Rise of the Rays

Like I promised, here is Keith Law’s top 100 prospects. A whopping 6 Rays made his top 100 list, compared to only four from the AOL Fanhouse list. Desmond Jennings is the only in the top 10 at 6. Wade Davis is at 15, Jeremy Hellickson is at 17 and Tim Beckham at 29 to round out the Rays in the top 50. Matt Sweeney, who came over in the Scott Kazmir deal and could be the Rays first baseman in a couple years, came in at 68. Matt Moore made the list as the final Ray at 81.

Here is what Law had to say about these Rays prospects:

Desmond Jennings:

Jennings, the No. 11 prospect here two years ago, finally had a healthy season, racking up more plate appearances in 2009 than he had in 2007 and 2008 combined. He’s an impact player on both sides of the ball who could start in center field for many teams right now. Jennings has outstanding tools as a plus runner who hits, throws well and plays a plus center field, with power potential as his 6-foot-2 frame fills out… What sets him apart from other tooled-up players is his feel for the game, which shows up everywhere he plays — at the plate, where he has advanced pitch recognition and patience; on the bases; and in the field, where he reads balls well off the bat. The back and shoulder problems that plagued him before 2009 appear to be behind him, and he’s in line to fill an outfield spot in Tampa this year when there’s an injury or if the Rays’ three-headed monster in right field doesn’t pan out.

Wade Davis:

Davis is a big, strong right-hander with two plus pitches and a chance to have four offerings all average or better in a build that should support 200-plus innings a year…Davis’ main area for improvement is in fastball command, as he has good feel for pitching and commands the curve better than he does the heater. In a perfect world, he’s a borderline No. 1 starter because of the velocity and potential for multiple out pitches, with a strong likelihood that he’ll settle in just below that and soak up substantial innings with above-average performance.

Jeremy Hellickson:

Hellickson’s a different animal from his future Tampa rotation-mate Wade Davis, but they’re quite close in overall quality. Hellickson has less pure power than Davis, but a better changeup and his own plus curveball to give him multiple weapons to get big league hitters out… Hellickson’s control has always been excellent and he has plus fastball command, but the combination of average velocity and lack of movement do limit his ceiling somewhat to that of a No. 2 starter — not that that is anything to be ashamed of, and it’s probably more than the Rays could have hoped for when they signed him away from LSU for $500,000.

Tim Beckham:

Beckham’s first full year was a disappointment, although he played the entire season at 19 in the Sally League and showed that when he made contact, it was of the hard variety. Beckham, the first overall pick in 2008, is a very good athlete with an outstanding work ethic, but his body got away from him a little in 2009, especially in his lower half, which started to get thicker and slower, reducing his chances to stay at shortstop. To his credit he lost some of that weight in the first half of the offseason… He’ll have to work on pitch recognition while also maintaining his conditioning in 2010 to re-establish himself as an elite prospect, but he has the makeup and the natural ability.

Matt Sweeney:

Sweeney came to Tampa Bay with lefty Alex Torres and middle infielder Sean Rodriguez in the Scott Kazmir deal — it was such a large price to pay in future talent that the Angels also picked up all of Kazmir’s salary. All three prospects will play in the big leagues, with Sweeney offering the best chance for above-average performance because of his bat… He blew out his knee and missed the 2008 season, then played in just 68 games in 2009, so he’s lost a significant amount of development time and is less polished than a typical 21-year-old corner bat… Even at first, his bat should play, but he’ll need more than one full season of at-bats to get there.

Matt Moore:

Moore took a huge step forward in 2009 — not just year-over-year, but as the 2009 season went on — to add his name to the ranks of big arms coming out of Tampa Bay’s system… His delivery is easy and he’s shown he can dial the fastball up or down. He’s one of a number of A-ball arms on this list who could make a huge leap in 2010.