Jim Callis over at Baseball America offered his updated Nationals Top Ten prospects in a chat today.
Click over and check out the full list and comments, but a few observations. Three of the top five prospects are 2010 draftees. That's usually a bad sign for a system. They graduated four of last year's top ten to the majors (Stephen Strasburg, Drew Storen, Ian Desmond, and Justin Maxwell), while the 2009 #7 (Jeff Kobernus) and #10 (Destin Hood) dropped off the list. Callis is either really high on Wilson Ramos or really low on the rest of the system, as Ramos checks in way up at #2.
Monday, September 6, 2010
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6 comments:
My reading is that Callis is high on Ramos. Ramos was #58 on Baseball America's preseason Top 100. The Nats prospects who made the list were Strasburg (2), Norris (38), and Storen (92). I guess the notable observation is that Callis has Ramos and Norris swapping places.
I don't know why you think having three players from this year's draft in the top five is a bad sign. From Callis's comments, it looks like he thinks the Nats were able to get first-round quality talent from fourth rounder Cole and second rounder Solis. That sounds more like a compliment for our draft than a knock on our system. If all of the top five project as better than Espinosa, I take that as good news.
It's conventional wisdom in scouting circles that if a lot of your new draft picks immediately go into your top 5 or top 10, this could be a sign that the team isn't developing players. Guys from drafts 2-3 years ago should be emerging as top prospects now.
Further proof that the baseball gods decided to add insult (Bowden and his ridiculous drafting strategy) to injury (years of MLB neglect and the pilfering of our scouting system upon Loria's departure to Florida; is it any coincidence that the Marlins now churn out talent from their farm system?) to our weary franchise.
What this indicates is just how bad the 2007 and 2008 drafts now turn out to be. Yes we got Zimmermann and Detwiler, but you also got Souza, Smoker, Hood, Higley and a host of other underperforming players (Burgess even).
2008 was a historically bad draft. So far Espinosa seems to be the only player who will ever have an impact on the team (Moore, Lombardozzi and Ramirez with outside chances). That's pretty atrocious.
Side note: how did I not know that the Nats drafted Bryan "Bryce's Older Brother" Harper that year?
I stand corrected.
I just looked up the 2006 draft. Anything I said about 2008 doesn't compare to the pile of shit that has come from that draft. Not a single player we drafted has played a game in the major leagues. We're the only team to do so.
To top it off, Marrero is the only player who could be described as a prospect. What a waste.
I don't have a problem with Callis rankings or the fact that the Nats have 3 draft picks on the rankings. In fact it shows the system might be deeper this year than last. Kobernus made the list last year and he wasn't as highly touted draft pick as either Solis or Cole.
While it is a mixed bag of opinions on Solis and Cole it seems like a given that they were near 1st round talent. BA had Cole ranked 16th overall, and Solis was 48. I know that is just one source, but of course what Callis is going to use. I would expect all of the top 50 draft picks (talent wise, as well as overall) will make their team's Top 10.
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