantastic center fielder.

The pitching is where it’s at though, and the amount of young elite pitching prospects they have is simply unfair.  Not only do they have two frontline guys in Kazmir and Shields, but they have Garza who could develop into another frontline starter.  They have Niemann who was highly touted out of Rice University, and Andy Sonnanstine who could turn out to be a solid #4 or #5 starter.  We haven’t even gotten to 3 of the best pitching prospects in the game, either.

David Price, Jake McGee, Wade Davis.  These three all have dominant ace potential, and the thought of them in the same rotation is scary, scary, and scary.  All three were in Baseball America’s top 20.  Davis and Price are currently owning AA at very young ages, and Price was making major league hitters look silly in Spring Training with his combination of a high 90’s fastball and a sick-nasty slider that’s already a plus plus pitch for him.  Add those three with Kazmir, Garza, and Shields, and that’s simply stunning.  There’s no way a team should be able to have that many dominant starters.

Good luck keeping them from free agency.

Don’t look now, but the Rays are actually… GOOD!

Sitting pretty at one game over .500, the Rays are good for 2nd in the East only behind the defending champion Boston Red Sox.  Everyone knew this club had the young talent and prospects, and now they are just starting to really perform.  Well, who is causing this winning?

Who’s Carlos Pena?

Yes, I remember Carlos Pena from when he played on the Tigers.  Good ol’ horrible Carlos Pena. Just imagine, the same dude who hit .282 with 46 home runs last year was sent down to the minors for a while, and eventually released by the terrible Detroit Tigers.  If the Tigers didn’t have a use for him, who else would right?

Well, I guess the Devil Rays did.  Either the dude was putting in gallons of roids, or he fixed a flaw in his swing because he had a monster year last year, and is continuing it this year.  No doubt Pena is the Rays #1 man right now in terms of swinging the lumber.

The Speed Demon

Carl Crawford is one of the most highly touted players in the MLB today.  His speed is remarkable, netting 50 steals last season, and 56 the year before.  He can rake the ball, hitting .315 with 11 home runs last season.  In addition to his offense, Crawford impresses with his defense.  He speed lets him get to so many more balls than another OF may not have.  He also has one of the best arms in the game coming from that LF position.  Overall, a great player who I wish the Tigers had roaming the grass.

Oh let the sun beat down upon my face…

Yes, he has a similar last name as the popular Led Zeppelin hit “Kashmir”.  Scott Kazmir is no doubt the Rays’ ace pitcher in their staff.  While not off to a blazing start so far, Kazmir lit it up last season posting a 3.48 ERA with an amazing 239 K’s in 206 innings.  Not only is he dominant, but he’s only 24 years old and has LOTS of room to grow later in his career.  This kid in my mind, is a top 10 pitcher in the MLB, and will only climb that list later in his career.

Other Factors

Adding to this new found success include,

    CL Troy Percival

A 0.00 ERA in 10 innings to go alongside 6 saves.  Again, another player the Tigers should have kept.

OF/2B B.J Upton

Another flashy young player in Upton has really found a major role on this young Rays team.  While not exactly performing at his .300 24 HR season last year, Upton is still producing with a .286 average and 21 runs batted in.

C Dionner Navarro

While not exactly having loads of power, Navarro has a strong arm behind the plate and can “put the ball where they aint”.  Him and other catcher Shawn Riggans have been splitting time behind the dish, and both are producing at a decent rate.

I’m certainly intrigued by this Tampa Bay Rays team, and I encourage everyone to follow them this year as they could be surprising some.