After being reminded that I have a lousy copyeditor 😉 Here are Washington’s Nos. 16 through 31…
| 16. Drew Ward (8) | 21. Rhett Wiseman | 26. Phillips Valdez |
| 17. Sammy Solis* (15) | 22. Edwin Lora | 27. Nick Lee (30) |
| 18. Joan Baez | 23. Raudy Read (22) | 28. Taylor Hearn |
| 19. Austen Williams | 24. Juan Soto | 29. Mariano Rivera III |
| 20. Abel De Los Santos | 25. Christopher Bostick | 30. Koda Glover |
| * According to baseball-reference.com, Solis has exhausted his rookie eligiblity |
31. Brian Goodwin (9) |
For those wondering, Juan Soto, who turned 17 in October and signed for $1.5 million — $100K more than you-know-who — was the IFA referred to in yesterday afternoon’s post. BA is projecting him to start in the GCL and has high praise for his advanced skills as a hitter, projecting him as a corner OF due to below-average speed and average arm strength (yes I’m aware the link above has him as a 60 arm).
Nearly a third of the list is comprised of the past two drafts, and it’s fair to say that BA loved the 2015 draft with six picks in the Top 30. As we usually do, let’s break down the newcomers:
2015 Draft – Andrew Stevenson (8), Blake Perkins (12), Wiseman (21), Hearn (28), Rivera3, Glover
2014 Draft – Williams (19)
Trade – Trea Turner (2), De Los Santos (20), Bostick (25)
Int’l Free Agent – Anderson Franco (10), Osvaldo Abreu (15), Baez (18), Lora (22), Soto (24), Valdez (26)
Add in the trades and that makes 14 of the Top 30 acquired since 2014. That’s particularly impressive because the Nats have been drafting from the lower half since 2012.
Finally, here’s BA 2019 projected Washington lineup, which ignores such things as free agency, injuries, or sudden declines in skills. This time, I’m including BA’s 2016 picks and MLB’s current depth chart side-by-side for reference/comparison:
| Pos. | 2019 | 2016 (BA) | 2016 (MLB) |
| C | Wilson Ramos | Wilson Ramos | Wilson Ramos |
| 1B | Ryan Zimmerman | Ryan Zimmerman | Ryan Zimmerman |
| 2B | Wilmer Difo | Danny Espinosa | Dan Murphy |
| SS | Trea Turner | Ian Desmond | Danny Espinosa |
| 3B | Anthony Rendon | Anthony Rendon | Anthony Rendon |
| LF | Victor Robles | Brian Goodwin | Jayson Werth |
| CF | Michael Taylor | Denard Span | Ben Revere |
| RF | Bryce Harper | Bryce Harper | Bryce Harper |
| #1P | Stephen Strasburg | Stephen Strasburg | Max Scherzer |
| #2P | Lucas Giolito | Lucas Giolito | Stephen Strasburg |
| #3P | Max Scherzer | Gio Gonzalez | Gio Gonzalez |
| #4P | Joe Ross | Jordan Zimmermann | Tanner Roark |
| #5P | Gio Gonzalez | Ross Detwiler | Joe Ross |
| #5P | Reynaldo Lopez | Drew Storen | Jonathan Papelbon |