Somehow, the Nats managed to maintain their #7 ranking. Why “somehow?” Because for the second straight year, they have a Rule 5 pickup within their ranks and for the seventh straight year, it’s eight guys who will turn 25 (or older) this year.
As has been the case for even longer, this is a top-heavy system in which the gap between the first 10 and the last 10 is substantial. We can lament the lack of depth or recognize that this is how GM Mike Rizzo operates.
What happened to last year’s Top 30?
| GRADUATED | Thad Ward, Jake Irvin, Jose Ferrer |
| TRADED | None |
| RELEASED | None |
| RULE 5 DRAFT | None |
| DROPPED OUT | Andry Lara, Roismar Quintana, Matt Cronin, Evan Lee, Tim Cate, Gerardo Carrillo, Aldo Ramirez, Will Frizzell |
That’s eight dropouts for the second straight year. While many of these are long overdue, I find it surprising that Lara has dropped so fast. He pitched nearly 100 innings and finished fairly strong – 2.67/3.62/0.93 with only one HR allowed over his last six starts (27IP). Quintana perhaps a little less, even if my bias might be as simple as “Here’s the one guy I think Sandy Leon might be able to take in a footrace.”
Before I go any futher, let me reveal the list with a few observations (last year’s ranking in parentheses):
| 1. OF Dylan Crews | 11. OF Daylen Lile (27) | 21. C Israel Pineda (19) |
| 2. OF James Wood (1) | 12. OF Victor Hurtado | 22. C Drew Millas (25) |
| 3. 3B Brady House (5) | 13. LHP Jake Bennett (11) | 23. RHP Cole Henry (13) |
| 4. RHP Cade Cavalli (4) | 14. RHP Travis Sykora | 24. SS Angel Feliz |
| 5. 3B Yohandy Morales | 15. LHP DJ Herz | 25. SS Kevin Made |
| 6. RHP Jackson Rutledge (9) | 16. 3B Trey Lipscomb (24) | 26. OF Jeremy De La Rosa (8) |
| 7. OF Robert Hassell (2) | 17. SS Nasim Nunez | 27. SS Armando Cruz (12) |
| 8. SS Christian Vaquero (6) | 18. OF Jacob Young | 28. 2B Darren Baker |
| 9. OF Elijah Green (3) | 19. OF Andrew Pinckney | 29. 1B T.J. White (10) |
| 10. RHP Jarlin Susana (7) | 20. RHP Zach Brzykcy (21) | 30. LHP Mitchell Parker (14) |
For the second straight year, a Rule 5 pickup made the list. This could strictly be that he was (A) well-regarded for Miami, a system that’s generally well-regarded for generating talent (B) a 2nd Rd. pick in 2019 (C) BA loves incumbents.
Here’s a change: There are only seven IFAs on the list, two of which were acquired by the Nats. Overall, there are six guys Rizzo has picked up over the past three trade deadlines and five Nats-drafted HS guys. You may recall that before the 2020 season, there were five HS picks in the entire system.
Lara and Quintana may take solace that they weren’t the only guys that fell far down the list (let’s pretend they’re nos. 31 & 32) – De La Rosa fell 18 spots to #26, White fell 19 places to #29, and Mitchell nearly dropped from the list despite being added to the 40-man.