Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Chandler Simpson (96) singles against the Philadelphia Phillies during the third inning at Charlotte Sports Park on Feb 25, 2025, in Port Charlotte, Fla. Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Boston Red Sox: See the Future of This American League East rivalry

Originally posted on Minor League Baseball on SI
By Jami Leabow | Last updated Mar 10, 2025 11:04 AM ET

The Tampa Bay Rays’ farm system never disappoints, churning out a stream of top prospects, and this year seems to be no exception.

Most of their top prospects will be featured Thursday when the Rays meet the Boston Red Sox in what has been termed the Spring Breakout game.

The Spring Breakout gives teams a chance to get a good look at their prospects, and it’s an impressive group for the Rays.

MLB Pipeline ranked the Tampa Bay group No. 3 among the breakout rosters. The Red Sox got the No. 1 ranking, followed by the Chicago White Sox.

The Spring Breakout rosters are chock full of prospects, but which are the most loaded?

We rank the showcase's top 10 teams: https://t.co/yLACXvi1uM pic.twitter.com/hyTTuW2J8u
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 10, 2025

The Rays’ Spring Breakout roster includes 17 of the top 30 prospects in the organization, as judged by MLB Pipeline. Among them are shortstop Carson Williams, ranked No. 9 on the Top 100 prospects list, along with first baseman Xavier Isaac (No. 50), infielder Brayden Taylor (No. 66), first baseman/outfielder Tre’ Morgan (No. 93) and outfielder Theo Gillen (No. 98).

This is how MLB.com’s Sam Dykstra described the Tampa Bay Spring Breakout roster:

The No. 2 farm system in the game is bringing all five of its Top 100 prospects and nine of its top 10 -- Brody Hopkins (No. 8) is the only one missing -- to this year’s Breakout. This makes the Florida opener against Boston a prime opportunity to see Williams and Morgan flash the leather, Isaac display his plus-plus pop and Chandler Simpson show off arguably baseball’s best set of wheels. That’s a lot of tools and a diverse set of skills at that. The pitching will be led by promising young arms Santiago Suarez, Gary Gill Hill and Trevor Harrison, so the excitement isn’t exclusive to the position-player group either. Tampa Bay’s system is so deep that non-Top 30 prospects like Mac Horvath or Paul Gervase could play big roles against the Red Sox.

The Spring Breakout game pitting the No. 3 Rays against the No. 1 Red Sox could be a forerunner to classic American League East showdowns of the future.

This article first appeared on Minor League Baseball on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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