Why Rays Prospect Theo Gillen Should Be Untouchable This Summer

The Tampa Bay Rays continue to play excellent baseball of late and, with the best record in the American League, should be seen as a real contender. However, with the trade deadline approaching, they are expected to be an aggressive team.

As the season has gone on, the Rays have been able to prove that their hot start to the campaign has been the real deal. Due to expectations being low to start the season, everyone was seemingly waiting for Tampa Bay to slip up. However, the team has been able to sustain their success and now are expected to be buyers at the deadline.

Even though the team has had a lot of success with the best record in the league, there are some needs that they can look to address. With a deep and talented prospect pool, there are going to be a lot of possibilities for the team to try and improve.

However, as they start to think about who they might consider trading in terms of prospects, one player who should be deemed untouchable is Theo Gillen.

Gillen Should Be Untouchable

Theo Gillen logs his third multihomer outing of the season 💪

The @RaysBaseball top prospect goes the other way with his 6th long ball in his past 10 games with Double-A @BiscuitBaseball: pic.twitter.com/bgJSvo4h8X
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 30, 2026

As one of the fastest rising prospects not only in the Tampa Bay system, but baseball altogether, Gillen is now the ninth-ranked prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline, and it has been quite the move up in rankings.

With a 60 overall grade, there is a lot to like about how Gillen is going to be able to translate to the majors, and he possesses a really excellent hit grade at the plate of 60.

Being able to put the ball in play will help him have a smooth transition to the majors when that time does come. In addition to his ability to put the ball in play, he also has some good power. While he might not be a 40-home run hitter, he’s got some good pop and should be a solid player in that area as well.

Furthermore, with some excellent speed, the possibility of him being a 20-20 player to start his career will be there as well.

For Tampa Bay, even though they are going to be aggressive, this is a team that is always smart about the value in a trade. As a now top-10 prospect in baseball, Gillen can’t be traded for a rental player, and if he was moved, the return would have to be a great player with years still under team control.

Overall, Gillen’s value has simply gone up too much for the Rays to trade him at the deadline.

Add us as a preferred source on Google