With a hat tip to Terry Byrom from the Harrisburg Senators, we now have the complete listing of the Nationals top 30 prospects according to Baseball America
- Marrero
- Detwiler
- Balester
- Burgess
- McGeary
- Smoker
- Zimmermann
- Maxwell
- Willems
- Lannan
- Smolinksi
- Clippard
- Carr
- Desmond
- Mock
- King
- Gonzalez (Smiley)
- Martis
- Peacock (Brad)
- Casto
- Matt Whitney 1B - 2007 Rule 5
- Derek Norris CA - 2007 high school pick
- Mike Daniel OF - 2005 college pick
- Steven Englund OF - 2006 high school pick
- Jhonny Nunez RHP - 2006 traded from Dodgers
- Hassan Pena RHP - 2006 junior college pick
- Martin Beno RHP - 2007 college pick
- Zech Zinicola RHP - 2006 college pick
- Roger Bernadina OF - 2001 international signing
- PJ Dean RHP - 2007 high school pick
Here is the breakout:
Year Acquired
| Year | Count |
|---|---|
| 2007 | 13 (a) |
| 2006 | 10 |
| 2005 | 3 |
| 2004 | 2 (b) |
| 2003 | 1 (b) |
| 2001 | 1 (b) |
(a) One selection from the 2006 draft (Brad Peacock) was signed as a draft-and-follow in 2007
(b) These four players (Bernadina, Casto, Desmond, and Balester) were drafted while the franchise was in Montreal
Source of Talent
| Source | Count |
|---|---|
| High School | 12 |
| College | 9 |
| JuCo | 1 |
| DFE | 1 |
| International | 1 |
| Trade | 4 |
| Rule 5 | 1 |
Draft Round
| Round | Count |
|---|---|
| 1st | 3 |
| 1st Supp | 2 |
| 2nd | 3 |
| 3rd | 3 |
| 4th | 2 |
| 5th | 0 |
| 6th | 2 |
| 7th | 2 |
| 8th-10th | 0 |
| 11th | 1 |
| 13th | 1 |
| 18th | 1 |
| 36th | 1 |
| 41st | 1 (c) |
(c) Peacock as a draft-and-follow
Positions
| POS | Count |
|---|---|
| CA | 1 (RH) |
| 1B | 2 (both RH) |
| 2B | 1 (RH) |
| 3B | 1 (LH - Casto) |
| SS | 2 (1RH & 1SW) |
| OF | 6 (4RH & 2LH) |
| SP | 13 (9RH & 4LH) |
| RP | 4 (all RH) |
Jeff | 31-Jan-08 at 10:09 am | Permalink
Anybody suprised to see Smiley Gonzalez all the way down at #17 below Stephen King and Ian Desmond?
15 more days | 31-Jan-08 at 10:14 am | Permalink
Hinckley is off completely, and Adrian Alaniz didn’t make the top 30. I guess our organization really is improving.
Chris | 31-Jan-08 at 12:53 pm | Permalink
Keith Law put up his top 100 and top 5 by organiztion today too
espn.com/mlb
Sam | 31-Jan-08 at 1:13 pm | Permalink
Well I never!
Brian Oliver | 31-Jan-08 at 1:37 pm | Permalink
Jeff - Smiley needs time. He is still a long ways from being on the radar. While Desmond isn’t as good as Frank Robinson and the Nationals led many to believe in 2005, he is farther along developmentally than Gonzalez. And while King needs to work on cutting down on the strikeouts, he’s a also further along than Gonzalez. If you think about it, Gonzalez is really entering what could realistically be considered his senior year of high school in 2008 so there is still time. I believe Smiley’s signing was as much symbolic in returning to the DR as it was for his perceived talent.
15MD - Alaniz is still on the old side for me. But your point stands
Sam - Sorry, I know Marco’s exclusion cut deep
Hendo | 31-Jan-08 at 6:58 pm | Permalink
Once Capitol Punishment gets a hold of Alaniz, maybe they’ll lay off of Bacsik for awhile…
Dick | 31-Jan-08 at 7:16 pm | Permalink
One thing about BA prospects, the less you have played, the better they like you. That is true for all teams (and I hold my already dog-eared 2008 copy in my hand as I write this). Once you gets some stats, status tends to go down. That is a VERY good thing about Marrero, he has stayed at the top with a season under his belt. In many respects, it is interesting that Balester is still at #3. I’ve never seen him pitch, but his stats aren’t great and folks like Sickles really don’t like him.
There is really no way to know yet how good Detwiler, McGeary and Smoker will be (doubt if they have thrown 100 pro pitches between them). Zimmermann is ranked 7 behind the others who are ranked 2, 5 and 6. Yet, Zim was VERY impressive at Vermont (love all those Ks). Willems is #9, last year #3, and that is after posting a 1.84 ERA (yea, I know that comes with an asterisk as you can see in the write-up). Willems is a sinkerballer and relies on his defense. Alaniz is CLEARLY a top 30 prospect! I would be shocked if he doesn’t at least get a cup of coffee; something many of the prospects never get.
Point is, BA is probably better for the entertainment value than anything else. Not that they don’t know what they are talking about, they just like press clippings and imagination better than true stats and what they see with their own eyes.
Steve | 31-Jan-08 at 10:50 pm | Permalink
Watch out for Boomer Whiting this year.
Wooden U. Lykteneau | 02-Feb-08 at 10:41 am | Permalink
I would have to agree with Dick regarding BA and Sickels — the former seems to value youth and potential, the latter seems to value pure statistical analysis. This year, I went with a book by Deric McKaney that’s supposed to be a blend of the two and it seems to be similar to Brian’s list so far.
Personally, I’m becoming very suspicious of folks that make judgments sight unseen. I’m no scout or a sabermetrician, but I could tell after seeing John Lannan pitch just twice last year to be convinced that he had the goods to get to the majors last season. He may not have racked up big strikeout numbers, but once he started dropping that hammer for strikes in a given game, the batters became much less aggressive, and that’s what led to the low WHIP.