Since the restructuring of the minors, I find that the hardest part is what to make of the draft picks. The FCL is pretty much devoted to developing DSL guys and the youngest of the previous summer’s draft picks, in addition to providing rehabs a place to “work on some stuff” – and there’s always a steady stream of those.
Plus, with the asinine decision to move the draft from June to July in concert with the decision to move the FCL start date from mid-June to early May, few guys sign in time to play in the FCL, and only a handful will play in Low-A. Consequently, the Nats have shifted away from signing college seniors to signing college juniors.
Thus, I am more than open to anyone making a case about draft picks who didn’t play, weren’t ranked, and/or weren’t H.S. picks.
So without further ado, let’s go to the caveats (a.k.a. my pre-emptions to the what-abouts):
• 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 2025 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 corner OFs.
• It’s preliminary. I’m relying on my visitors and regulars to comment with omissions, criticisms, and/or suggestions because my time is limited by a commute to DC and/or driving my sons to work. Thankfully, I’ve got a core group of commenters who are 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 that those two factors will give some guys more chances.
• Why is ________ only a notable? The answer to this question is usually age. I had thought the new draft might raise the average age a bit, but as far as I can tell, it’s been offset by simply drafting more juniors than seniors.
| C | 1B | 2B/SS | 3B | OF |
| Lomavita | Morales | King | Wallace | Pinckney |
| Bazzell | Brown | Willits | Mota | Franklin |
| Jones | Requena | A. Feliz | L. Arias | Glasser |
| D. Hernandez | Dickerson | Petersen | ||
| R. Cruz | Nunez | |||
| Rojas | Vaquero | |||
| Petry | ||||
| RHP | LHP | ’25 Picks | DSL Guys | Notables |
| Lara | Bennett | James | Carela | O. Martinez |
| Susana | Kent | Sime | Castillo | Boisserie |
| Cornelio | Clemmey | Harmon | Cortesia | Stuart |
| Sykora | Aldonis | Maddox | M. De La Cruz | Liñan |
| Amaral | N. De La Cruz | Swan | ||
| Randall | German | Arguelles | ||
| Cranz | Gimenez | Sullivan | ||
| Sales | Obispo | Johnson | ||
| Y. Tejeda | Reyes | Lunar | ||
| J. Feliz | Torrelles |
We know Travis Sykora and Tyler Stuart are both hurt, having undergone Tommy John surgery late last summer. We think Sean Paul Liñan may be too, given his short stint (two games, five innings) in the AFL and AWOL after that. Three guys aren’t enough for a M*A*S*H unit.
I collapsed the DSL guys and Notables into a single column, largely because there are many more pitchers than hitters. As aforementioned, Elijah Green’s draft position and Victor Hurtado’s bonus money just aren’t enough to make them notable. That may be unfair to Hurtado, who won’t turn 19 until late May, but even Stevie Wonder can see Green just doesn’t have the plate discipline to play professional baseball.