On March 9, 1995 at a meeting in West Palm Beach, Fla., Major League Baseball owners officially welcome the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks as the 13th and 14th expansion teams in Major League history. On April 17, 1995 the Devil Rays and the City of St. Petersburg, Florida agreed on a 30-year lease for the team to play their home games at the ThunderDome.

On June 20, 1996 the Gulf Coast League Devil Rays earn the first win in the history of the organization with a 4-3 triumph over the GCL Astros. Eighteen-year-old Jose Rodriguez from the Dominican Republic gets the win.http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/tb/history/timeline.jsp

Tropicana Field is born on October. 3. 1996 The Devil Rays and Tropicana Dole Beverages North America, of nearby Bradenton, Florida., announce an agreement to rename the ThunderDome. The City of St. Petersburg receives more than $13 million as a result of the agreement.http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/tb/history/timeline.jsp

On January 16, 1997 the Major League Baseball owners, at their meetings in Phoenix, Arizona, place the Devil Rays into the American League by a vote of 28-2, making them the American League's 15th franchise.

On March 31. 1998 The Rays lose to the Detroit Tigers 11-6 in Tampa Bay's first regular season Major League game.

For the next 10 years the Rays drafted wisely and developed their players, until in 2008 they won the American League Pennant and were crowned champions. Their subsequent trip to the World Series resulted in a loss to the eventual World Series winning Philadelphia Phillies.

Rays Near Top at Producing Prospects

Scouting and development is what the Tampa Bay Rays staff is good at. ESPN's Keith Law ranked them 2nd behind the Texas Rangers on Minor Leaguers and players in the farm system who will be Major League rookies in 2009.

Left-hander David Price was ranked the second-best prospect in the game in Law's Top 100, just behind Orioles catcher Matt Wieters. In addition, five other Tampa Bay prospects made Law's top 100: shortstop Tim Beckham (No. 11), outfielder Desmond Jennings (No. 25); right-hander Wade Davis (No. 33), right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (No. 47) and shortstop Reid Brignac (No. 78).http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090128&content_id=3779174&vkey=news_tb&fext=.jsp&c_id=tb

To quote Keith Law, "They just keep churning out the prospects, although they'll have a new challenge in 2009: no Draft picks in the top 10 -- or even 20. Success with high school pitchers taken after the first round has been a big part of their system's depth, including another wave of kids who spent 2008 in short-season ball. However, their recent efforts in Latin America have yet to yield any significant prospects."http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090128&content_id=3779174&vkey=news_tb&fext=.jsp&c_id=tb

Unlike previous seasons where the Rays were at the top of the draft board, their trip to the World Series dropped them well down in the picking order, making it much more difficult to grab the Evan Longoria, David Price and Tim Beckham of the draft.

With the Rays drafting at number 30 it will be more difficult to narrow down the field. scouting director R.J. Harrison feels that just because a team drafts high doesn't mean it will always make the right pick. Harrison said that, "You can look at past Drafts, which I do all the time and you go, 'Oh my gosh, how did this guy get to here?' and that sort of thing," Harrison said. "And conversely, you'll be like, 'That wasn't a very good choice.'" , so he is still excited about where his team is positioned. He feels he will not be able to interview as he previously did with maybe the top 4 or 5 players and will need to rely on the scouts to develop relationships with the players.

Harrison said you have to be ready for the unexpected. He cited the case of Carl Crawford when the Rays were drafting in 1999. They had the top pick that season and selected Josh Hamilton. Never in their wildest imagination did they figure Crawford would still be available when their turn came up again at the top of the second round. But Tampa Bay's scouts did their homework anyway, and when he was available, they selected him and got a future All-Star.http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090128&content_id=3779174&vkey=news_tb&fext=.jsp&c_id=tb

Harrison won't admit scouting and development will be made more difficult from the 30th position, but does admit it is a challenge. It also is an indicator that they are doing something right because they have had success in the Major Leagues.