Minor League Systems at a Glance- AL East- Tampa

Monday, May 01 2006 @ 08:38 PM EDT

Contributed by: Mike Green

The Devil Ray farm system is thought by many to be the best in the division. Let's see how they are doing.

Position Players

Top Ray position player prospects include OFs Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes, 1B/3B/OF Wes Bankston, SS-3B B.J. Upton, SS Reid Brignac and C John Jaso. It has not been an easy start to the season for the big names- Upton continues to struggle defensively, Bankston struggled mightily with the glove, 11 errors worth, when a conversion to third base was attempted and is now out for a month with an oblique injury, while Young has been suspended after firing a bat at an umpire. Here are the statistics:


Player Age   Level AB BA OBP Slug W K SB CS
Young 20.7 AAA 79 .329 .368 .392 4 11 12 1
Dukes 21.8 AAA 79 .316 .413 .595 12 13 2 2
Upton 21.7 AAA 89 .292 .400 .427 14 18 13 5
Bankston 22.5 AA 69 .333 .378 .406 4 17 4 1
Brignac 20.4 HiA 87 .356 .408 .552 8 14 3 1
Jaso 22.6 HiA 60 .300 .394 .433 9 10 0 1

Pitchers

Top prospect and first rounder Jeff Niemann has been sidelined with arm problems, but the cupboard is not bare for the D-Rays. Edwin Jackson, Jason Hammel, Jamie Shields, Chuck Tiffany, Chris Mason, Jamie Houser and Wade Davis are an interesting group. The 6'5", 220 lb, 2004 3rd rounder Davis is particularly interesting. Right now, he's overpowering the Midwest League, and historically he's had good control. Here's the statistical picture:

Player Age Level G GS IP ERA W K HR
Jackson 22.6 AAA 4 4 20.1 3.98 11 19 1
Hammel 23.7 AAA 3 3 15.0 3.60 7 15 1
Shields 24.6 AAA 5 5 28.1 3.18 3 26 2
Tiffany 21.4 AA 4 4 15.2 6.89 14 12 3
Mason 21.8 HiA 5 4 21.0 2.14 9 16 2
Houser 21.5 HiA 4 4 21.1 4.22 7 20 3
Davis 20.6 LoA 4 4 20.2 0.44 12 29 0

Overall

I don't quite agree with the common perception of this system. The top prospects are not as good as they seem, and the lesser ones are probably better. There's a fair bit of talent here, both on the mound and in the field.




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