2026 DRaysBay Community Prospect List: Vote for Honorable Mentions

Previous Winner Victor Valdez, SS 17 | R/R | 6’1” | 186 A pretty swing with a low whiff rate earned Valdez a big payday this winter — $3. 5 million — with as good of a power projection as you can reasonably ask for from a a teenage bat, having been given a 25+ home run projection by Baseball America, who also praise his plus foot speed, bat speed, and control of the zone. Reports say he has ever improving lateral movements on defense, with smooth actions and a strong arm.

If it all clicks, it’s a middle-of-the-order bat on the left side of the infield. At signing, the Rays gave him a comp to Francisco Lindor. It will be interesting to see if his first professional season can solidify the five tool profile.

Rank Player Position Votes Total Percentage Last Season 1 Carson Williams SS 14 25 56% 1 2 Brody Hopkins RHP 19 25 76% 8 3 Jacob Melton OF 14 28 50% N/A 4 Theo Gillen OF 14 26 54% 13 5 Ty Johnson RHP 12 25 48% 15 6 Daniel Pierce SS 13 23 57% N/A 7 Jadher Areinamo INF 15 28 54% N/A 8 TJ Nichols RHP 13 28 46% N/R 9 Michael Forret RHP 8 33 24% N/A 10 Santiago Suarez RHP 11 30 37% 16 11 Anderson Brito RHP 7 28 25% N/A 12 Xavier Isaac 1B 9 28 32% 3 13 Caden Bodine C 10 25 40% N/A 14 Brendan Summerhill OF 11 27 41% N/A 15 Slater de Brun OF 10 25 40% N/A 16 Nathan Flewelling C 8 26 31% N/R 17 Trevor Harrison RHP 9 26 35% 10 18 Jose Urbina RHP 13 26 50% 25 19 Tre’ Morgan 1B/LF 15 25 60% 4 20 Jackson Baumeister RHP 12 27 44% 12 21 Aidan Smith OF 17 29 59% 6 22 Homer Bush Jr. OF 10 25 40% 21 23 Dom Keegan C 10 28 36% 9 24 Gary Gill Hill RHP 8 25 32% 11 25 Brailer Guerrero OF 8 24 33% 14 26 Brayden Taylor 2B/3B 6 25 24% 2 27 Adrian Santana SS 6 26 23% N/R 28 Austin Overn OF 7 21 33% N/A 29 Taitn Gray 1B/OF/C 8 23 35% N/A 30 Victor Valdez SS 6 22 27% N/A The voters abandoned ship on Mesa Jr. for the final round, and Valdez came out of nowhere to grab the final official slot on this year’s list.

For this bonus round, we will have a different approach for honorable mentions. How to vote In this round, I will include all the candidates here below. If you believe any of these candidates are worthy of an honorable mention rec the comment with their name.