Sickels Releases Preliminary Nats Prospect List
Taking a preliminary stab at laying out the list o' prospects
As some of you may have commented, John Sickels has posted a preliminary prospect list for the Washington Nationals, which I’ll recreate here by position:
| Catchers | Corner IF | Middle IF | Outfielders | Pitchers |
| David Freitas | Chris Marrero | Danny Espinosa | Michael Burgess | Adrian Alaniz |
| Derek Norris | Tyler Moore | Rick Hague | Bryce Harper | Adam Carr |
| Wilson Ramos | Blake Kelso | Destin Hood | A.J. Cole | |
| Jeff Kobernus | Randolph Oduber | Paul Demny | ||
| Steve Lombardozzi | Eury Perez | Tyler Hanks | ||
| Adrian Sanchez | J.P. Ramirez | Cole Kimball | ||
| Yunesky Maya | ||||
| Jack McGeary | ||||
| Brad Meyers | ||||
| Tom Milone | ||||
| A.J. Morris | ||||
| Brad Peacock | ||||
| Robby Ray | ||||
| Tanner Roark | ||||
| Danny Rosenbaum | ||||
| Josh Smoker | ||||
| Sammy Solis | ||||
| Josh Wilkie | ||||
| Rob Wort |
Bear in mind, that Sickels is looking for more names and to pare the list down to an overall Top 20. This is going to lead to some biases at the extremes: young draftees, and older guys that were named because they’ve been named before (can we call that the “Emmy effect?”).
As it so happens, I’m starting to crunch the names listed from my season reviews into two Top 20 lists: one for the hitters, one for the pitchers. Naturally, this is going to overlook guys that were hurt, guys that were suspended, and guys that signed late. I’ll admit that the DSL guys are getting placed lower because only a handful are young enough to be considered prospects and none really put up the “WOW” kind of numbers. Doesn’t mean they’re not viable, but I’m admitting my wait-and-see (them in the GCL) bias.
Thus far, these are the names that appeared on my season-review watchlists that aren’t listed above, adding in the notable suspended players, which I think we can agree were once considered prospects and are still on our radar. I’m interested in any other candidates that folks may want to make a case for, and for the sake of discussion I’m adding the other two prospects that came on deadline deals in here, too. I’m not making the case for any of these to be added to Sickels’s list, nor am I making the case that we ought to rank ’em all (ugh) – I’m just looking for some suggestions and some oversight.
| Catchers | Corner IF | Middle IF | Outfielders | Pitchers |
| Paul Chacin | Justin Bloxom | Wilmer Difo | Chris Curran | Ryan Demmin |
| Adderling Ruiz | Stephen King | Josh Johnson | J.R. Higley | Wirkin Estevez |
| Mills Rogers | Jason Martinson | Wade Moore | Marcos Frias | |
| Steven Souza | “Fred” Ortega | Russell Moldenhauer | Matthew Grace | |
| Jean Carlos Valdez | Michael Taylor | Jesus Guzman | ||
| Neil Holland | ||||
| Trevor Holder | ||||
| Mark Herrera | ||||
| Chad Jenkins | ||||
| Taylor Jordan | ||||
| Christopher Manno | ||||
| Anthony Marcelino | ||||
| Christian Meza | ||||
| Andy Santana | ||||
| Nick Serino | ||||
| Wander Suero | ||||
| Ryan Tatusko | ||||
| Joe Testa | ||||
| Dean Weaver |
Sue,
I’m biased here in Harrisburg, but Rafael Martin had a live arm and was Knorr’s workhorse until this workload and innings caught up with him towards the end of the season. I can see many situations where Martin contributes to a MLB team out of the bullpen.
I’d lobby him to add arms Frias, Holder and Tatusko. Holder’s too young to give up on already and Tatusko didn’t have those great AA numbers by accident.
Todd B. — Are you the Todd who filled in so admirably on NFA whaen Brian was on vacation?
Russell with his 8 HRs @ Vermont in a short stint surely should benefit from sometime @ 1b in HAG
what with the OF glut, plus he must have played 1b in Austin, TX. for Auggie.
March should help fill in some blanks for Cathcart, henley and Co,. on all these names.,
Something tells me that Steven King could be drafted in the minor league portion next month
of the RuleV???
Sandy Leon to C list.
Perusing my system roster list, here are some possible add-ons…
POS: Player (age-2010 level)
CA: Sandy Leon (21-HAG), Hector Taveras (21-HAG/GCL), Jeremy Mayo (21-GCL).
CI: Bienvenido Valdez (20-DSL).
MI: Justin Miller (20-VT), Roberto Perez (19-DSL).
OF: Rick Hughes (20-VT-GCL), Victor Chavez (20-DSL).
SP: Evan Bronson (23-HAG/POT), Paul Applebee (22-HAG), Shane McCatty (23-VT/HAG).
RP: Rafael Martin (26-HAR), BIlly Ott (22-HAG/GCL/VT).
I tried to stick to under age-22 hitters, but offered a little leeway on pitchers, based on draft year.
It looks like the Sickels “prelim” list has 17 hitters / 19 pitchers, but he’s only building an overall top-20; You’ve added 16 hitters & another 19 pitchers to the overall, with some of us tossing a few more names into the ring as well. That’s a fair bit to digest for a 20/20 pair, and with pitchers it’s even harder to make a call (a lot of pitchers get switched between SP/RP roles in their first 2-3 years in the pros).
Any summary list is going to be swayed by the Author’s pre-conceptions – It can’t be avoided. BaseballAmerica tends to bias toward youth/Draft#, while Sickels & BaseballProspectus seems to stay within a system, swayed somewhat by fan input (for nominees, at least). Just be up-front with your criteria, and take the approach that’s best for you. I’m personally happy with alphabetical “Players/Pitchers to watch” lists with no ranking.
Seems reasonable to me. Looks like the combination of “pseudonym sickels” is a fairly comprehensive list. Ranking them will be a problem. I see Justin Bloxom ahead of Moore and Marerro over the long run. He’s a switch hitter who works hard at hitting the right way as well as on his fielding. I think he won the newly minted “Beaver award” for hardest working minor leaguer. I think he will eventually be the Nats starting first baseman.
peric: Time will tell regarding the hole at 1B in D.C. – Dunn, Morse, Willingham, Marrero, Moore, Bloxom – Not a one of them holds promises as a solid “two-way” player at 1B as of yet. Moore might have the best chance, but I’m not holding my breath; Newsome is probably the best ‘all-around’ 1B currently in the system, but will likely cap at AAA-level as a hitter.
If anybody thinks I am beating an old horse- fine….IF Nats have three picks in first 70 or so. Then Rizzo should reach out and grab Alex Dickerson, who should be the Big ten stud third year in a row. Upper deck @ Target Field in April off the son of a former Twin. Hand him a 1b glove.
Sickels at this point is looking for who to include in the book, not just his top 20. So make your case over there for your favorite Nat to put in his book this spring.