Coming off a remarkable West Coast trip, the Tampa Bay Rays have slipped up a bit in their series at home against the Baltimore Orioles. However, despite the struggles, the team is still in control of the American League. Furthermore, the future remains bright. 

After missing the playoffs for the last couple of years, that seems like a streak that will be coming to an end for the Rays this season. Currently, Tampa Bay has a nice lead in the AL with the best record in the league. 

Even though expectations might not have been high for the team to start the year, things have certainly changed. Making the playoffs should not be the goal now; the goal should be to win the pennant. 

The Rays might be a bit ahead of schedule in terms of their initial timeline to compete. However, while they are already winning, they have one of the best farm systems in baseball that just recently got a whole lot better. 

MLB Pipeline recently released their updated top 100 prospects to include players that were drafted this year. On the new list, 10 players were able to crack the Top 100, but it was the second overall pick from the Rays, Grady Emerson, who came in ranked the highest in his class and 10th overall. 

Emerson Already Highly Regarded

Considering he wasn’t the first player taken in the draft, Emerson being ranked above Roch Cholowsky of the Chicago White Sox, even by one spot, is encouraging for the Rays to see. 

There is a lot to like about Emerson’s game, and while it will take time for him to make it to the majors, he will fill a current position of need for Tampa Bay. While Taylor Walls is a great defender at the position, he doesn’t bring much to the plate in terms of hitting, and that is a liability. 

Furthermore, it wasn’t long ago that Carson Williams was considered to be one of the best prospects in the system. Unfortunately, he has yet to see much success in the majors and has bounced up and down a little. 

With his hit grade being his calling card right now, according to MLB Pipeline, Emerson is going to be a high-contact player, it appears, which works well with the philosophy of the Rays. 

While it might be a bit of a shock to see him ranked ahead of Theo Gillen already in the farm system for Tampa Bay, the team should be really excited about what the potential is for Emerson.