BBA Nats Top 31 - courtesy of NFA.

[MrMadison]

In parentheses is their 2008 ranking:

   1. RHP  Jordan Zimmermann (7)
   2. LHP Ross Detwiler (2)
   3. 1B Chris Marrero (1)
   4. OF Michael Burgess (4)
   5. LHP Jack McGeary (5)
   6. CA Derek Norris (22)
   7. OF Destin Hood (unranked)
   8. CA Adrian Nieto (unranked)
   9. OF J.P. Ramirez (unranked)
  10. SS Smiley Gonzalez (17)
  11. OF Justin Maxwell ( 8 )
  12. RHP Garrett Mock (15)
  13. RHP Shairon Martis (18)
  14. SS Danny Espinosa (unranked)
  15. LHP Graham Hicks (unranked)
  16. 3B Leonard Davis (unranked)
  17. 1B Bill Rhinehart (unranked)
  18. OF Roger Bernadina (29)
  19. SS Ian Desmond (14)
  20. RHP Craig Stammen (unranked)
  21. RHP Marco Estrada (unranked)
  22. LHP Mike Hinckley (unranked)
  23. 3B Stephen King (16)
  24. LHP Will Atwood (unranked)
  25. LHP Josh Smoker (6)
  26. RHP Colton Willems (9)
  27. RHP Luis Atilano (unranked)
  28. LHP Cory VanAllen (unranked)
  29. CA Luke Montz (unranked)
  30. RHP Terrell Young (unranked)
  31. OF J.R. Higley (unranked)

http://farmauthority.dcsportsnet.com/2009/01/31/bba-top-31/

good lord, look how far Smoker and Willems dropped.

and look at all those prospects who were "Unranked" last season. 

[UMDNats]

i wonder why willems dropped. his last year numbers weren't bad.


interesting that terrell young is so low, despite being a high rule-V pick

[MrMadison]

Dropping off the list from last year were:

    * RHP Collin Balester (#3) who is no longer eligible
    * LHP John Lannan (#10) who is no longer eligible
    * IF Jake Smolinski (#11) who was dealt to Florida
    * RHP Tyler Clippard (#12) who dropped off the list
    * RHP Adam Carr (#13) who dropped off the list
    * RHP Brad Peacock (#19) who dropped off the list
    * IF/OF Kory Casto (#20) who is no longer eligible
    * 1B Matt Whitney (#21) who dropped off the list (he was ranked as a Rule 5 draft pick in 2008, returned to Cleveland, and then signed as a minor league free agent this off-season)
    * OF Mike Daniel (#21) who dropped off the list
    * OF Stephen Englund (#24) who dropped off the list
    * RHP Jhonny Nunez (#25) who was dealt to the Yankees
    * RHP Hassan Pena (#26) who dropped off the list
    * RHP Martin Beno (#27) who dropped off the list
    * RHP Zech Zinicola (#28) who dropped off the list
    * RHP PJ Dean (#30) who was dealt to Florida

[sportsfan882]

15. Graham Hicks 

He's going to be awesome.

[ronnynat]

Burgess > Detwiler, IMO. Davis should probably be higher.

[ronnynat]

15. Graham Hicks 

He's going to be awesome.

Is he really 6'5", 170?

[sportsfan882]

Is he really 6'5", 170?

yeah. He's only 18 (turns 19 next week) and throws in the low 90s already and many expect that eventually he could increase his velocity up into the mid 90s which is sick for a LHP. All of his secondary pitches are considered above average and could eventually all become "plus pitches".

He had committed to UCF but instead elected to sign with us for close to $500K. If he had went to college he probably would have been a first round pick in a few years.

[sportsfan882]

Good article on Hicks that was written prior to last year's draft:

http://www.theledger.com/article/20080605/NEWS/806050553/1254&title=Jenkins__Pitcher_Graham_Hicks_Emerged_As_Majors_Prospect_After_Increasing_Velocity

Graham Hicks stepped out of his truck after arriving at the George Jenkins baseball field Tuesday with his cell phone glued to his ear. He was talking with the Baltimore Orioles. On Wednesday, he was in New York City working out for the Mets at Shea Stadium.

A year ago, he couldn't have imagined the interest major league teams eventually would have in him. Hicks was simply was just a good high school pitcher for George Jenkins. OK, he was a very good high school pitcher, one of the top pitchers in the county and good enough to be a Division I college prospect.

This year, he's one of the top high school prospects from Polk County for the Major League Baseball draft that begins today.

A year ago, Hicks was a 6-foot-4 left-hander who threw 84 to 86 mph and also had change-up and curveball - he hadn't learned the slider yet. That was enough for the University of Central Florida and many other Division I colleges to be interested. In the past year, he grew another inch to 6-5 and is now consistently throwing 90 to 91 mph.

Scouts are now wondering how fast Hicks will throw as he continues to mature and get stronger. An impressive performance in front of scouts at the FACA Senior All-Star game in Sebring last month boosted their interest. A Mets scout saw him there, prompting the invitation to Shea, one of three players the Mets brought in Wednesday.

In addition to working out for the Mets, he has been to other big league camps and has drawn interest from a number of teams, including the Yankees, Red Sox and Orioles.

"The whole draft process is pretty crazy," Hicks said. "All it takes is for a couple of guys ahead of me to not get drafted where they're supposed to and I'm pushed back. It can also go the opposite way. It's really a mystery."

Signability also comes into play. Some prospects might not get drafted as high as warranted because teams think they won't be able to sign them. Although Hicks has signed with UCF, his dream is to play pro baseball.

"I want to sign," Hicks said. "I think it's a possibility that I'll be able to. I'm just hoping for the best."

In addition to adding to his velocity in the past year, Hicks also learned a slider from former big leaguer Russell Jacobs. He already had a strong change-up that George Jenkins coach Tom Patton said was Hicks' "bread-and-butter" pitch.

Patton said Hicks has a lot of upside.

"He hasn't stopped growing," Patton said. "The other thing is that before he got all this velocity, he had to learn to throw his pitches. He couldn't just blow his pitches by high school hitters."

Hicks always has been a pitcher, ever since he stood on the mound as a fielder in T-ball. He's picked up pitching tips from many sources, including Lakeland coaches Mike Campbell and Bob Gendron when Campbell ran Baseball Basics, along with Jenkins coaches Patton and Jimmy Kilburn.

In high school, he emerged as a dominant pitcher after his sophomore season when he went 3-5 with a 1.93 ERA. The past two seasons he was 15-2 with a 0.41 ERA and 155 strikeouts in 119 innings, including 8-1 with a 0.24 ERA his senior year. He also batted .328 with one home run and 28 RBIs as a senior.

The entire college recruiting and draft process has been a learning experience, one that Hicks has gone through with a clear head. He chose UCF because of how pitching coach Craig Cowart had developed pitchers as compared with other schools that had a history of pitchers getting hurt.

"None of them (colleges or pros) intentionally lie, but they both tell you what you want to hear," he said. "In college, it's really your job to pick out what the truth is. The biggest difference (between colleges and pros) is you have more of responsibility to choose who to listen to and where you go in college.

"The pro guys tell you the same thing, but they really pick you. You don't have much of a decision. You've got two choices - you go (sign) or you don't."

[spidernat]

15. Graham Hicks 

He's going to be awesome.

Go get checked out sportsfan. I suspect you may have the gay gene. 

[sportsfan882]

Go get checked out sportsfan. I suspect you may have the gay gene. 

[houston-nat]

Wow @ Clippard's drop right off the bottom of the list and the meteoric rise of 6-9.

[MrMadison]

Wow @ Clippard's drop right off the bottom of the list and the meteoric rise of 6-9.

that's progress. regardless of what Keith Law says.

Clippard was never a serious prospect before we acquired him, to my knowledge, he was just a fringe guy.  and we infused our farm system with a great deal of talent over the past 2 drafts.

[spidernat]

For some reason I thought Clippard was considered an above decent prospect at one point who had not lived up to perceived potential. Was he or was that just AZ talking him up?

[R-Zim#11]

For some reason I thought Clippard was considered an above decent prospect at one point who had not lived up to perceived potential. Was he or was that just AZ talking him up?

He was a Yankee prospect and therefore subject to extreme overrating.

[R-Zim#11]

RHP  Jordan Zimmermann (7)
   2. LHP Ross Detwiler (2)
   3. 1B Chris Marrero (1)
   4. OF Michael Burgess (4)
   5. LHP Jack McGeary (5)
   6. CA Derek Norris (22)
   7. OF Destin Hood (unranked)
   8. CA Adrian Nieto (unranked)
   9. OF J.P. Ramirez (unranked)
  10. SS Smiley Gonzalez (17)
  11. OF Justin Maxwell ( 8 )
  12. RHP Garrett Mock (15)
  13. RHP Shairon Martis (18)
  14. SS Danny Espinosa (unranked)
  15. LHP Graham Hicks (unranked)
  16. 3B Leonard Davis (unranked)
  17. 1B Bill Rhinehart (unranked)
  18. OF Roger Bernadina (29)
  19. SS Ian Desmond (14)
  20. RHP Craig Stammen (unranked)
  21. RHP Marco Estrada (unranked)
  22. LHP Mike Hinckley (unranked)
  23. 3B Stephen King (16)
  24. LHP Will Atwood (unranked)
  25. LHP Josh Smoker (6)
  26. RHP Colton Willems (9)
  27. RHP Luis Atilano (unranked)
  28. LHP Cory VanAllen (unranked)
  29. CA Luke Montz (unranked)
  30. RHP Terrell Young (unranked)
  31. OF J.R. Higley (unranked)

Here is why so many are "down" on the Nats system: They are SO young. High schoolers are in bold -- 8 of the top 10 are 20-and-under. I firmly believe in 2 years -- the Nats will have one of the best systems in baseball.

[JMUalumni]

yeah. He's only 18 (turns 19 next week) and throws in the low 90s already and many expect that eventually he could increase his velocity up into the mid 90s which is sick for a LHP. All of his secondary pitches are considered above average and could eventually all become "plus pitches".

He had committed to UCF but instead elected to sign with us for close to $500K. If he had went to college he probably would have been a first round pick in a few years.

(Image removed from quote.)

Im pretty excited to see what he can do in a full season, he had a pretty good outing at the end of season last year for GCL.  Also, I am looking forward to seeing how Terrell Young does, the guy we spent our Rule 5 pick on, and I have a feeling McGeary is going to have a breakout year (fingers crossed).

[Nat of the Living Dead]

(Image removed from quote.)

This guy looks like he could be a pitcher for the ages-- how could he not with a left hand that huge?

[ronnynat]

This guy looks like he could be a pitcher for the ages-- how could he not with a left hand that huge?

Hopefully he put on some weight. Dude's SO skinny.

[hammondsnats]

yeah. He's only 18 (turns 19 next week) and throws in the low 90s already and many expect that eventually he could increase his velocity up into the mid 90s which is sick for a LHP. All of his secondary pitches are considered above average and could eventually all become "plus pitches".

He had committed to UCF but instead elected to sign with us for close to $500K. If he had went to college he probably would have been a first round pick in a few years.

(Image removed from quote.)

I'm also in on the Graham "Cracker" Hicks fanclub.  I was telling my buddy at work about this kid earlier today.  He's gonna be a good one.

[BBQ]

Willems really took a dip on the list. I thought he had a solid year.

[houston-nat]

I'm also in on the Graham "Cracker" Hicks fanclub.

Racist

[ronnynat]

So is "Smiley Gonzalez" off of this list now?

[NFA Brian]

So is "Smiley Gonzalez" off of this list now?

Cleary, yes. A 22-year old repeating the GCL is not a top prospect.

[Obed_Marsh]

So is "Smiley Gonzalez" off of this list now?

We have no such prospect. Just a crooked bastard named Carlos Alvarez Daniel Lugo.

[PANatsFan]

Cleary, yes. A 22-year old repeating the GCL is not a top prospect.

wassn't he over the age limit for a GCL repeat last year?