Welcome to the first pass on what will become the fifth watchlist in this site’s history. For folks unfamiliar with what we’re trying to do here, here’s a quick reminder. I can’t stand Top 10/15/25/6/4 lists (I get that they drive traffic, but so do cheesecake pics, a.k.a. “The Other Rule 5”) because I feel they just lead to pointless arguments over whether Prospect A should be ranked above or below Prospect B.
So I created a list of prospects, broken down by position, that were worth keeping an eye on — a watchlist. It’s not a list of guys that are on the verge on becoming major-leaguers. It’s a list of players that have shown some promise. That’s it.
The watchlist used to be quite large — nearly 90 players, but I’ve since learned to be less inclusive as I’ve become more experienced in prospect following. While I see most of these guys for at least part of one season as a season-ticket holder to Potomac, Washington’s High-A affiliate, until then I have to scout by boxscore or extrapolate from other first-person accounts, which ranges in quality from amateur to semi-pro.
I don’t put very much credence into draft position. That’s like expecting honesty in personal ads*. Certain names get brought up ad nauseum because of when they were drafted or how large their bonus was. I don’t care. I understand that a higher draft pick will get more chances and lower one will not. How players are acquired is beast unto itself that I understand is an art; it just doesn’t interest me and I’ll defer to those that do. Don’t make me paraphrase Eddie Murphy’s drunken father (NSFW).
* Still waiting for “Gold Digger Seeks Sugar Daddy”
Before I go any further… let’s review the caveats:
It’s not a depth chart… Obviously, when you arrange it the way I have — by the highest level played to date — it’s going to look like it at first glance. That also doesn’t mean that the guys near the top of a column are “better” than the guys at the bottom; it just means they’ve played at higher level.
It’s (mostly) based on 2014 usage… The Nats have a habit of rotating guys between 2B, 3B, and SS which makes it a little difficult to slot guys, especially at the short-season levels (DSL, GCL, NYPL). So sometimes I have to be arbitrary and pick the slot based on usage or aesthetics.
It’s preliminary… I like prospect gurus like John Sickels who solicit comments and feedback. While I’m aware that will include some complaints, it’s worth it if that’s what it takes to get some thoughtful feedback and/or suggestions.
Sadly, the M*A*S*H category has returned. I had hoped it wouldn’t, and as you might expect, it’s mostly pitchers. I had thought about putting both Brian Goodwin and Drew Vettleson there, but opted not to because the list of outfielders is already pretty short (maybe an overcorrection to last year’s list of OFs).
Consequently, I have combined the notables into a single column for layout purposes. As aforementioned, I was more judicious (or capricious) this time, choosing just 10 names versus 18 a year ago and 16 two years ago. It’s worth noting that very few of the notables have reappeared in subsequent watchlists — just six, not counting guys that have reappeared via the M*A*S*H category.
As always, feel free to discuss in the comments… just keep it civil. The players, their families, and their agents are reading, too. 😉
| C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF |
| Severino | Skole | Renda | S. Perez |
Ward | Souza |
| Kieboom | Wooten | Davidson | Difo | Gunter | Taylor |
| Read | Yezzo | Mejia | Abreu | Gutierrez | Goodwin |
| Reetz | Marmolejos-Diaz | T. Alvarez |
Lora | Aguero | Vettleson |
| Ballou | |||||
| Bautista | |||||
| Carey | |||||
| Corredor | |||||
| RHPs | LHPs | DSL Bats | DSL Arms | M*A*S*H | Notables |
| Hill | Grace | Pimentel | Baez | Rosenbaum | Kobernus |
| Cole | Br. Harper |
Agustin | Fuentes | F. Rivero | |
| Voth | Spann | Robles | Cespedes | Purke | Dykstra |
| Simms | Silvestre | Mota | Y. Ramirez |
Solis | Benincasa |
| Dickson | Thomas | A. Martinez |
Bermudez | J. Rodriguez |
Self |
| Mendez | Walsh | Fedde | Pleffner | ||
| Giolito | Ott | Turnbull | |||
| Suero | Reynoso | Johansen | |||
| R. Lopez |
Pivetta | ||||
| Dickey | |||||
| M. Sanchez |
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| McDowell | |||||
| Je. Ramirez |
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| L. Reyes |
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| Valerio |
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| Morales |