The Preliminary 2025 Watchlist
We’re almost to December, which means it’s time to interrupt the Black Friday Fortnight to take a peek at the 2025 Watchlist.
Despite some inclusions that are based on inferences on draft position, not to mention an entire category thereof, I’ve decided to be tougher this year. Editing last year’s code from this post did little to convince me otherwise.
For the newcomers, who may have gotten here by the exodus from X to BlueSky, I don’t do rankings. I know that may not be an economically viable choice, but if you’re into ChatGPT/AI/SEO drivel, this might not be the site for you. You’ll get 250-750 of my own words without quotes and tweets.
This also tends to avoid the pointless debates of who’s ranked ahead of or behind whom. Never mind we’ve already seen that those who do won’t let common sense override incumbency.
Now for 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 2024 usage. The Nats have a history of rotating IFs between 2B, 3B, and SS and are usually not very strong at 1B, 3B, or the corners of the OF.
• It’s preliminary. I’m relying on my visitors and regulars to comment with omissions, criticisms, and/or suggestions because my time is even more limited now that I have to commute to DC or drive my son to work. Plus, I’ve somehow attracted an audience that’s smarter than the average bear. If you don’t believe me, spend 20 minutes in the MASN or WaPo comments.
• But ___ was drafted ___ or signed for ____ Draft position or bonus dollars spent has more to do with the market or how the Nats believed it to be. I will concede though that those two factors will give some guys more chances, perhaps even a promotion on his birthday.
• Why is ________ only a notable? The answer to this question is usually age. It may not be fair, but it’s still true. It’s arguably the biggest reason why the Nats drafted more juniors and seniors this year, knowing that only the most elite would see a regular-season AB or IP.
Ok, I’ll cut to the chase:
| C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF |
| Lomavita | Morales | V. Peña | Made | House | Crews |
| Rombach | Quintana | Dugas | King | Wallace | Hassell |
| Bazzell | Tavares | Glasser | Dickerson | Mota | Pinckney |
| Lile | |||||
| Cox | |||||
| Green | |||||
| E. Ramirez | |||||
| Hurtado | |||||
| RHP | LHP | ’24 Picks | DSL Arms | DSL Bats | Notables |
| Lord | Alvarez | R. Diaz | J. Feliz | Tejeda | L. Young |
| Stuart | Saenz | Kent | Lunar | A. Feliz | M. Romero |
| Sinclair | Clemmey | Petersen | J. Sanchez | Cabrera | Bollenbacher |
| Lara | Bloebaum | Cranz | Robles | Liriano | De La Rosa |
| Grissom | Beeker | Jamison | Familia | Requena | Hall |
| M. Gomez | Pimentel | ||||
| Mo. Diaz | Roman | ||||
| Atencio | D. Perez | ||||
| Susana | R. Ramirez | ||||
| Sykora | C. Sanchez | ||||
| B. Romero | E. Soto |
This may very well be the smallest first draft at a watchlist I’ve ever done. But I don’t feel bad about it because when I look back at some of the earlier editions, I was probably far too inclusive.
But I’m open to arguments for anyone I missed — as alluded above, this year has been a struggle to find time.
UPDATE: I’ve moved some players around and made some adjustments. The notables catergory is probably going to get expanded (and the DSL Guys collapsed) and will be much larger than usual. I still struggle with calling anyone who is or will be 26 next year a prospect.
Once again, thank you for the time you take to provide information to your “followers”.
A few omissions for consideration:
Zach Brzykcy and Orlando Ribalta both made the majors, but shouldn’t be expected to open camp in DC.
Everett Cooper had a bad year (but who on the above list didn’t?) and is still deserving of at least an honorable mention, especially as he only recently turned 21.
Cayden Wallace also had a lost season, but is well worth mentioning, as is Tyler Stuart, another 2024 trade deadline acquiree.
What do we do with Armando Cruz at this point? I won’t argue about him being left off, but he is still very young (not yet 21). Similar story for TJ White.
Cristhian Vaquero also has to be listed.
I’d add Victor Hurtado to the DSL Bats list, just due to reputation.
Then add Jake Bennett too. You could also consider Brendan Collins.
As always, thank you putting such a solid and thorough list together. I do have a few additional names that I’d like to suggest, though.
TJ White still needs to be at least a notable. He’ll only be 21. And Vaquero will only be 20. I probably still have him on the OF list – I have him ranked around 15th in the system, several spots higher than Green, recent struggles notwithstanding – but he is absolutely at least a notable.
Mota plays 3rd, not short.
You listed Glasser twice. Maybe the 3B one was meant to be Wallace?
I think W Diaz has been released And, maybe it’s just me, but listing E Ramirez and not Hurtado feels pretty far off track.
Tyler Stuart should be listed as a RHP. Bennett as a LHP. And Shuman as a notable arm.
And given how many decent looking relief arms are in the system currently, I might give them their own category. You list Sinclair, Grissom, and some others, but I’d add Brzykcy, Ribalta, Schoff, and Cronin (L). Or you could add those guys as notable arms.
Last, I know he’s not technically graduated, but if you’re going to drop Baker and Chaparro and Nunez (though he did hit service time, if not PAs) and Rutledge (though maybe you dropped him for merit), you should also drop Crews. He’s not playing in the minors next year unless he’s rehabbing an injury.
But you already have a lot of my reach guys on there, and while I’d omit some of the folks you did list, I think culling folks off the fringes isn’t so important to a project like this. The omissions are more what caught my eye.
It’ll be interesting to see the final version. Thanks again for putting this together.
Where is Jake Bennett LHP?
Under DSL Arms, Jeffrey Familia was released per the Boys from Durham post a few days ago.
Obviously, it never occurred to me that Top 5’s from the DSL might have been released.
Where have you gone, MASH unit? Bennett, Henry, Cavalli, and Sullivan turn their lonely eyes to you. Bennett definitely should be on the list. Cavalli has only thrown one game in the majors. Is he still a “prospect”?
I would somewhat begrudgingly concur that Vaquero should still be a “notable” for another year. I see that Armando Cruz has been dropped. Even at age 23, I find it difficult to still think of de la Rosa as “notable” after .162 at AA and .164 at A+, in his fifth season of pro ball. I would give notice to Jared McKenzie before I would JDLR.
I would agree with those advocating to give TJ White another year of notice. As bad as the offense was across the system, his .658 OPS in the Blue Rock Graveyard is at least a flicker of hope.
If Crews has yet to “graduate,” then neither has Darren Baker.
Yah, De La Rosa is definitely one of the guys I’d have omitted. But I’m not sure there’s much harm in keeping him where he is, especially if Luke’s been kind of “in on him” over the years. Everyone has their favorites, and the bar here is low enough that plenty of names on it are really just barely prospects.
Other than releases, graduates and maybe guys who are 28+, I’m not sure I’m going advocate for removing anyone.
Thanks for doing this again. While I generally agree with you about 26 yo not really being prospects, I would probably still consider the lost Covid year for a couple more years and still keep folks like Cavalli, Brzykcy, Ribalta, Acosta and Baker. I have also not given up on Bennett (but have on Rutledge and Henry). I basically consider Green and Vaquero to be about the same level of disappointment, so if I were going to have one listed I’d have both. Why is Beeker listed under LHP? If I had him anywhere it would be under 24 picks; where I would also add 6th round pick D. Garcia. As was mentioned earlier, for some unfathomable reason Familia was released. Not sure what E. Ramirez has done to merit being mentioned under OF. Same goes for DeLaRosa, E. Soto, and C. Sanchez under Notables.
[scraping of barrel sound] I generally start the list with the Top 5’s and then add/subtract. I still want to lean towards a less Oprah-esque approach (“You get to be on the watchlist!”)