AAA Durham Bulls

[MagicRays]

Tough Break for Guyer. He probably would have taken Jennings' role but got injured himself. He'll come up in September either way.

[craig01]

That guy just can't stay healthy

[MagicRays]

Bourgeois has done well in the limited chances he's been given since getting the call. Next year will be a battle for major league roster spots for many outfielders in our system.

Gomes still rehabing and looking good. Yates still racking up Saves.

[MagicRays]

Geltz, Lueke and Yates all still putting up 0's out of the bullpen for Durham. Geltz has a 0.00 ERA over last 10 appearances, 14.1 IP. Lueke and Yates both always appear in the highest leverage situations and boast some of the lowest ERAs on the team. Lueke has had his chances with the Rays. Hoping Yates gets a shot soon. He's been unhittable all year it feels like.

[MagicRays]

JD Martin, Bourgeois, Roberts and Duncan all opted for free agency. Good luck fellas. Martin will probably be starting in the bigs next year with the season he put up for us in Durham. Not sure why we let him walk.

[craig01]

I won't miss Roberts though

[MagicRays]

I won't miss Roberts though

im excited to see playing time free up for some of our top performing minor leaguers

[MagicRays]

Curt Casali, our top prospect at Catcher, got promoted from AA to AAA last week. He has been an on-base machine for over a year now. If he continues to do well at AAA, I can see this guy being a September call up and taking Molina's place in the lineup next year. He still needs to prove he can throw out runners in the upper minors. This year's numbers are not as good as they have been in the past. That's probably the biggest reason to hold him back for now.

Kevin Kiermaier was a 31st round draft pick in 2010 and has made it through the minors on his stellar defense. Well now he's also hitting very well. He already came up for 1 game a month ago and won it for us by throwing a guy out at home from CF in a 1-run ballgame. This guy is ready to come up and win us more, but we need to find a spot on the roster for him. Guyer and Forsythe are on the chopping block. KK has nothing left to prove at AAA.

Yates is still slamming the door hard at the end of games in Durham, just like last year. I don't know why this guy hasn't been given a shot in our bullpen yet. Riefenhauser and Beliveau are also doing fantastic. Rief is believed to have the most upside because of his age, 3 years younger than the other two.

Merrill Kelly has probably been our best starter with a 2.09 ERA over 43 innings. This is his first full season at AAA and he looks to be breaking out. All of his stats are better than his career averages. Strikeouts are up, walks and hits are down. We might see him come up in September if he keeps performing that well.

[craig01]

The way things have been going, the Rays are going to need help in several areas.

I've been tracking Kelly also, and yes looks promising.

[MagicRays]

The farm system got a big boost from all the recent trades. Price, Myers, Hellickson, Zobrist, Escobar, Peralta, Joyce and SRod are gone, but they brought back a ton of interesting prospects. Of note for the Bulls, Souza may start there to begin the season but shouldn't be a minor leaguer for much longer with the numbers he's putting up. It will be fun to keep track of all the new pieces this year!