The 2026 NationalsProspects.com Watchlist
I’ll admit to dragging my feet on this a little, but knowing that most people are back to work/school today, it’s time to check off one the last items for the offseason and starting working on the player capsules, a.k.a. the deeper dive that I can’t takie in-season because, well, too much other stuff to do.
The two December trades and the suggestions from the comments have been added. And as much as I was hoping I wouldn’t have to, I added the slew of Rule 5 picks Forrest Gump pause again.
Now for the obligatory reminders…
• It’s not a depth chart – Players are listed primarily by the highest level they’ve played, minors or majors. I’d rather not list in alphabetical order to make this clear.
• Most of these guys will not make it to AA – It seems harsh, but it really is true. You only need to look at a watchlist from three or four years ago to see what I mean.
• It’s not a prediction of usage – It’s probably a safe bet that two or three of this year’s catchers will be playing 1B or LF by the time their time in the minors is over. Scouts have long remarked that very few players play the position they did when they were drafted. And to the dismay of the “purists,” teams are now giving guys a chance to start, relieve, close, open the door, get on the floor, everybody walk the dinosaur, which is why I only delineate by dexterity (not only that, Skipper, they’re listed by handedness 😉
| C | 1B | 2B/SS | 3B | OF | RHP |
| Ford | Morales | King | Wallace | Pinckney | Lara |
| Lomavita | Brown | A. Feliz | Mota | Franklin | Susana |
| Bazzell | Requena | Dickerson | L. Arias | Glasser | Cornelio |
| Hollifield | Willits | Nunez | Yean | ||
| S.J. Jones | E. Rojas | Petersen | Perales | ||
| D. Hernandez | Vaquero | Sykora | |||
| Petry | Amaral | ||||
| D. Tejeda | Randall | ||||
| B. Martinez | Cranz | ||||
| Sales | |||||
| D. Garcia | |||||
| Y. Tejeda | |||||
| J. Feliz | |||||
| LHP | ’25 Picks | DSL Arms | DSL Bats | Rule 5 Picks | Notables |
| Eder | Harmon | Reyes | German | McGarry | O. Martinez |
| Alvarez | Sime | Torrelles | N. De La Cruz | Gaston | Boissiere |
| Kent | James | Jimenez | Cortesia | Hill | Stuart |
| Clemmey | Maddox | Carela | Castillo | Tebrake | Liñan |
| Aldonis | Moroknek | M. De La Cruz | Obispo | Rogers | Swan |
| Huizi | Arguelles | ||||
| C. Rojas | L. Sullivan | ||||
| L. Johnson | |||||
| Lunar | |||||
| Beeker | |||||
| Lyon |
This will eventually be posted to the tab above and in the sidebar. Over the course of January and into February, I’ll build out the pages while I wait for the prospect books to arrive or be released.
I’ll try to post when category pages are done, but that will depend on how much news there is(n’t) this month. When they’re done, I’ll hyperlink the category label.
In the meantime, feel free to discuss in the comments…
Happy new year everyone!
Luke, thanks for the list and incorporating some feedback.
A few things jump out to me:
1. The lack of infield talent. Only 11 players worth mentioning for 4 positions…
2. The dearth of southpaws, particularly in comparison to the righties. Nearly every of the other assorted arms listed in other categories are also RHPs: Sime, Harmon, Maddox, McGarry, Gaston, Hill, Tebrake, Huizi, Rojas, Stuart, Linan, Swan, Arguelles, Johnson, Lunar, Torrelles, Gimenez, Carela and De La Cruz are ALL righties!
I might’ve missed one more, but Sullivan, Beeker and Juan Reyes are the only LHPs in the 20+ arms listed outside of the RHP/LHP groups, making the imbalance even more profound. There’s something like 35 RHPs listed and 8 LHPs.
The INF depth on the Watchlist doesn’t include Lipscomb, Tena, and Nuñez, and rightly so since none still has rookie status, but at least they’re available. Is there much hope that any of them can find another gear and become at least a solid MLB reserve instead of AAAA?
But yes, there’s reason for concern on the INF. Garcia isn’t very good offensively and sucks defensively, but they have no better options at the moment. Defensively, Abrams should be playing 2B, but again, no one is close to ready at SS. Right now the big club has nuttin’ at 1B, but at least an interesting prospect in Morales. They’ve bet big that House is the 3B of the future, although “they” was the last regime, so who knows what the new guys think.
I will be shocked if this organization is ranked higher than 25 out of the 30, and if it is, that’s BA having a hard-on for Sykora and/or Willits the way they did for Cavalli. The $64,000 question is whether the NWO decides to continue the rebuild or strip for parts. While you can argue that the lack of trades means the former, even a MASN commenter (I know, I’m gonna need a new shorthand for dumbass) knows that the most tradeable guys* will get a better return in July.
* Plural? Are you sure?
It sounds like Toboni is asking for a July-level return now for Gore and Abrams, which is reasonable. He loses nothing value-wise by not moving them now (barring injury). If someone wants them, they’ll need to pay a premium.
As we’ve discussed on Todd’s site, whenever they trade them, their target needs to be nearly-ready-now guys. That’s what I loved about the Harry Ford trade. Of course only a few teams have the farm system to match up with that kind of a trade.
A good comp would be that the Nats would be looking for a return for Gore similar to what the A’s got for Gio: two ready-now guys and two highly rated guys from the A+ level.
Liam and Moore owl eyes on them in 26 and the guy on the sideline waiting stro over the chalk line
Butler alum Morokenek
Liam and Moore owl eyes on them in 26 and the guy on the sideline waiting stro over the chalk line
Butler alum Morokenek
Caleb Wallace AAA 26?
Nats add an OF (wouldn’t seem like a priority position, but Toboni knows best):
The Post’s Andrew Golden reports:
Nationals have claimed outfielder Joey Wiemer off waivers from the Giants.
@ByRobertMurray
was first.
Former top-100 prospect has played in 180 MLB games, most recently with the Marlins. Was traded to SF in November
Maybe since our MLB infielders are so terrible defensively, Toboni thinks we can just use five OFs and eliminate the middle men?
Wiemer is a head-scratcher. First of all, he’s out of options, so he’ll be tying up a 40-man slot until he’s released in March. Second, I don’t think he’s as good as Hassell, Young, Franklin, Pinckney, or Glasser among guys who potentially could win reserve OF jobs.
To tie to Will’s Watchlist point above about the lack of INF talent, I sure would rather that they take flyers on INF guys the quality of Wieser rather than OF, where they may not be “stacked,” but they’re at least “stocked.”
I too am at a loss for why they’ve added Wiemer. He’s somehow a worse version of Jacob Young in every facet.
Wiemer is a plus defender, but Young is arguably the best defensive CF in baseball, so advantage Young.
Wiemer’s bat is absolutely brutal. He’s never been able to tap into the power promised, with a .359 SLG in the majors and a .369 SLG across 3 seasons in AAA. Slap hitter, Jacob Young, has “only” a .316 SLG in the MLB and a .355 SLG in AAA. The real difference here is that Wiemer cannot get on base to save his life. He has a career OBP of .279 and AVG of .204, compared to Young’s positively Ruthian numbers of .310 and .247. Altogether, Wiemer has a career 74 wRC+ and Young a 78 wRC+. Advantage Young.
Wiemer used to flash good speed until 2022 in the lower minors, but since then he’s never stolen more than 13 bases in a season. Young himself has problems, but even in a bad 2025, he stole 15 bags, and 33 the year before. Advantage Young.
Wiemer was born in February 1999. Young July 1999. Yet again, advantage Young.
Lastly, they’re both righties, so there’s not even platoon potential.
And Young is probably our 4th or 5th best OF at the moment. I don’t see how this moves the needle at all, especially at the expense of a 40 man roster spot. I’m all about reclamation projects, but Wiemer is now 3 years removed from his last decent year and he turns 27 in a month. There’s nothing more to dream on. He is what he is. And that player is not good.
I view Wiemer as a cost-free flyer. They had a roster spot, so they’re not losing anything by signing him. If/when they add players, he’s an easy DFA (and not the only one). In the meantime, this gives them a chance to let the new guys work with him if there’s something about his game that the see as having potential. I expect that they will DFA him just before ST begins, when rosters are tight because the 60-day IL is not yet available. If he is claimed, no biggie. But if he clears, then the Nats can outright him to AAA. That’s what I suspect that the Giants were trying to do. They selected him off of waivers from the Marlins on November 21.
I agree, it’s not costly to the Nats. But we still have A LOT of work to do in free agency. I’m not expecting we will sign any high profile free agents, but who’s meant to play 1B? Luis Garcia? Andres Chaparro? Is our rotation on OD really going to be Gore (assuming he stays), Cavalli, Gray, Lord and Griffin? I’d have hoped for at least a few reclamation projects at these positions to try and flip in a trade, since we don’t have much in terms of prospects waiting in the wings.
Also Wiemer’s presence won’t just come at the expense of Young, it’ll also block Hassell and Franklin, who are also occupying 40 man roster spots, who each still have more upside than Wiemer does.
If Wiemer was a bat-first OF, this could make sense as a 1B-conversion project, but Wiemer’s only carrying tool is his CF defense, so that doesn’t work as a theory either. Maybe it’s part of a plan to move Wood to 1B?
John, that’s a good thought that they can outright him if he clears waivers.
That said, the AAA OF starters should be Franklin, Pinckney, and Glasser, as they’ve all got more potential upside than Wiemer does.