The MLB pipeline team (Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo, etc) has just released an updated version of the top 30 for all teams, and instead of just plugging in trade acquisitions and 2022 draft picks, they’ve also taken the time to adjust players up/down based on their 2022 seasons. So this is a refreshing look at where we are right now as a system without having to make excuses for odd rankings that date to last off-season.
The Nats now have four players in the top 100 of all of baseball:
- #23 Hassell
- #29 Green
- #35 Wood
- #58 Cavalli
Abrams has just graduated. Cavalli was ranked #53 in July and has gotten bumped a bit (probably to make room for 2022 top-end draftees). However, House was ranked #53 in July by this squad and has now gotten knocked entirely out of the top 100 thanks to an injury filled 2022 and the influx of a ton of 2022 draftees. That’s a huge move down for House, who this same group had ranked as high as #44 in May of 2022.
Anyway, lets look at the Nats top 30. Here’s the full list, with some comments below:
| mlbp rank | Last Name | First Name | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hassell III | Robert | OF (CF) |
| 2 | Green | Elijah | OF (CF) |
| 3 | Wood | James | OF (Corner) |
| 4 | Cavalli | Cade | RHP (Starter) |
| 5 | House | Brady | SS/3B |
| 6 | Henry | Cole | RHP (Starter) |
| 7 | Vaquero | Cristian | OF (CF) |
| 8 | Susana | Jarlin | RHP (Starter) |
| 9 | Bennett | Jake | LHP (Starter) |
| 10 | De La Rosa | Jeremy | OF (Corner) |
| 11 | Cruz | Armando | SS |
| 12 | Rutledge | Jackson | RHP (Starter) |
| 13 | Lara | Andry | RHP (Starter) |
| 14 | Carrillo | Gerardo | RHP (Starter) |
| 15 | Lile | Daylen | OF (CF) |
| 16 | Quintana | Roismar | OF (CF) |
| 17 | Lipscomb | Trey | 3B |
| 18 | Ramirez | Aldo | RHP (Starter) |
| 19 | Antuna | Yasel | SS/OF (Corner) |
| 20 | White | T.J. | OF (Corner) |
| 21 | Cox | Brenner | OF (CF) |
| 22 | McKenzie | Jared | OF (CF) |
| 23 | Ferrer | Jose | LHP (Reliever) |
| 24 | Brzykcy | Zach | RHP (Reliever) |
| 25 | Cronin | Matt | LHP (Reliever) |
| 26 | Pineda | Israel | C |
| 27 | Parker | Mitchell | LHP (Starter) |
| 28 | Infante | Samuel | SS |
| 29 | Lee | Evan | LHP (Starter) |
| 30 | Millas | Drew | C |
Thoughts/comments on the guys who have moved up or down significantly, as well as general comments.
- 8 of our top 30 are newly acquired: 3 from the big SDP trade, 5 from the draft.
- A comment here; if MLBpipeline has ranked our top 5 draft picks from 2022 … why would Baseball America have only ranked one of them? MLBpipeline has our 2nd rounder Jake Bennett ranked as the 9th best guy in the system; BA didn’t even have him in their top 30. I could understand not quibbling/splitting hairs on guys in the 20s, but Bennett is a significant prospect.
- Green comes in at #2 from the start. By way of comparison, Fangraphs has him #8 in the system.
- They’ve jumped up Jeremey De La Rosa 6 slots from just two weeks ago, despite his slow start in High-A. But this is recognition of his dominance of low-A as a 20yr old. We don’t talk about De La Rosa a lot, but the guy could be a sneaky good prospect for us, combining power (10 homers in 63 games in Low-A this year) with speed (26 SBs in that same period) and defense (a true CF, though with a ton of errors and few assists).
- Cristian Vaquero has stayed at #7 despite getting “layered” by a few prospects above him entering, meaning they’ve increased his rank. I’m not entirely sure why; he’s got kind of middling DSL stats this year, has hit just one homer in 50 games, and his slugging is lower than his OBP. The guy is 6’3″ … where’s the power? He has almost no XBHs all year.
- They’ve dropped Rutledge a few spots, from #6 to #12. Finally recognizing that this guy may just not have it to be a starter. He’s just too inconsistent. One night he’s giving up 4 hits through 8, the next he’s giving up 8 runs through 4.
- They’ve jumped up Roismar Quintana a bunch of slots; he’s had a very solid FCL season slashing .315/.367/.481 as a 19yr old. Unfortunately, there’s nowhere for him to go, because the low-A outfield consists of White, De La Cruz, and Wood, with McKenzie trying to find ABs. This is a prime example of why teams really could use those short-season A squads. Not to mention the fact that there’s now (if the Big Board is accurate) 48 players on the FCL roster.
- Yasel Antuna now down to #19. Thank gosh the team has all sorts of 4-A/veteran MLFA types on the 40-man, because Antuna’s spot should have long ago gotten cleared. This didn’t stop the team from promoting him to AA this week, which seems to be kind of “social promotion” to cover for a cascading set of moves freeing up LF spots at AA and AAA.
- T.J. White moving up; now #20 from #27.
- Our 3rd, 4th and 5th rounders (who BA couldn’t find room for) are ranked 17th, 21st and 22nd in the system as they start to slot in.
- Matt Cronin and Mitchell Parker both take dives in the rankings, due to layering and performance.
The following guys were bumped entirely off the top 30:
- Brandon Boissiere: was #19, that’s a big drop. He’s just not doing anything special in AA while playing primarily 1B.
- Donovan Casey: was #21, then got DFA’d, unclaimed and was outrighted. That’s … not good for your career.
- Jackson Cluff: was #24, and we’ve had discussions questioning why he’s ranked in the first place. He’s the backup SS in Harrisburg and is hitting .191 this season.
- Dustin Saenz: was #25, hasn’t done anything wrong; he earned a promotion to High-A but has struggled since.
- Jordan Barley: was #28. You can’t hit .203 and be a prospect.
- Mason Denaburg: was #29. Hey, at least he’s pitching. he’s made 10 starts for low-A with decent numbers so far.
- Jake Irvin: was #30. I’m happy with his numbers in AA this year; again nothing earth shattering but after not pitching an inning since 2019 this is solid.