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Originally Posted by RedlegJake

I don't know why some get up in arms when the Rays "plan" gets knocked. Having the lowest payroll in the game for years to ensure you finish dead last, having year after year of top 1-2 or 3 picks in the draft and finally stumbling on a winning team doesn't seem all that great. Yeah, they'll be pretty good for awhile - until these kids hit arb and they start trading them off. I'm not convinced this past season was the result of a long thought out plan as much as just doing a good job scouting for the draft. To me, that's the diff between the Rays and teams like the Reds or Royals or Pirates. The Rays did a really good job drafting guys while the Reds were picking Howington & Gruler, picking Kearns who busted, punting Sowers and picking Stubbs over Lincecum. The plan I do see happening is the Rays attempt to lock in some of these kids now to save money in the long haul so maybe there is a plan to try and keep their core together for a while. I'll give them credit for that - but not so much for any grand master plan that brought them to this point.

Name all of the high 1st round picks, that the Rays drafted themselves, who were on their 2008 team.