Tampa Bay Rays Latest Prospect Rankings Should Surprise Fans

The Rays Top 10 Prospect Rankings Are Out

Baseball America recently published its Top 10 prospects for all MLB teams, and the Rays have players who are familiar to most fans. Brody Hopkins is the Rays’ number one prospect according to their rankings. The real source of intrigue is the ordering and ranking of those prospects. Who is rising and falling? One surprising omission from the list is Tre’ Morgan. Morgan had a down year, and it’s noteworthy to see his name fall out of some rankings.

The Top Guys

Hopkins, 23, is the most exciting of this bunch and is seemingly knocking on the door of a call-up. He was acquired in the Randy Arozarena trade with the Seattle Mariners in July 2024. Hopkins was a sixth-round pick a few years ago and delivered on the hype in 2025. In 116 innings at Double-A, he posted a 2.72 ERA with 141 strikeouts and a .288 BABIP. Pair that with a solid 10.94 K/9 and 4.66 BB/9, and there are expectations that we could see him at the major league level in 2026.

Theo Gillen is listed at number two. Gillen slashed .267/.433/.387 with five home runs and 18 RBI at Single-A in 73 games this season. Gillen seems like he is still two or three years away, but his development will be fun to watch. Carson Williams is listed as the number three prospect. Williams is eminently familiar to fans who saw him post a .172/.219/.354 with five home runs and 12 RBI in 32 games. He struck out at an unsustainable 42% clip that needs to come down. Williams is now a 2026 AL Rookie of the Year candidate. He heads into the winter needing to have a strong spring in order to seriously move the needle in 2026.

A Couple of Surprising Falls

Additionally, two other guys who had so much hype now seem to be on the downswing. Aidan Smith was part of the Arozarena trade last summer. He went from the A to A+ level and saw his numbers decline this past summer. The most concerning part with Smith was his 143 strikeouts, but he has plenty of power and stole 41 bases for the second consecutive season.

Xavier Isaac had a down year, but that pales in comparison to the recent disclosure that he underwent emergency brain surgery over the summer. The good news is that the 21-year-old appears to be ready for spring training. He spent his second season at Double-A and slashed only .201/.366/.446 with nine home runs and 22 RBI.

The interesting wild card is catcher Nathan Flewelling. A catcher is something the Rays organization desperately needs at any level. The native of Canada still has a long pathway, but his appearance at High-A one year after being drafted is very impressive.