In 2000, using their sixth overall pick, the Tampa Bay Rays drafted Bishop Hendricken’s Rocco Baldelli, above. Others standouts included B.J. Upton in 2002, and Evan Longoria in 2006.

The Providence Journal / Kris Craig

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Ever since he was the second overall pick in the baseball’s 2002 amateur draft, B.J. Upton has worn the dreaded “potential” tag squarely on his back. He is not the only Tampa Bay Ray in that department.

Due to their perennially awful finishes, the Rays’ organization has used one prized draft pick after another over the last dozen years. Without the money to chase high-priced free agents, the draft needed to be a gold mine for a franchise trying to scrap its way up baseball’s food chain.

After some hits and some misses in the draft, coupled with some huge trades, the Rays finally came together and shocked baseball with its American League East title this season.

“It was supposed to work that way,” said Upton, one of the game’s premier young outfielders. “They kept saying, ‘The Rays get the top pick every year,’ and finally it’s come together. It’s funny because we’ve all been playing together for a while in the minors and up here in the majors and we know each other really well. For us to be playing here now is pretty cool.”

While they haven’t been perfect, the Rays’ premier picks have produced some stars. Back in 1999, they drafted Carl Crawford in the second round. In 2000, they used the sixth overall pick on Bishop Hendricken’s Rocco Baldelli. In 2002, they grabbed Upton. In `06, they used the third overall pick on Evan Longoria, and in `07, pitcher David Price was the number-one overall pick.

“We have a lot of young talent, but we’ve drafted well,” said Baldelli. “We always knew there were guys who could be good and now we’ve finally brought it all together.”

The Rays lost more than 90 games every year over the last decade, including three seasons with over 100 losses. That sets a team up with plenty of elite picks, but baseball’s draft isn’t like the NFL or the NBA. Pegging a high school or college star’s major-league potential is by far the toughest evaluation in sports.

“They’ve obviously done a good job with scouting,” said Ben Cherington, the Red Sox’ vice president of player personnel. “They’ve made some good decisions in the draft. This has been coming for a while because everyone saw their young talent when they got to the big leagues and started to mature. This is a team that is going to be a force to be reckoned with somewhere in the near future. It’s come together for them this year.”

The Rays wisely augmented their own draft picks with some key trades. Scott Kazmir was Baseball America’s high school player of the year in 2002. His 175 strikeouts for Cypress Falls High, in Houston, broke Josh Beckett’s single-season Texas state record of 172. He was drafted by the Mets but traded to the Rays at the trade deadline in 2004 for pitcher Victor Zambrano.

Perhaps the best trade came in November of 2007. The Rays had grown tired with the development and off-field antics of Delmon Young, the first overall pick in the 2003 draft. He was shipped to Minnesota in exchange for current starting shortstop Jason Bartlett and Matt Garza, who’ll start for the Rays in Game Three.

The Rays haven’t been afraid to test their young players. Longoria played two years in the minors but was elevated and installed as the Rays’ third baseman in the 11th game of this season. He went on to enjoy a smashing rookie season, racking up 27 home runs and 85 RBI in 122 games this season.

Price, a lefty pitcher from Vanderbilt, moved from Class A Vero Beach to the majors this season. He made his big-league debut in relief Sept. 14 at Yankee Stadium less than four months after his first outing as a pro.

He appeared in five games last month but is in the Rays’ bullpen during the ALCS. Only 12 players in baseball history have appeared in the postseason with fewer games played. Price commended the job that Friedman and his staff do in the draft process.

“They do a tremendous job of scouting people,” Price said. “They met with me quite a few times and had dinners and long meetings with them. They get to know your character before they draft you because that’s a big investment.”

Price considers himself lucky to be in this position but is hoping the team’s success is just getting started.

“We’ve had guys here six, seven, eight years, and they’ve never experienced this. I’ve been up here a month,” said Price, 23. “I’ve been to just as many postseason games as they have. That seems, kind of in a way, unfair, but I’m very grateful for it.”

kmcnamar@projo.com