Jim Bowden referenced on XM radio that Baseball America had ranked the Nationals organization at #9 for 2008 after coming in dead last at #30 last year. Today, the Nationals have an official release which confirms this among other things
First, the top 10 organizations according to Baseball America:
- TB
- BOS
- CIN
- TEX
- NYY
- LAD
- COL
- ATL
- WAS
- LAA
From the press release
Washington’s No. 9 ranking stands in stark contrast to last season, when the Nationals’ system ranked 30th in baseball. The Nationals’ ranking leap of 21 slots was the second-largest this decade, or since Baseball America began producing its Prospect Handbook in 2001 (Texas leapt 24 slots, from No. 28 to No. 4, in 2008).
“The Nationals’ march up our prospect rankings isn’t unprecedented, but it’s extremely impressive,” said Baseball America Editor In Chief John Manuel. “It shows a commitment to building an organization, not just a team, and to building it creatively, through trades for prospects, through the draft and through international signings. The Nats have shown that with the resources they now have, they intend to be players for top amateur talent. General Manager Jim Bowden should be commended especially for the team’s 2007 draft class, because he brought in strong personalities and strong talent evaluators to the organization and got them to work together for the common goal of restocking the farm system, and the early returns on the ’07 draft class indicate that mission was accomplished.”
Prior to 2008, neither the Nationals nor Expos had ranked higher than 16th in BA’s organizational rankings.
The Nationals top 20
- Marrero
- Detwiler
- Balester
- Burgess
- McGeary
- Smoker
- Zimmermann
- Maxwell
- Willems
- Lannan
- Smolinksi
- Tyler Clippard (he is the other traded player referenced the other day)
- Carr
- Desmond
- Mock
- King
- E Gonzalez
- Martis
- Brad Peacock
- Casto
And finally here are the Nationals (Expos) rankings over the past eight seasons:
- 2001: 21
- 2002: 16
- 2003: 29
- 2004: 30
- 2005: 26
- 2006: 24
- 2007: 30
- 2008: 9
Sam | 24-Jan-08 at 11:38 am | Permalink
I’m not even going to say it.
Four more weeks | 24-Jan-08 at 11:50 am | Permalink
I am intrigued by Clippard being ranked after Lannan. Clippard had been ranked #8 for the Yankees last year, so he has certainly fallen some. I am also surprised that Desmond is still so high, that Adrian Alaniz is not in the top 20, and maybe even that Kory Casto still appears in the top 20.
Has Elijah Dukes appeared in too many games to be a rookie? If not, is it possible that he is ranked as low as between 21 to 30? That would be a nod to the risk the Nats are taking with him.
Brian Oliver | 24-Jan-08 at 11:59 am | Permalink
I’d guess they are giving Lannan a bump for handedness
Desmond is still only 22 years old. While he’s not Derek Jeter like 2005 pronouncements led us to believe, he is still a viable utility IF
Alaniz’ age and fringe stuff likely bump him down the list
Casto was top 10 last year and I just don’t see BBA dropping him that far in one year, though his trend is definitely down
Dukes had 184AB in 2007 so he no longer has rookie eligibility.
VladiHondo | 24-Jan-08 at 12:43 pm | Permalink
Also, Justin Jones is on BBA’s 31st team, those guys just missing being included in each team’s top 30. It free content.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/265470.html
Four more weeks | 24-Jan-08 at 1:17 pm | Permalink
It seems Jones would have been in the top 30 if he didn’t injure himself for the season in December.
Gary | 24-Jan-08 at 6:15 pm | Permalink
Vast improvement. Think we can shoot for top 5 next time??
bdrube | 24-Jan-08 at 9:24 pm | Permalink
It is just sickening to see the Red Sox and Yankees in the Top 5. It’s bad enough that they try to buy a World Series every year. For them to also have the best young talent is just not fair. MLB needs a hard salary cap.
senatorsfansunite | 25-Jan-08 at 9:51 am | Permalink
No Zinicola in the top 20? He ranked 6th last year. Despite having a rough season in 07, I thought he would still be ranked in the top 20.
Brian Oliver | 25-Jan-08 at 10:13 am | Permalink
I deleted Zinicola from my list when I was cleaning it up. It’ll probably be Zinicola in place of Daniel. But I’d rather it bump someone like VanAllen
Wooden U. Lykteneau | 26-Jan-08 at 11:15 am | Permalink
Bdrube — The last 4 letters of your screenname are quite accurate, but knowledgeable fans understand that both the Yankees and the Red Sox have, for the most part, stopped trading their best young talent for marginal stretch-drive rentals. The Red Sox in particular have gotten quite shrewd when it comes to trades and waiver pickups over the past 15 years, to wit:
Varitek
Lowell
Beckett
Schilling
Wakefield
Snyder
Crisp
(There was also some guy named Ortiz that was released as a 27-year-old flameout and then sat unsigned for a month or so - how’d that low-price/low-risk signing work out?)
Yes, it’s true Boston and New York can afford the higher-priced free agents, and to make more expensive mistakes, but the bottom line is that money is not the end-all in acquiring and developing young talent. They still have to draft lower and have fewer picks as a result of their success. But there’s been ample proof that teams can compete with a fraction of their budgets, and it’s not like DC is a small market, even if some fans act like it is.