Rays' prospect core once formed 'the best Double-A team I've ever seen'

This story was excerpted from Adam Berry's Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- The Rays¡¯ Spring Breakout roster is loaded with high-level prospects, including each of their top seven and 17 of their Top 30, according to MLB Pipeline.

And it might look a little familiar to anyone who followed Tampa Bay¡¯s Double-A affiliate late last season.

¡°We kind of did it a little bit last year with Montgomery toward the end of the season,¡± Rays vice president/assistant general manager Kevin Ibach said, smiling. ¡°That might have been a Breakout roster in and of itself.¡±

It¡¯s not really an exaggeration to say that the Montgomery Biscuits at the end of last season were, indeed, something of a Rays prospect All-Star team. Despite falling just short in the Southern League Championship Series, that squad was loaded with talent that quickly made its way to Major League Spring Training this year and will be highly visible in Thursday¡¯s prospect showdown against the Red Sox at Charlotte Sports Park.

¡°It¡¯s awesome. It definitely helped me feel a little bit more comfortable stepping into the locker room on Day 1,¡± Tre' Morgan said. ¡°That just shows how good that team was and that the future of the Rays is very bright.¡±

Just look at the group that took the field for Montgomery¡¯s final game of the season last year.

The lineup included speedy center fielder Chandler Simpson (the Rays¡¯ No. 7 prospect and one of the most intriguing players in all of Spring Training this year), second baseman Tanner Murray, shortstop Carson Williams (their top prospect), first baseman Morgan (No. 4), catcher Dominic Keegan (No. 13), DH Xavier Isaac (No. 2), third baseman Brayden Taylor (No. 3), left fielder Dru Baker (unranked) and right fielder Matthew Etzel (No. 27).

¡°We felt it as soon as the lineup card came out. Looking one through nine, there were no holes in that lineup,¡± Morgan said. ¡°Really, I wish we finished with that championship in Double-A. That one hurt for me. But it just showed what the future holds.¡±

The pitchers in the Biscuits¡¯ final game were starter Yoniel Curet (No. 15) and relievers Evan Reifert (the Nationals¡¯ No. 28 prospect after being selected in the Rule 5 Draft), Keyshawn Askew, Paul Gervase, Jack Hartman and Austin Vernon.

Of those 15 players, 12 reported to the Rays¡¯ big league camp last month.

¡°There¡¯s a comfortability aspect in that, just knowing that we¡¯re all trying to get to that same goal,¡± Simpson said. ¡°We all played together, and we¡¯re pushing each other so we can see each other in the big leagues.¡±

Seeing that group of players as a big part of their (relatively near) future, the Rays intentionally worked to get them together for a postseason run with Montgomery. While prospects like Williams, Keegan and Murray spent the whole year there, others, like Simpson, Isaac, Taylor and Morgan, were assimilated as the season went on.

¡°We feel pretty strongly that we want to create a culture, a winning culture, for our players that get to the big leagues. It¡¯s hard to time it up where a group of prospects go at the same time,¡± senior director of player development Blake Butera said. ¡°At the end of the day, the more familiar we can have that group be with each other -- because we see them being in the Major Leagues, hopefully for a long time -- just the relationships they build, learning how to play the game together, learning how to win together, that¡¯s really important to everyone in our organization.¡±

Their success on the field was obvious, as they won six series and tied three without losing one between July 23 and their two-game championship series sweep at the hands of Birmingham on Sept. 22-24. Gervase, who joined the squad after a Trade Deadline deal with the Mets, called it ¡°the best Double-A team I¡¯ve ever seen in my life.¡±

¡°Talking to Kevin Boles, our manager down there ¡­ he raved about that group, about how they worked together, how they connected, how accountable they were for each other,¡± Rays manager Kevin Cash said. ¡°And I think it showed with their individual performances and their season performance.¡±

That was as much a part of Tampa Bay¡¯s thinking as anything on the field. The club wanted that group to come together in the clubhouse, creating camaraderie they could carry into the future. By all accounts, they did.

¡°It was special,¡± said Keegan, who¡¯s unable to play in the Spring Breakout game due to a shoulder issue that limited him in camp. ¡°From the beginning to end, really good team. I think the chemistry that we had in the clubhouse translated to the field.¡±

Keegan talked about the relaxed environment before games, with players engaging in friendly competition through table tennis and basketball on a mini-hoop in the clubhouse. Williams mentioned playing games on their bus rides, calling it ¡°team-building stuff that you kind of didn¡¯t even realize was team-building.¡±

Even though he hadn¡¯t seen many of his teammates since Minor League Spring Training camp broke, Taylor said it was a welcoming environment from the moment he was called up from High-A Bowling Green at the end of July.

¡°You can go up to anyone and have a conversation. It didn¡¯t matter who you were, where you were from,¡± Taylor said. ¡°I thought that was really special. After the first day, I was like, ¡®Oh, this is awesome.¡¯¡±

¡°Everybody just really liked each other. Everybody got along,¡± Williams added. ¡°Good clubhouse, and it translated into good baseball.¡±

They finished the season together, albeit with a bitter taste in their mouths. They were reunited in the same clubhouse this spring. They¡¯ll share the same field again on Thursday night. How long will it be before they¡¯re no longer the Rays¡¯ future but their present?

¡°It¡¯s going to be really special. I know we¡¯re going to probably be playing with each other for three, four, five years,¡± Isaac said. ¡°It¡¯s good to get the bond going now rather than later. I know they¡¯re putting something together. It¡¯s all part of the plan.¡±