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.
| 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.