BA Unveils Its Top 30 Nats Prospects; Cade Cavalli Now Ranked #100 Overall
As threat…er, promised Baseball America has updated its 2021 Top 30 Prospects to include the International Signings from this past January, which occurred after its Prospect Handbook went to press. Not sure if that makes this the post-preseason Top 30 or the pre-midseason Top 30.
Before we go further, ze “new” list (previous ranking, if applicable):
| 1. RHP Cade Cavalli | 11. 1B Drew Mendoza (10) | 21. OF Roismar Quintana (20) |
| 2. RHP Jackson Rutledge | 12. SS Jackson Cluff (11) | 22. RHP Tyler Dyson (21) |
| 3. RHP Cole Henry | 13. SS Sammy Infante (12) | 23. RHP Jake Irvin (22) |
| 4. SS Yasel Antuna | 14. LHP Seth Romero (13) | 24. RHP Joan Adon (23) |
| 5. SS Armando Cruz | 15. C Israel Pineda (14) | 25. C Jakson Reetz (28) |
| 6. RHP Andry Lara (5) | 16. C Tres Barrera (15) | 26. RHP Sterling Sharp(25) |
| 7. OF Jeremy De La Rosa (6) | 17. OF Daniel Marte | 27. OF Andry Arias (26) |
| 8. LHP Tim Cate (7) | 18. LHP Ben Braymer (17) | 28. LHP Jackson Tetreault (27) |
| 9. RHP Mason Denaburg (8) | 19. RHP Holden Powell (18) | 29. OF Nick Banks (28) |
| 10. LHP Matt Cronin (9) | 20. RHP Steven Fuentes (19) | 30. RHP Reid Schaller (29) |
Basically, Armando Cruz was added in at #5, everyone else dropped one spot, and Bryan Sanchez got bumped. No sense re-ranking based on, oh, I don’t know:
- LHP Seth Romero going missing (figuratively, at least; perhaps even literally if the past is any indication)
- RHP Jake Irvin still recovering from TJ surgery
- What the scouts saw in Spring Training
As the headline notes, the Boys in Durham also updated its Top 100 list, which moved Cade Cavalli in—presumably up from #101, natch. Like the ~2° difference on a airline seat, that apparently makes *all* the difference.
If you’re so inclined to ponder over who’s in, out, or at least on the roster for the Nationals Alternate Training site, we’ve got you covered.
It’s a little less than five weeks until “our” Opening Day, but if the protocols that BA reported on for the players and coaches and the steps being taken at Nationals Park for limited attendance at the outset are any indication, it may very well still be a while before normality returns.
Thanks for the alternate site roster, Luke, didn’t even know there was one.
That roster has a lot of players destined for Harrisburg too.
Is the taxi squad going to be for the entire season or just until the minor leagues begin in early May? Thx.
All season, according to a Feb. 9 story on mlb.com:
The Seth Romero situation is so weird, even by his extreme weirdness standards. He’s on the 40-man, yet there was no mention of him all spring. None. Like he didn’t exist. But they DFA’d two guys instead of moving Romero to the 60-day IL or something. The last word I remember about Romero was last fall, and it was that his throwing arm wasn’t the one hurt, so he had kept throwing in FLA and was fine. There was talk of him being in the running for one of the LHP bullpen slots. Then NOTHING.
On the flipside, if they’re going to update these lists, why not actually include what happened in the spring? Todd Peterson (not in anyone’s top 30) and Steven Fuentes both got very long looks in the big-league camp. Several of the others on this list didn’t stay in the big-league camp long, didn’t fair well, got injured (Cate), or completely vanished (Romero). Fuentes probably did enough to be thought of someone who will likely debut in the majors this summer. That should move him ahead of a bunch of guys who have yet to even play any pro ball.
Let the kids play
Let’s see how Sammy competes @ SS along with Cruz’s debut on farm
If ..
I really wish the Nats would invest in more scouts. Lots of them got fired, they’re cheap, and their poor draft performance is likely attributable to insufficient research.