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Keith Law Ranks The Washington Farm In The Top 20

Up from #23 last year...

As the pic suggests, that would be #19, like Paul Hardcastle’s sole U.S. hit single. Maybe that’s not something to get all that excited about… until you consider that just two years ago Mr. Law had Washington at #29 and last year, it was #23.

Law describes this as “a ton of progress since Mike Rizzo took over as GM,” pointing to spending beyond the top pick, as our guest columnist Marcus Wyche wrote yesterday. My point in dedicating a post to this is that the folks that believe Law “has it in for the Nats” — much like the Lieutenant Dans — need to reconsider their prejudices.

Tomorrow, Law ranks his Top 100 prospects, which may get some play here tomorrow. Bryce Harper getting ranked #3 by MLB.com for its Top 50 didn’t because quite frankly it felt like I’d done a post like that recently.

13 Commments

  3. Nicely done. Yeah, I tend to trust Sickels more than I trust MLB Network. With Sickels I feel like it’s his full time gig and he tends to be hard on the guys. With MLB Network you’re kind of bound to make lists that make sense to John Hart and I don’t think he’s beating the bushes scouting people in person. Mayo pretty much admitted that he’s pollilng individual scouts and his own list of contacts. I guess that’s okay, but I trust Sickels a bit more.

    The one reason that I watched the MLB Network show live is that I believe that it’s a (relatively) inexpensive mass medium that a lot of people will watch. Plus it will be easier to see free video clips of the guys profiled.

    Shows you how wild those lists are when Norris and Espinosa rank at 25 and 38 on Sickels but don’t even make the top 50 for MLB network.

    1. I’m with you on trusting Sickels more than an MLB Network list. Sickels and BA I probably listen to the most. Law puts out very good stuff as well. Here’s a ranking of the systems that a poster did on Sickels site based upon Sickels grades it’s a very good read: http://www.minorleagueball.com/2011/1/7/1921427/john-sickels-farm-system-rankings . Has us ranked 13 overall as a system. Which list are you referring to with Norris(25) and Espinosa(38) is that his top 100 or just the top 50 hitting prospects?

      With the lack of people loosing there prospect eligibility this year in our farm system and the new talent that will come through the draft I think we have a chance to be atleast a top 15 system next year.

      1. Never mind I see those numbers came from Sickels top 50 hitting prospects not his top 100. I think Norris is probably on the later end of Sickels top 50 overall and Espinosa is on the outside of the top 50. Just a guess…

        1. Whoops. I was cruising there pretty quickly and didn’t realize that I was looking only at a hitting prospects list when I searched. Thanks for the catch.

  4. The problem is Tampa Bay is really going to push the envelope if their ownership let’s that FO draft who they really want and sign them. Its going to be hard to move up in the organizational rankings with TB and KC on top.

  5. I see that Wilberto Ortiz was signed by the Dodgers on a minor league deal; His winter playing in Puerto Rico seems to have paid off. For the POT fans among us, looks like it’s another round of Souza manning 3B in 2011.

    1. I think you might mean Stephen King, because Souza hasn’t played above Hagerstown. Wouldn’t shock me if both were to play (Souza at 3B, King at SS).

      1. Sue_D: You’re right, of course. I mistakenly thought that Souza had ‘bumped’ to POT in 2009. Oops.

  6. FWIW, all the expected “top-ten” voices have been heard from (BA, BP, ESPN, Fangraphs, Hardball Times, John Sickels & our own Sue_Dinem), and here’s the composite results.

    Consensus (Listed on 7 of 7).
    #1- Bryce Harper: #1 across the board; Like that was gonna be hard.
    #2- Derek Norris: #2 on 6 of 7 lists, (HBT-Hagen) has him at #3.
    #3- Danny Espinosa: 3.28 average; High = (HBT-Hagen) at #2, low = (Law-ESPN) at #5.
    #4- A.J. Cole: 3.7 average; High = Sue_D at #2[P], low = Sickels at #5.
    #5- Wilson Ramos: 5.0 average; High = (Law-ESPN) at #3, low = #6 (Fg/BP/Sickels).
    #6- Sammy Solis: 5.0 average; High = Sue_D at #1(P), low = #8 (HBT-Hagen).
    #7- Eury Perez: 8.0 average; Listed between #7 – #9 from all sources.

    Non-consensus
    #8- J.P. Ramirez: 9.8 average, on 5 of 7 lists; High = #6 (Hagen-HBT), low = off-list (BA-Fitt & Law-ESPN).
    #9- Chris Marrero: 10.0 average, on 6 of 7 lists; Ranged from #5[H] (Sue_D) to off-list (Hulet-Fg).
    #10- Brad Peacock: 12.2 average, on 5 of 7 lists; High = #8[P] (Sue_D) to off-list (BA-Fitt & Law-ESPN).

    Simple Majority (4 of 7)
    Cole Kimball & Robbie Ray.

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