Tampa Bay Rays CANNOT MISS With MLB’s 2nd Overall Draft Pick

Tampa Bay Rays CANNOT MISS With MLB’s 2nd Overall Draft Pick

The Rays have their highest pick in 17 years. You are Locked on Rays, your daily Tampa Bay Rays podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome in to the Locked on Rays podcast. Locked on Rays is part of the Locked On Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. and we are Kevin and Ulisses and we are lifelong Rays fans who have been podcasting about the Tampa Bay Rays since 2019. Later on today’s show, we close out a fun Friday episode with baseball trivia and name that War in a few minutes. The Rays will be well represented in the World Baseball Classic. But to start, the Rays hit it big in this week’s MLB draft lottery event. And we’re going to talk about all of that thanks to Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Kevin Haven, the number two pick is no slam dunk, but it is kind of nice, isn’t it? After a long time. Yes, it is pretty cool. And how this happened is because of MLB’s draft lottery, which is a new thing and pretty cool. Again, it’s different than the NBA where a guy immediately gets drafted and then you can see him that year pretty much or in a couple months. With baseball, it’s always going to be a guy gets drafted out of high school or college and 99% of the time, you won’t really hear much from him for a couple years at least as they have to work their way up the minor league system. Now you have those rare cases of Garrett Crochet and all that, but it is still pretty cool that the fact of the Rays not having to finish dead last or second to last in the league to get the number two pick. I mean, in a way, it does incentivize you to compete a little bit more because just because you’re the worst team doesn’t mean that you’re going to have the first pick in the following year’s draft. Um, but this is a prime opportunity. I mean, the the Rays have not picked this high in the draft since 2008. There’s been some hits, there’s been some misses, but this could be a prime opportunity to land that next franchise player or a quasi franchise player, assuming they remember how to select this high in the draft. There are because of the lottery there will be no uh Houston Astros rebuilds uh you know or the what the Detroit Tigers try to do or maybe well what the Baltimore Orioles um tried to do as well. You just can’t do it. You know, you’re the worst record. You’re not guaranteed the top one. So that’s number one. It’s it’s kind of a a cool little added wrinkle to this whole event. I think that’s that’s that baseball needed that because of what we were seeing. But I I I do have to say, Kev, they kind of can’t miss here. They can’t miss because this is where the Rays have kind of equal footing. We’re talking about, oh, we’re in the same division as, you know, the Orioles that are now able to do $155 million deals. So that’s on top of the number five payroll in Toronto Blue Jays that just went to the World Series. On top of a franchise that has stood the test of time in both the Yankees and the Red Sox. It’s a very difficult neighborhood that the Rays have to live in. And this is where they can make that up that difference by the scouting by whoever they pick at the end of the day. This could be the next David Price, Blake Snell, Evan Longoria. That’s the type of player you could get. You You hope that you get somebody closer to Buster Posey than Tim Beckham. If we remember, the Rays had the opportunity to draft Buster Posey, but instead they took Tim Beckham number one years and years ago. You cannot make that same mistake again. I mean, unless you’re planning to spend gobs of money on payroll, but that’s not even if the raise are to increase their payroll, you know, by a third or a fourth, whatever it may be, you’re still going to have to build through trades and through the draft and through your farm system. And what better way to do that than with the number two pick. And I don’t, hey, whoever you think is the best player on the board, whether it’s a shortstop, a catcher, a starting pitcher, I’m fine with that. But find yourself a stud. Find yourself a David Price. Find yourself an Evan Longoria. Heck, I’ll take BJ Upton, you know, somebody that can really, really make a difference. You do not want to bungle this. You need a guy that you can put outside of Tropicana Field, that big poster. You need that guy. And you need that guy that’s going to now sell jerseys for you. Like that’s the type of Paul. Get us Paul SK 2.0. Basically, basically, of course, as a Rays fan, um you’re going to want a bat. Uh, I think most of us would really enjoy just another dude, just a guy that you’re you’re going to see for the next decade and he’s going to be a reliable B. Yeah, give us that like, but you can’t miss, man. Yeah, it’s I’m I’m optimistic, but it’s going to be tough. I Because this is where you make up that ground, Kev, because if not here, then where? Not in free agency. Yeah, it’s, you know, it’s one of those things where if if you’re the Rays and and again, not to put too much pressure on them, but it’s the number two pick, you should be able to do something with it. And while we say that, you know, sometimes the draft is a crapshoot and it’s no guarantee of success where a player’s drafted, I would say the odds are that the players that are drafted in the upper half of the first round probably usually wind up making it more so than other guys. Now, I will note again, this is super early. We still have months and months to go. the Rays are projected or the number two player in the draft is a shortstop out of uh high school in Texas for what it’s worth. If that is the best player on the board, take it. Even though you might be saying, “Hey, well, we got Carson Williams. He’s going to be a stud.” There’s no guarantee that Carson Williams is going to be a stud. And this guy, maybe you move him to second base, maybe you move him to third base, whatever it may be. I mean, you find a way to draft the best player available and find a spot for him, assuming he makes his way up through the minor league system. Nobody is blocked here. Even if it’s a third baseman, we’ll make it work, buddy. If you’re the best one, we’ll we’ll we’ll figure something out. Yeah. In front of me, Kevin, I have the last 10, 11, no, I have the last 11 number two picks, okay, of the drafts. There are really good names here, such as Hunter Green, Alex Bregman, Bobby Wit Jr., But then there are also some names that are not going to give, you know, Jack Lighter hasn’t done, I think, a lot of what was expected. Joey Bart was not the same guy that we we expected, but man, it’s more often names that you recognize than you don’t recognize, and that gives you hope. Hey, I I’ll tell you it’s better to pick second than to pick 14th like the Rays did last year where that that’s where the lottery kind of screwed them in a way where I think they were projected to have the 10th or the 12th pick and they wound up dropping to 14. So, um I mean I think overall it’s a shrewd move by MLB to install something like this. I mean, even though, you know, they might try to hype it up a little bit too much. Hey, we’re talking about it on segment one on a Friday episode. So, there you go. We got something going for us. But it is pretty cool that you know you you just think and and have your eyes in the sky a little bit of maybe we can find that that next stud and they can stick around for five or six years in the bigs and heck by the I mean honestly by the time that this number two pick is selected and he would be ready for the show we might have a new stadium by then and maybe if he winds up being a a Paul Skins or a Bryce Harper again I’m I’m shooting for the moon here a a franchise like player, then maybe you you can make it an easy decision once you have that new stadium and that redeveloped property that you can say, “Yeah, we can extend them. No problem. We’ll make it work and we’ll keep them in a raise uniform for 10, 12, 14 years and not have to get rid of guys prematurely like, oh, I don’t know, Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria, David Price, so on.” Is it too much to say I hope he plays at the drop because it means that if you’re up before three years that’s a good time. Yeah. I mean if it’s a high schooler probably not maybe we want him to play at the drop. Keep that would be good. Hey depending on how things are going right now he very well could play at the drop. I mean it it we’re still a ways from having a new stadium so that’s some food for thought as well. Uh, meanwhile, a Rays Allstar has been added to the WBC roster. We’ll talk about that next. The World Cup is coming back to North America for the first time since 1994. Yeah, you guessed it. Kevin and I were just three years old. And with 48 teams for the first time ever, it’s going to be massive. But let’s be honest, people, getting tickets is going to be the hardest part. So, you got to avoid that. And you can avoid that by using Game Time. With Game Time, you can track price drops in real time. Get alerts when great seats open and buy tickets the moment they hit the app. It puts the power back in your hands and makes going to the World Cup realistic instead of impossible. So, why don’t you take out the guesswork from buying World Cup tickets for every match, every concert or event with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply again. Download the app, make an account, and use code locked on MLB for $20 off. Swipe tap ticket. Go game time. Thank you for making Lockdown Rays your first listen of the day and thank you for making Lockdown the number one sports podcast network. Junior Kimro’s WBC experience will be beneficial for him and others as well on the Rays roster. I count at least five Rays players that we know of who will be participating in the March World Baseball Classic. Griffin Jax, Garrett Clevenger on team USA, Junior Kimro and Edwin Usetta are Dominican Republic teammates and Jonathan Aronda with Mexico. There may be more to come, but I think the big highlight here is Junior Camro getting selected for the Dominican roster. We’re talking about a loaded third base crew uh between Jos Ramirez, Manny Mach, there’s a lot of good really Dominican baseball players throughout, but the third base competition is pretty stiff. So for Junior Camero to find a spot here is huge. And I think Ulyses, we agree that this is going to be a very beneficial experience for him. First off, he wants this. Like, this is something that he’s strived for and asked for, and he’s certainly earned it. But it’s also a little bit different than, all right, I’m going to come to a spring training game, you know, give a little bit of effort and I’ll I’ll I’ll be at the bar by the time the third inning rolls around. Like, the World Baseball Classic is intense intense atmosphere against great competition for the most part. So this is an opportunity for him to kind of get in season ready in March. I can’t wait first of all for the World Baseball Classic because as you know it I I enjoyed very very much. This means so much to Junior coming. He was saying this before the season even started in 2025 in Dominican Republic uh press coh coverage. Um he was hoping that he could do it obviously then Puhol being the manager for the DR. Well guess what? He was his manager already in winter ball when he won that championship for those that don’t remember that trot that took three and a half hours I think. Yeah. Um about right. Yeah. So it’s this is very exciting for Junior. Uh, and then you see the other guys, you know, a couple guys from the bullpen, Griffin Jackson, Garrick Clevenger, uh, and Usetta, who we did say had a really good possibility of joining the DR team, I think when we talked about this maybe a month ago, and Jonathan Randa, who basically an all-star season, uh, his first full season and already participated in 2023 with Mexico. So, I think I like the surprise of it being five. We we were thinking, “Oh my god, what if it’s only two?” Um, and I’m seeing five guys and that just means quality. Like your country is calling upon you like you’re they’re not going to call scrubs, bro. They’re not like they’re going to call people that they think can do the job. And this means so much to them. I mean, to have, you know, USA or whatever the country is on the front, man, like this is awesome. I like that there’s five. I don’t know if we’re going to see more. Um maybe a Chandler Simpson if somebody gets hurt. I think that would be something exciting for Mark D. Roza to try for the US USA team possibly. I mean it it could very well max out at five, but regardless a great opportunity for these guys and definitely Junior Camero. I mean really for everybody it’s an opportunity. You know that you have the World Baseball Classic in March. That means you need to get into game shape and playing shape relatively quicker quicker than most of the other guys that are going through spring training. So hopefully that means that these guys will be more so ready for the regular season. You just hope that nobody gets hurt through this. Although people get hurt in spring training too. I mean it can happen wherever. Sometimes you get hurt when you’re not giving full effort. Like that’s where injuries can sometimes occur. The other thing too and I as far as coverage and awareness of the Rays franchise, it probably would unless who knows Jonathan Aronda could have a a Sports Center worthy moment. Griffin Jacks, Garrick Clevenger, I would think it would be if if there was a guy we would bank on to have a signature key moment, it would be Junior Kimro. And you just think about what that does not only for him and his team, Dominican Republic, but also the Rays. I mean, if he does something crazy in a good way like Randy Rosa did a couple years ago, that just means more pe more people are going to be looking up the Rays and looking at Junior Kimro highlights playing for the Rays and you might draw another fan or two. I mean it it’s ultimately it’s it’s great exposure and a great experience for for everybody involved and great exposure MLB you can watch it in July in any country in the world of course you can right but when your country is participating in it like you’re it’s going to be even more massive of eyeballs like even casuals are going to you know stick around so what Junior Camdo can do for him as a you know quote unquote brand I know athletes now have to be brands besides athletes. Well, this could also give some good marketing for the Rays, you know, if he does something really cool like, okay, let me follow Junior Commando. Okay, well, he plays on the Rays. Like, that just these are the type of events and platforms that make baseball bigger. And it seems like it’s doing that. If people now that are kids are equating the WBC with FIFA’s World Cup, then baseball’s done something right with the WBC, which is now put it in the same Oh, that’s what it means. That’s the same kind of tournament. I think that’s great. I’m looking forward to it, man. I can’t wait. Yeah. And uh World Baseball Classic. I know I’m not as involved as you are and other people are, but it I’m definitely going to be tuning into some Junior Camero and some others. is an opportunity to grow the game a little bit more uh as well, which we know that baseball has been fighting to do when you’re competing against the NFL, the NBA, the NHL, college football, college basketball, and the like. Moving on, let’s go ahead and close out this fun Friday episode with some baseball trivia and name that war. NFL Sundays move fast, one big play, and suddenly everything feels different. That’s what makes live betting with FanDuel so exciting. And you’re not just watching the game, you’re reacting to it in real time. With FanDuel, you can place bets as the action unfolds. Every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. Live betting is best when the game starts to shift. A receiver gets hot, a defense tightens up, or the momentum flips after a turnover. And FanDuel lets you jump into the moment with live spreads and money lines adjusting instantly. Player props updating as guys heat up. and then you can bet next touchdown scores, drive results, totals, and more. Ultimately, it keeps you locked into every snap, every drive, and frankly, every possibility. So, if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fandal.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. FanDuel, the game moves fast and so can you. Thank you for listening to the Lockdown Race podcast and making us your first listen every day. We are part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network. Ulyses baseball trivia and name that wartime. The trivia question I have for you and the audience out there concerns hitters and most strikeouts in a single season. In front of me, I have a list of ballparking it about a dozen names that have struck out 211 times or more in a single season. The range is 211 to 2123. I want five names, five guys who struck out crazily. And I will note these incidents of uh Chris Morelisms, if you will, strikeout leaders if you will, not necessarily a good thing if you’re a hitter, of course. Uh generally, I’ll give you a range. Pretty much all these occurred between the years of 2009 and 2023. I want five names. Adam Dunn. Adam Dunn, number two on the list, had 222 strikeouts in 2012. Jeez, 222. Chris with a C. Chris Davis with a C. Um, yes, he is on this list. Number four, he had 219 Ks in 2016. He’s also peppered on this list like if we’re going down like the 209 and 205 and all that. I just had to crop it off at 211 and above, but he is on this list. Okay. Um, Davis done. Joey Gallo. Joey Gallow is on this list. Number nine, uh, had 213 strikeouts in 2021. Um gosh, man. You You’d think the [Music] No, let’s go with BJ Upton. Strike one. Carlos Pñena strike two. [Music] All right, you’re going all raise players. I mean, yeah, that’s the fans frustration, I guess. Um, dude, I don’t know. I mean, I will say like these guys, the reason they stuck around was because they had pop. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Right. So yeah, that’s why when done, Chris Davis, who Joy Gallow, who else had Pop and had no contact whatsoever otherwise. Um, are they are are any of these still active? Yes, several. Holy crap, several. You are not kid. a handful. Go with Kyle Schwarber. That is correct. You have four of the five. Okay. Okay. Okay. We’re back in. We’re back in. Um you have Don, Davis, Gallow, and Schwarber. Uh, let’s go with God. It just seems like the White Socks would have one of these guys. [Music] The Yankees. Well, they did have Gallow. The Red Sox. No, you can’t be going through every team. They can’t. First instinct. Okay. The first in instinct is it’s either going to be a strike or it’s going to be a win. This is wrong. Carlos Santana strike three. Okay, the list. Mark Reynolds 223. Adam Dunn, James Wood this year with 221. Chris Davis, Ellie Dea Cruz in 2024 with 218. Yan Manada 217. White Socks. I told you. Yeah. Schwarber, Yueno Suarez had 214 Ks in 2023. Joey Gallow, Chris Carter, Tay Oscar Hernandez, Mark Reynolds again. And then a Yankee, John Carlos Stanton had 211 in 2018. Okay. Yeah, that’s a tough that’s a tough look. Hey, you did pretty good though, all things considered. And now we’re going to play Name That War, which is when we take a player from the past and we try to guess their career war according to baseball reference. And today’s player from the past is a third baseman and he played a little bit of second base. Edgardo Alonso. What is his career war? According to baseball reference, I remember him with the Mets. I think it was a all-star couple times. I want to say he had like a a 25 or 30 home run season once, twice, three times. Probably played 10 to 12 years in the league. Career OPS probably close to 800. Overall solid player. Uh definitely not a Hall of Famer. borderline haul of very good maybe just haul of good with that I’m going to guess 25 career wargardons played for 12 years indeed with the Mets the Giants the Anaheim Angels at the time and the Toronto Blue Jays Kevin he did have a couple of 20 home run seasons 27 and 25 and backto-back 99 in 2000 he was a one-time all-star his last line of 284 357 425 slug that’s a 782 OPS and 105 Five ops plus. My gosh, what were they doing in the 90s? Answer me that. But all that up very good, Kev. 28.8. Hey, war. Very close, Kev. And I have a kind of a question for you. Maybe we should have a range of Hall of Fame 60 plus usually. And then where does the Hall of Very good end and begin? And then when does the Hall of Good start and end? Probably Hall of Very good would be like 40 to 60. Okay, maybe 38 to 60, something like that. I like that. It’s a little bit different when you get relievers involved, but yeah, I think generally we can kind of bookmark it. I would just say he’s holla good. Not very good, not hall of fame, but uh still a very solid player. Uh hey, if the race if the Rays number two draft pick in 2026 has the career of Edgardo Alfonso, I think we would all be pretty much satisfied. Signed right now. Yeah. Yeah. Again, we don’t necessarily need a Hall of Famer out of that, but we need a guy that if he can play 12 years and give us a 29 war, okay, yeah, we can work with that. On that note, we hope you all have a wonderful day. Stay safe and we will talk to you later.

Tampa Bay Rays land the No. 2 MLB Draft pick for the first time since 2008, igniting hopes for a new franchise cornerstone. Can the Rays turn this rare opportunity into the next David Price or Evan Longoria and bridge the gap with division rivals? Hosts Kevin and Ulises break down the dramatic draft lottery results, explore the odds of landing an impact bat versus an ace, and discuss the strategic advantage this pick brings against high-spending teams like the Blue Jays, Yankees, and Red Sox.
Rays players are set to shine on the international stage, with Junior Caminero, Griffin Jax, Garrett Cleavinger, Edwin Uceta, and Jonathan Aranda all chosen for the World Baseball Classic. Will Caminero’s presence among Dominican stars propel his brand—and Rays fandom—to new heights? The episode wraps with high-stakes baseball trivia and a “Name That WAR” challenge featuring Edgardo Alfonso, making for a must-listen fun Friday.
0:00 – Rays Land No. 2 Draft Pick
13:30 – Rays Players in World Baseball Classic
20:06 – Baseball Trivia & Name That WAR

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