My list of top Rays prospects

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."
-- Abraham Lincoln

I've put this off long enough. Having received an e-mail that my Baseball America Prospect Book has been shipped (it may be in my mailbox right now), I figured I had to do this now or not at all. I steadfastly avoided looking at any list over the last two months to avoid any undue influence for when I finally did this. (With football, that wasn't as hard as it usually would be.)

In doing it, I decided that I knew way too little about last year's high draft picks to make even a slightly educated guess. Catcher Justin O'Conner played in 48 games for the GCL Rays, but outfielder Josh Sale and outfielder Drew Vettleson signed so late that they'll make their debuts this year.

I tried to incorporate the prospects that Tampa Bay picked up from the Cubs and Padres in trades, too. And, my annual disclaimer: I readily admit this is likely slanted toward the higher-level guys because those are the main ones that I've seen.

I plan to add comments later to each, both for entertainment and explanation. I will say the top 12 or so flowed pretty easily. After that, decisions turned tough. (Click here for last year's list and click here for the year before.)

With that, I'll open mouth and insert foot ...
(Last year's ranking in parentheses)
1. RHP Jeremy Hellickson (2)
2. LHP Matt Moore (4)
3. CF Desmond Jennings (1)
4. RHP Alex Colome (10)
5. RHP Chris Archer (NR)
6. LHP Jake McGee (8)
7. RHP Nick Barnese (6)
8. SS Hak-Ju Lee (NR)
9. LHP Alex Torres (12)
10. LHP Kyle Lobstein (9)

11. RHP Alex Cobb (18)
12. SS Tim Beckham (5)
13. C Robinson Chirinos (NR)
14. LHP Jake Thompson (NR)
15. RHP Dane De La Rosa (NR)
16. OF Brandon Guyer (NR)
17. IF Cole Figueroa (NR)
18. RHP Jeremy Hall (23)
19. C Nevin Ashley (28)
20. 1B-LF Leslie Anderson (NR)

21. SS Derek Dietrich (NR)
22. C Luke Bailey (NR)
23. RHP Brandon Gomes (NR)
24. RHP Marquis Fleming (NR)
25. RHP Zach Quate (30)
26. RHP Neil Schenk (NR)
27. SS Tyler Bortnick (NR)
28. C Stephen Vogt (NR)
29. 2B Cody Cipriano (29)
30. 3B Henry Wrigley (NR)

DROPPED OUT
RHP Wade Davis (3) -- graduated
SS Reid Brignac (7) -- graduated
OF Fernando Perez (11) -- off to Cubs (may have graduated before last year)
OF Kyeong Kang (13)
RHP Aneury Rodguez (14) -- off to Astros
LHP David Newmann (15)
RHP Matt Gorgen (16) -- off to Diamondbacks
SS Shawn O'Malley (17)
3B Matt Sweeney (19)
RHP Heath Rollins (20) -- off to Royals
RHP Jason McEachern (21)
C John Jaso (22) -- graduated
RHP Eduardo Morlan (24) -- released, off to Brewers
RHP Mitch Talbot (25) -- off to Indians
RHP Dale Thayer (26) -- ??
LHP Darin Downs (27) -- signed with Marlins
LHP Josh Satow (31) -- because of Perez, I did a Top 31 last year