NationalsProspects.com

The 2022 NationalsProspects.com Watchlist

I hope folks had a good weekend and didn’t get too wild and crazy for Free Balloon Day yesterday. I had been hoping against hope that maybe I’d have one or two more edits to this, forced by a move, a pickup, or even a minor trade, but I think we’re looking at a slower offseason than 2019-2020.

You might recall that was when there almost no moves made from mid-November to mid-February. We never really did get an explanation for it. Spring Training came and we settled into our specious exercise of covering the games until, well, something happened.

For better or worse, this is the first truly new Watchlist in two years. Thanks to Mike Rizzo finally recognizing that the 2020 season was not a fluke and blowing it up midway through this past season.

Between that and a draft that had Washington sign three HS position players—the most since 2009—the system got back some depth and some youth, which it has been sorely missing for about 10 years now.

It remains to be seen if the parent club will do more than challenge the Marlins for fourth place, so there may be more attention paid to our guys in 2022. Some of it will be welcome (beat writers), and some of it will not (Lt. Dans and MASN Commenters).

The beat writers will go away once the lockout is over, but the fair-weather fans might lurk stick around if the big club falters. For their sake, let me go over the reminders of what this watchlist is (and isn’t):

• Most of these guys will not make it past High-A – Only a handful will make it to “The Show,” and most of those will be bench/role/reliever-types. Despite what the Astros, Orioles, and Brewers might think, finding major-league players is a numbers game and it’s not easy.

• It’s not a depth chart – Players are listed primarily by the highest level they’ve played, minors or majors. I’ve been tempted to alphabetize by the last name to make this even more clear.

• It’s not a prediction of usage – The Nats love to have infielders play multiple positions and it’s not unusual for some pitchers to both start and relieve for multiple seasons. Yasel Antuna will reportedly convert to the outfield in 2022, which is pretty typical once guys hit AA or so and the Nats would like a place to hide them on defense (which, if we’re lucky, will no longer be necessary with the next CBA).

After my admin gets around to it, this list will be posted in the tab above and in the sidebar. January will be spent building these out while waiting for the prospect books to arrive.

From time to time, I’ll let you know when I’ve finished a category or two, but you can also check to see when a category has been hyperlinked. That means I’ve finished it.

In the meantime, feel free to discuss in the comments…

C 1B 2B/SS 3B OF RHP
Lindsly Mendoza Alu G. Lara Antuna Adon
Pineda Boissiere Cluff Meregildo Connell Cavalli
G. Diaz Frizzell Baker J. Sánchez Méndez Schaller
House De La Rosa Henry
Rivero Young Peterson
Marte Rutledge
Arias Cuevas
White A. Lara
Lile Quintanilla
Hiraldo
Caceres
LHPs Rebuilds DSL Bats DSL Arms Notable Arms Notable Bats
F. Perez Ruiz Tejeda Agostino Klobosits Canning
Cronin Adams Santana Atencio J. Romero Harrison
Troop Casey Garcia Cedeno Teel Rhinesmith
Lee Thompson Colmenares Leon Cate Upshaw
Parker Carrillo W. Diaz Moron Tetreault Young
Hernández Guasch Cruz D. Perez Dyson Infante
Chu Shuman Powell Quintana
Saenz Millas
Ferrer Barley
Marquez Ramirez
Kirian
Alvarez

10 Commments

  1. It’s not a star-spangled group. These guys will not rise to MLB and return the Nats to contenders in 2022 or 2023. Still, some of them might develop into useful MLB guys. If Rizzo is lucky (and if he can revitalize the player development staff), several of them might become real contributors at the MLB level.

    1. The slow development of Jose Sanchez causes one to think of the Meatloaf lyric : 2 out of 3 ain’t bad …

  2. A decade of failed drafting and development really haunts this organization, all the way up to the MLB level. Most of the higher thought of players in the organization are new, via draft, signing, or trade, from the last year and a half: Cavalli, Henry, Ruiz, House, Cruz, Carillo, Ramirez, Casey, Adams, etc. Imagine the list without those guys.

    The Nats will have the #5 overall pick in the draft, and another really good pick somewhere in the 40s. Two international players to whom they are linked, Cristian Vaquero and Anthony Gutierrez, are ranked #2 and #6 on the MLB international prospect list. So they’re getting an injection of talent. It’s young talent, though, mostly years away, other than Ruiz and Cavalli.

    1. KW, what I’ve read is 50/50 whether Vaquero is #1 or #2 in the draft and he’s already been living at the Nats complex for at least 6 months. I don’ t see how they have the money for him and Gutierrez but if they do that would be great. Fingers crossed.

      1. Mark, I gave up a long time ago trying to figure out the vagaries of the international market. I’m glad the Nats are players in it, as their player development track record would look even worse without Soto, Robles, Garcia, et al. At the same time, though, it’s hard to put too much stock in the signing of kids who would be high school sophomores in the U.S. It’s a very broken system.

  3. I think the list looks good, Luke. The only (supposedly) higher-ceiling guy I see who is missing is Denaburg, but I understand your reasoning for not including him. (I’ve given up even thinking about Seth Romero.)

    Their 2017, 2018, and 2019 (and 2009) #1 picks spent 2021 either struggling with injuries or not pitching at all. Their 2016 #1 hit .207 in the majors. Their 2015 top pick hit .229. Their 2014 #1 had a 5.47 ERA. Their top pick in 2013 is out of baseball. Sigh.

  4. Outside of the heavily spoken about recent blue chip additions . The farm could use some surprise revelations such as Arias and some stronger showings by some org guys like K Harrison and Dunn

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