Rays' Top Prospect Not Predicted to Make Opening Day Roster

Will a top prospect from the Tampa Bay Rays make the Opening Day roster?

Dec 8, 2025; Orlando, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash speaks with the media during the 2025 MLB Winter Meetings at Signia by Hilton Hotel. | Mike Watters-Imagn Images

An MLB analyst recently predicted what the Opening Day roster would look like for the Tampa Bay Rays. As a bit of a surprise, a talented prospect did not make the cut. 

It has been a busy winter for the Tampa Bay Rays, who have reshaped their roster quite a bit over the offseason. Coming into the winter, the Rays were a team that was aiming to improve and help build a contender for 2026. 

With the moves made so far, the team has taken a bit of a step back in that regard and likely wouldn’t be a playoff team if the season started today. However, there is still a lot of offseason to go, and Tampa Bay very well could make some nice improvements before the start of the 2026 campaign. 

Recently, Adam Berry of MLB predicted what the Rays’ Opening Day roster could look like come spring. As expected, there were some glaring issues that the team might look to address, but there were also a couple of surprises that weren’t expected to make the cut. 

Carson Williams Doesn’t Make the Cut 

Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

As one of the top prospects in the system and someone who got a fair amount of playing time down the stretch because of injury, Williams is going to be a name to watch in spring training. The talented young prospect plays at a position of need at shortstop, and it is a little disappointing not to see him expected to win the job in the early prediction. 

Currently, the Rays have the defensive specialist Taylor Walls at the position. In 2025, Walls was a candidate for the American League Gold Glove Award at shortstop, but he unfortunately didn’t win. However, that goes to show the type of player that he can be in the field. What is keeping Walls from being a star is his lack of production. The talented defender brought basically nothing to the plate, and that is an issue. 

When looking at Williams, he has the potential to not only be a good defender but also to provide some help offensively. The talented prospect has a good amount of power for the position, but has to cut down on the swings and misses. 

In spring training, shortstop will undoubtedly be a position to keep an eye on. In a perfect world, Williams lights it up offensively and wins the job from Walls. However, there might be some concerns that he isn’t ready just yet.