NationalsProspects.com

The BA Prospect Handbook, Part Two

Because I know you’d just scroll down to this anyway:

16. Jackson Tetrault 21. Nick Raquet 26. Austin Voth (10)
17. Brigham Hill 22. Kyle Johnston 27. Joan Baez (29)
18. Jose Marmolejos (26) 23. Jose Sanchez (24) 28. Anderson Franco (14)
19. Drew Ward (12) 24. Jefry Rodriguez 29. Jakson Reetz (18)
20. Taylor Gushue 25. Telmito Agustin (28) 30. Osvaldo Abreu (21)
   THOSE WHO INSIST ON
   THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX…		    …ARE USUALLY BEHIND
   IN THE COUNT.		 31. Gabe Klobosits

It was noted here last year and in the comments this year, but IFAs still dominate the list. Perhaps not coincidentally, this is the Nationals predominant source of teenage talent – just 11 signed, 45 drafted in the past five years; and five of those have been traded already.

As mentioned in the previous post, two of the nine newcomers weren’t pitchers: Daniel Johnson and Taylor Gushue. A tenth player that wasn’t on last year’s list is Jefry Rodriguez, who was on the list in 2016 and returns despite an 80-game suspension.

The rest are all pitchers taken in the 2017 Draft: Romero, Crowe, Tetrault, Brigham Hill, Raquet, Johnston, and Klobosits. All are 21 or older so the pressure will be on for them to move quickly up the ladder. And to be honest, there’s no one really blocking them.

Before we list the projected 2021 Nationals Lineup, let’s have a good laugh at the 2018 projected lineup from the 2015 handbook:
C – Wilson Ramos
1B – Ryan Zimmerman
2B – Tony Renda
SS – Ian Desmond
3B – Anthony Rendon
LF – Steven Souza
CF – Michael Taylor
RF – Bryce Harper
#1SP – Stephen Strasburg
#2SP – Jordan Zimmermann
#3SP – Lucas Giolito
#4SP – Doug Fister
#5SP – Gio Gonzalez
CL – Reynaldo Lopez

Three out of 14, five if you’re being generous about Strasburg and Gonzalez. Just your usual reminder about BA not taking into account free agency (Desmond), injuries (Ramos), trades (Giolito, Lopez, Souza), or a sudden decline in skills (Zimmermann, Fister).

Keep that in mind for this projection:
C – Raudy Read
1B – Daniel Murphy
2B – Wilmer Difo
SS – Trea Turner
3B – Anthony Rendon
LF – Adam Eaton
CF – Victor Robles
RF – Bryce Harper
#1SP – Stephen Strasburg
#2SP – Max Scherzer
#3SP – Joe Ross
#4SP – Erick Fedde
#5SP – Wil Crowe
CL – Seth Romero

We now return you to your baseball-less Saturday…

24 Commments

  1. I always do love the projections, becaise they are so clearly destined to be wrong. I certainly hope we have Harper and Rendon, but would accept just having Rendon. Read is already off the list before 2018 even starts.

    I generally have a twinge of melancholy each year for the players who fall down the prospect list, because it is usually an indication that they aren’t going to even taste the Bigs. Brian Goodwin would be one of the few exceptions, because I remember him plunging from year to year. Hopefully others can right the ship the way he did.

    One last thought, though. Reading the projections for the current year is always more fun when the lineup is better than expected. We’ll all take Murphy over Renda, Turner over Desmond, Eaton over Souza, Roark over Fister, and of course Max over Zimmermann. We all pine for the Buffalo, but there is no guarantee he will be better than Wieters after his injury.

    1. Defensively, the Buffalo would project to be worse than Wieters most especially toward the end of the season. After two catastrophic knee injuries to the same you have to figure he’s very much a part-time, offensive catcher, first bagger in the NL and a regular DL in the AL.

      Given what happened in the playoffs I am still rooting for Severino to master the bat. Methinks he’s a Pudge Rodriguez clone defensively … something sorely needed

  3. One example of how fast the wheels can go I recall in former Senator, Glenn Murray who slid into a AAA DH type @ best .

    1. Kind of – he became something of a legend in the Atlantic League, hitting 163 HR’s between 1999 and 2006 and played until he was 37

  4. Luke , quite the lack of power @ 1b down the chain
    Harrisburg will rotate F- mayor, Sagdal and Gamache ? Masters if bumped up ?
    Corridor will handle POTNATS bag
    Hagerstown ? Shepard, Ortiz and Scudder?
    snowflakes after 60F yesterday. Wow

  5. Looks like 2018 will be THE year for Drew Ward.
    All that money and Anderson Franco is plunging.
    Here’s hoping for Jakson Reetz.

    2. Anderson Franco may benefit from having some very athletic table setters ahead of him . He should work up the middle and opposite way to run up the RBIs.
      Most affiliates won’t be known for HR power .

      1. At least not since his .274/.429/.368 season in 2014 (GCL) where it looked like he might be the next Derek Norris. That got him ranked #14 in the 2015 book and 2016 books, from which he’s dropped to #18 last year and #29 this year. And now it’s time for our long-distance dedication…

  6. Luke made a comment a few weeks ago that there isn’t that much difference in prospects #8 through #42 in the Nats’ system, or something to that effect, and this list offers good evidence. Every one of these guys has enough talent to make the majors, but there’s no sure thing among them, and likely no MLB regular, either.

    I still think Alex Troop may end up better than any of the other 2017-drafted pitchers listed here. Nelson Galindez has age on his side, as do Connell, Pineda, and Mendez. Eric Senior barely played but has the toolshed. Names to remember for next year’s list.

    1. It feels like it’s been that way since about 2013 or 2014. And frighteningly, there are *still* five guys from 2014’s 16-31 that are still in the top 30, which goes to show the power of incumbency… or maybe, when in doubt, re-list the known quantity.

  7. You never have enough pitching .
    Vuckovich and Benoit reunion .
    Insurance against Glover wing ailing ?
    Anybody going down to PBI/ WPB
    To back fields ??

        1. Maybe my Mariner buddy would be happy to see Dipoto make another deal. Rizzo could get a minor league outfielder who could play AA and another warm body ?

  8. MLB.com has its 2018 Nats list posted:

    http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2018?list=was

    Round up the usual suspects. They seem aggressively high on Reyes, who is 23.5 and hasn’t pitched above A+, where he struggled. They also really like Klobosits. At least he put up some results to warrant the ranking, unlike Raquet. Alastre is one to watch who isn’t being mentioned on other lists.

    1. 43K to 14 BB isn’t bad … its the 3 home runs that seem concerning for Alastre. But, he still only 19 …

Comments are closed.