​Thanks to a fortunate draw during MLB’s draft lottery at the Winter Meetings in Orlando, the Tampa Bay Rays had the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft. The club used the selection to choose high school shortstop Grady Emerson, the 2026 Gatorade National Player of the Year.Emerson, an 18-year-old Texan who spent his senior season at Fort Worth Christian playing for former Rangers’ outfielder Rusty Greer, hit .532 (42-for-79) with seven homers, 50 RBI and 31 stolen bases in 28 games. He joined Royals’ shortstop Bobby Witt, Jr. as the only high school players to be named Golden Spikes Award (nation’s top amateur player) semifinalists since the award’s inception in 1978.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThis year marked the 12th time and first since 2017 that the Rays had a top 10 pick. Below is a glimpse at how the previous such selections fared and the amount they signed for. Emerson had yet sign as of July 15. Shortstop and No. 1 pick, Roch Cholowsky, signed with the White Sox for a reported $10.35 million.It is easy to wonder what might have come of McKay’s career if not for the injuries. A collegiate sensation at Louisville where the lefty was regarded as one of the best two-way prospects of all-time, he signed for what was a record bonus of $7 million. The Pennsylvania native made his much-anticipated MLB debut in June 2019, and what a debut it was as McKay retired the first 16 Texas Rangers he faced and allowed one hit in six innings. As a pinch-hitter later that season, he hit his first home run. Unfortunately, that was his only season in the big leagues as a torn labrum in 2020 commenced an injury-riddled slide. McKay last played with the Rays’ Double-A affiliate in Montgomery in 2024.The Georgia high school sensation had all the tools while hitting at least .500 as a junior and senior. Beckham made his MLB debut with the Rays toward the end of the 2013 season and hit .247 with 26 homers in 238 games before he was dealt to Baltimore at the 2017 trade deadline. He batted .394 with a 1.063 OPS (six homers) in his first month with the Orioles before hitting .222 in his roughly remaining 200 MLB games with the O’s, Mariners and Twins.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPrice’s bonus was part of a deal he signed that guaranteed $8.25 million. A little more than a year after signing, the Vanderbilt product recorded the final out of the 2008 ALCS. In 2010, the southpaw won 19 games and was second in American League Cy Young voting to Seattle’s Felix Hernandez. Two years later, in 2012, he went 20-5 with a 2.56 ERA and won the award. Price is top three on Tampa Bay career lists in every major pitching category, including wins (82, second) and strikeouts (1,065, third).Price was traded to Detroit in 2014 in a deal that included minor league shortstop Willy Adames coming to Tampa Bay — Adames was dealt in May 2021 to Milwaukee in a deal that included Drew Rasmussen coming to the Rays – and he would also take the mound for