I cringe at the some of the early watchlists, because it’s embarrassing how much larger they were early on. Some of that was enthusiasm (a nicer way saying naïveté), and some of that was that the system was deeper since the Nats were picking early in every round. It’s difficult to parse which is which because I’m not sure if the system has thinned out as much I may have learned (or grown cynical).
That being “said,” I still believe my initial choice to not rank them from first to last, 1 to 50, largest draft bonus to lowest signing bonus, etc. was correct. We will get to that soon enough on a smaller scale (and it’ll be more apple-to-apples) when we rank the Top 10 bats and arms.
Seeing the names listed out by their categories/positions, also shows us how deep the system is(n’t).
Now before you get your undergarments unduly displaced, let me explain “DH” and “NB.”
The root of this problem is third base. As in the system doesn’t have any true 3B prospects. Drew Ward survived for years on his youth and projected usage at 3B but now he’s gone ♫ (oh, I; oh, I) ♫ and Jake Noll (A) played more at 1B in 2019 than 3B (B) turns 26 in March.
So I decided to lump K.J. Harrison, who spent a good chunk of 2019 as the… wait for it… DH for his teams, along with two GCL-level prospects who were rotated between 2B, SS, and 3B.
“NB” is Notable Bats, which I’m revealing ahead of where it will be laid out in the 2020 page because I’m breaking this into two posts for the same reason I did back in the day: to spread it out over time.
On to the the caveats…
• It’s not a depth chart. It’s ordered by the highest level played to date. The guys at the top of the column are not necessarily better than the guys at the bottom.
• It’s (mostly) based on 2019 usage. The Nats have a history of rotating IFs between 2B, 3B, and SS and are usually not very strong at 1B or in the corners of the OF.
• It’s preliminary. I’m relying on readers to write in with omissions, criticisms, and/or suggestions because my time is limited.
These are the players that caught my eye while doing the season reviews. Sadly, this will be the last one that will be aided by seeing guys play day in and day out at Potomac.
I don’t give a rat’s @ss about when a player was drafted or how much his bonus was because that’s an offshoot of “signability” and the strategy that goes along with the June draft (e.g. signing collegiate picks in Rounds 4-10). But I am (far too) aware that those two factors will give some position players more AB’s despite making errors and outs in abundance.
So let’s kick off the 2019-20 offseason, and take a look at what we got here:
| C | 1B | 2B | SS | DH | OF | NB |
| Barrera | Corredor | Freeman | Kieboom | Harrison | Banks | Noll |
| Reetz | Mendoza | Arruda | L. Garcia | V. Peña | Rhinesmith | Read |
| G. Diaz | Emiliani | Cluff | Martina | Connell | Lara | |
| Hurtado | Lara | Mendez | Meregildo | |||
| Randa | Jo. Sanchez | |||||
| Senior | Antuna | |||||
| Sanfler | ||||||
| De La Rosa |