Fastball

Dynamic Tampa Bay Rays Prospect Earns Important Minor League Award

In the wake of Wander Franco's unsure future, the Tampa Bay Rays are seeing good results from prospect Carson Williams.

Brady Farkas

Tampa Bay Rays infielder Carson Williams (80) looks on before the game against the New York Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field on March 6, 2024.
Tampa Bay Rays infielder Carson Williams (80) looks on before the game against the New York Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field on March 6, 2024. / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
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The Tampa Bay Rays didn't have a great year at the major league level, going 80-82 and missing out on the playoffs in the American League. They also traded away longtime fan favorite Randy Arozarena in a trade deadline deal with the Seattle Mariners. They shipped out Tyler Glasnow in a deal before the season even began.

However, they got some good news on the minor league front on Monday night: Top prospect Carson Williams was named the Minor League Defensive Player of the Year.

Williams won a MiLB Gold Glove as a 19-year-old in his first full pro season at High-A in 2022, and his defensive ability has only gotten better as he’s developed into baseball’ s No. 4 overall prospect. The 21-year-old has never logged a defensive inning off shortstop in his pro career, which is saying something in a Rays system famous for moving all of its players around in the name of versatility. Not Williams. The club's top prospect is sticking at the 6 and looks like Tampa Bay’s slam-dunk shortstop of the future.

Williams's prowess at shortstop seems like an even bigger deal these days considering the uncertainty around the future of Wander Franco. Once seen as the key to the Rays organization, Franco is facing trial in the Dominican Republic over serious charges. He hasn't played a game since August of 2023 when reports surfaced of him having an inappropriate relationship with a minor in his home country.

There are real questions about if he'll ever play baseball again, so as those persist, having Williams in the wings is certainly a good thing for Tampa Bay.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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