Rays to give prospect Melton a look in 2026 outfield mix

ST. PETERSBURG -- Even after trading Josh Lowe, Jake Mangum, Kameron Misner, Everson Pereira and Tristan Peters, and cutting ties with Christopher Morel, the Rays are not hurting for outfield options heading into Spring Training. The competition is so crowded that president of baseball operations Erik Neander recently joked it “feels a little bit like a 15-man battle royale out there.”

OK, maybe not that crowded. But it’s still pretty packed.

The Rays signed longtime Oriole Cedric Mullins to handle center field. They could slot fellow veteran Jake Fraley in right field and speedy Chandler Simpson in left. With Gavin Lux on board to play second base, the versatile Richie Palacios could see time in the outfield. Those left-handed hitters will compete for at-bats with right-handed hitters Jonny DeLuca, Ryan Vilade and Justyn-Henry Malloy.

And don’t forget about Jacob Melton, one of the highly regarded prospects the Rays acquired from the Astros in the three-team deal that sent Mangum, Brandon Lowe and Mason Montgomery to the Pirates. Most of the Minor Leaguers Tampa Bay acquired on that busy day are unlikely to help the big league team this year, but Melton is the exception.

After finalizing that trade, Neander said the Rays believe the left-handed-hitting Melton “has the potential to be a 20-homer, 40-steal” player who will be an “elite” outfielder in center or either corner spot. And, Neander added, Melton is “not terribly far off” from a Major League role after debuting with the Astros last season.

Neander took it a step further, saying the Rays believe Melton could join young hitters like Junior Caminero, Jonathan Aranda and Simpson as part of the team’s core for at least the rest of this decade.

And without putting too much pressure on a 25-year-old joining a new organization, the Rays intend to give him the opportunity to show it in Spring Training.

“We could get into camp, and maybe it's apparent that the time is now, and maybe it's like, ‘Hey, this could use a little more polish.’ We don't know,” Neander said recently. “We're in a position where we're really high on the player, and I think given his talent, given his athleticism, his strength -- he'll kind of give us that feedback once we get in the door.”

If Melton looks ready for the Majors, the Rays should have enough flexibility in the outfield to carve out a role for him. If he needs more time to develop, they should have enough depth to send him to Triple-A to start the season. That should make their choice all about what they see from Melton, arguably Tampa Bay’s top prospect behind the Top 100 trio of Carson Williams, Theo Gillen and Brody Hopkins.

“We’re not in a position where we have to make a decision out of need any sooner than when he is ready and when he tells us,” Neander said.

The Astros summoned Melton, their second-round pick in the 2022 Draft, to the big leagues last June. He played regularly for two weeks before a sprained right ankle sent him to the injured list. He struggled in the 21 games he played from late July until the end of the season and wound up hitting just .157/.234/.186 with 29 strikeouts in 32 Major League games.

Still, Melton is a top prospect for a reason. He’s produced a .255/.334/.462 slash line with 48 homers and 93 steals in 262 Minor League games. He hits the ball hard, with power to all fields. He’s regarded as a quality defensive outfielder. And when he returned to the Minors for 11 games in September, he went 12-for-38 with three homers, four doubles, six steals and eight walks compared to six strikeouts.

Neander said the Rays were unconcerned with his initial issues in the Majors -- “Wasn't the first, [won’t be] the last player to struggle in his early, limited, infrequent opportunity,” he noted -- and they saw “considerable improvement” in Triple-A in September in terms of making more contact and cutting down his strikeout rate.

Plus, they see so much potential in the other parts of his game -- his speed, his baserunning, his defense and his power -- that they think he will be a valuable player even if he’s not a finished product at the plate.

How soon will that happen with the Rays? That’s the question.

“I think he learned a lot from that initial Major League experience,” Neander said. “He does so much with his legs and defensively, and there's power, that it does take a lot of pressure off of his bat to produce at a really high level. I think that's going to afford him a lot of at-bats to develop on the offensive side, because of just how good he is in those other areas.”