Here are the Rays' 2026 Top 30 prospects
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In terms of star power, this may not be the best the Rays’ Minor League system has ever looked. They have only three players among MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects, none of them in the top half of the list.
But make no mistake: Tampa Bay’s system is ridiculously deep, loaded with potential big leaguers and young prospects who could take a leap up these rankings. The Rays’ sheer volume of talent is the big takeaway from the release of MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 Rays prospects on Monday.
“That's an organizational mantra. We need to be deeper than every other team in baseball for us to have success, whether it's being deeper on the 40-man roster, whether it's being deep with our off-roster prospects,” vice president/assistant general manager Kevin Ibach said. “We've always taken pride in accumulating as much talent as possible just to achieve that goal.”
Between the MLB Draft and their usual winter flurry of trades, the Rays added a ton of new faces to this year’s preseason Top 30 list. Their Top 100 prospects -- shortstop Carson Williams, outfielder Theo Gillen and starter Brody Hopkins -- aren't new. But 14 of their 30 ranked prospects weren’t in the organization a year ago.
They added shortstop Daniel Pierce (No. 5), outfielder Brendan Summerhill (No. 21), shortstop Cooper Flemming (No. 28), outfielder Dean Moss (No. 29) and first baseman/outfielder Taitn Gray (No. 30) in the Draft. Shortstops Victor Valdez (No. 22) and Fabricio Blanco (No. 23) were big-time international signings. And they made trades within the last year to land outfielders Jacob Melton (No. 4), Slater de Brun (No. 10) and Austin Overn (No. 26); infielder Jadher Areinamo (No. 15); catcher Caden Bodine (No. 13); and pitchers Anderson Brito (No. 6) and Michael Forret (No. 8).
The Rays already had a pretty well-stocked farm, but those additions created another layer of depth. And with the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s Draft, they are primed to potentially add more talent -- and perhaps some star power, too.
“As unpredictable as prospects can be, it's a pretty good philosophy, because you'll see in these rankings every year somebody who's in the 20s or 30s that ends up being in the top 10 the following year,” Ibach said. “We try to get as many bites at the apple as possible using all of the fronts, whether it's amateur, international, through trades, just accumulating a wealth of prospects and then letting their development happen organically.”
Here’s a look at the Rays’ top prospects:
1. Carson Williams, SS (MLB No. 63)
2. Theo Gillen, OF (MLB No. 76)
3. Brody Hopkins, RHP (MLB No. 85)
4. Jacob Melton, OF
5. Daniel Pierce, SS
Complete Top 30 list »
Biggest jump/fall
Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the 2025 preseason list to the 2026 preseason list:
Jump: T.J. Nichols, RHP (2025: unranked | 2026: 7)
Nichols was wildly inconsistent during his time at Arizona, and his poor numbers reflected that. But something clicked with the Rays as soon as they took him in the sixth round of the 2023 Draft. He had a strong full-season debut performance in Single-A in 2024, and he was even better for High-A Bowling Green and Double-A Montgomery last year. The righty earned the club’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year honors by striking out 156 with only 30 walks and a 2.90 ERA in 133 2/3 innings over 25 outings. He’s got big-time stuff with a much better idea of how to use it, and now, he’s one of the Rays’ top young arms.
Fall: Brayden Taylor, INF (2025: 3 | 2026: unranked)
Everything seemed to be moving in the right direction for Taylor entering last season. The Rays’ first-round pick in the 2023 Draft was coming off a strong year in High-A that earned him a late-season promotion to Double-A and a spot on the Top 100 list. He had a solid run in Major League Spring Training then inexplicably struggled in his return to Montgomery, hitting just .173/.289/.286 in 108 games. He could very well bounce back and rejoin this list, but he was dealt a bad blow with a broken left thumb early in big league camp.
Best tools
Players are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale for future tools -- 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is plus and 70-80 is well above average. Players in parentheses have the same grade.
Hit: 60 -- Theo Gillen
Power: 65 -- Xavier Isaac
Run: 80 -- Homer Bush Jr.
Arm: 60 -- Carson Williams (Aidan Smith, Victor Valdez)
Defense: 70 -- Tre' Morgan (Carson Williams, Homer Bush Jr., Austin Overn)
Fastball: 65 -- Jose Urbina
Curveball: 60 -- Brody Hopkins
Slider: 60 -- Ty Johnson (Anderson Brito)
Changeup: 55 -- Michael Forret
Control: 60 -- Santiago Suarez
How they were built
Draft: 14 | International: 4 | Trade: 12
Breakdown by ETA
2026: 6 | 2027: 9 | 2028: 6 | 2029: 7 | 2031: 2
Breakdown by position
C: 3 | 1B: 3 | 2B: 1 | 3B: 0 | SS: 5 | OF: 9 | RHP: 9 | LHP: 0