Tampa Bay Rays Send Top Prospect Wil Myers to Minors

If you have not heard of Wil Myers you really need to check out his résumé. You likely have heard of him only if you are a big fan of either the Tampa Bay Rays or the Kansas City Royals. Myers has been in the Royals minor league system and a top prospect almost from the moment he was signed. Once he saw playing time in the minors, his performance just made things look better to everyone that was paying attention.

It was evident that the Rays had been paying attention to Myers when the Royals came calling for a potential trade for pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis. The Rays asked for a lot in return for two of their best pitchers but the main minor leaguer in the trade was Myers. The Rays asked for him and the Royals agreed. Obviously Shields and Davis are substantial pitchers and yet people were asking not if the Rays gave up too much but rather if the Royals did in Myers. That says something.

When he arrived in spring training for the Rays, Myers did not disappoint his new coaching staff. Joe Maddon and company were very impressed with what they saw in the outfielder who is the number four prospect in all of baseball. There were thoughts that he may be ready to play every day in the major leagues. Certainly his offense seems plenty good enough to go with the big boys. Maddon decided to send him down to the minors to start the season anyway.

The reasoning behind it makes sense to me. They know he is almost ready and might even be ready in some ways. They want to get a longer look at him in the outfield and in everyday situations in the minors. Maddon suggested they are building a complete player and it seems they don’t want to short change how great Myers could be if they allow him to get a little more work in the minors.

The way I see it, there is only one way this thing could go wrong. That would be if Myers gets frustrated with being back in triple-A and it hurts his performance. The way he talks about it leads you to believe that such a thing would not happen. Almost everyone agrees that Myers will see big league time this season at some point. I think after he sees the big leagues this year he will never see the minors again.

David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google₊.