Sorry, but naming guys like Taylor, Difo, Goodwin, Fedde, and Ross as proof of a productive farm system isn't really anything impressive. These are replacement level players/bottom tier starters. It is expected that your farm system produce these types of players.
Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, and Anthony Rendon were the consensus best players in their respective positions and drafts. Rendon slipped because of injury concerns. If he had been healthy his last season at Rice, he isn't dropping past the second pick. These do not prove the productivity of a farm system.
Storen is a bust. Sorry, but he is.
Giolito and Lopez didn't develop here. When we traded Giolito, he was the worst pitcher in baseball. The White Sox adjusted his mechanics and fixed him. In fact, the reason Lopez isn't here is because Giolito looked so bad here in DC that he wasn't enough to get Eaton.
We traded for Turner and Ramos. Neither spent significant time in Nats farm system, developing skils.
Koda Glover has shown nothing and likely never will.
So far, Robles isn't showing anything that the Nats put together. His value is almost exclusively defensive, which is based exclusively on his athleticism. So kudos to the scouting department for finding a guy with that skill set, but the Nats farm system hasn't done crap to develop him otherwise. If Taylor shows the plate ability of even 2016 or 2015, Robles probably starts the season in Triple A for his development.
Juan Soto really the only arguments to be made of this list. THey did an amazing scouting job to find him. He spent two seasons getting that approach refined and ready for the big leagues.
There are other names you could have gone with, but most of them are in the past. Ian Desmond and Jordan Zimmermann come time mind. Tyler Clippard could be considered an example of productivity of the Nats Farm. Maybe Tanner Roark?
But honestly, what has been done lately? Let's look at the roster and see who has been developed and is an impact player?
- Three of the five starting pitchers are free agents. Strasburg was a no-brainer consensus. Ross has been fine but he's been fairly replaceable.
- Our bullpen has been garbage. Suero was developed here and he might be decent. Anyone else? Grace has been terrible. Who else?
- The starting lineup consists of two players who have spent any significant time in the farm system.
This seems to be highlighted by our incredible drop off at the start of the season and the inability to find relievers. We literally had no one in our system we could call up to try and get some production.