Our Top Prospects as of now 5-26-08

[BBQ]

1. Jordan Zimermann-Just dominating everywhere he goes
2. Marrero-Regardless of anything that has happened thus far he has monster potential
3. Burgess-A great and young all round hitter

[KnorrForYourMoney]

 

[KnorrForYourMoney]

Okay, I'll attempt to give a serious response to this thread.  If I had to choose the five top prospects as of now, just going on this year's performance, I'd have to go with:

1. Cory VanAllen - What a rise for this kid.  The promotion from high-A to AA hasn't seemed to slow him down in the least.  We're seeing our next John Lannan.  His ERA's gone up a bit, but the peripherals (K/BB ratio, walk rate, hit rate, and HR rate) are still superb all-around.
2. Jordan Zimmermann - Unlike VanAllen, he hasn't been quite as dominant after being promoted to AA, but you still have to like his upside and overall mastery such a short time after being drafted.
3. Garrett Mock - He's getting better and better as time passes.  Not only has his stuff been less hittable in the past month, but his control has been amazing.  He walked a grand total of 3 batters in the month of May!
4. Tyler Clippard - Like Mock, he had a very impressive month of May after a weak September.  He's ripe for a call-up whenever there's an opening in the big league rotation.
5. Justin Maxwell - He and Marrero are virtually the same hitter at different levels.  Both are hitting for an abysmal batting average, yet both have excellent plate discipline, giving them both respectable slugging percentages.  In Maxwell's case, he has a superior on-base percentage and a fantastic collection of speed and baserunning instincts, so I give him the edge.  He's also doing things at AA while Marrero's only at high-A as of now.

[Burgess]

1. Micheal Burgess (just think he is our best pure hitter in the system)
2. Jordan Zimmermann (In his early 20's and he might be with the club by 2009-10)
3. Chris Marrero (Yes he is struggling early in the season, the upside is still there)
4. Justin Maxwell (5 tool prospect, I really like him, also improved his plate discipline, I think the batting average will raise with time)
5 Cory Van Allen (You can't overlook what he has done so far this season, he is even dominating in AA so far, although he is a bit older then Zimmermann)


I don't really put too much importance to what these guys are doing this early in the season, Im also looking at upside.

[UMDNats]

In no particular order, I think our top 15 is like this:

Marrero
Balester
Zimmermann
VanAllen
Burgess
Mock
Clippard
Maxwell
King
Detwiler
Smoker
McGeary
Zinicola
Carr


Notables:

Smolinski
Gonzalez

[BBQ]

Why is this thread funny?

[UMDNats]

Why is this thread funny?

Your top 3 were pretty hilarious.

[BBQ]

Your top 3 were pretty hilarious.

Was just screwin' around to get a thread open. Because I had to go some where and I wouldn't be back in a few hours so I just put together something quick to give those extra hours of response time

[UMDNats]

The problem with ranking our prospects is the fact that we have some (Zimmermann, Balester, VanAllen) that are on the verge of joining the big club and are probably better all-around right now. But then we have the guys like Burgess, Marrero, and King, all of whom are young and have to develop more before even sniffing the majors. It's an interesting dynamic, and one thing's for sure: our minors are stocked with talent, and we don't even have one of our best pitchers - McGreary - in the system yet.

[Senators2005]

Prospects and the minor leagues are so volatile and erratic...it's sometimes hard to gauge who's truly raising eyebrows.  I would say that VanAllen, Zimmermann and Maxwell are the guys creating the most chatter right now.  Burgess is exciting but he's really got to get more particular with his swings...the guy is circulating air and trying to hit a tater each time (which is actually pretty typical for his age and skill level).

[BangZoom]

Most scouts/analysts have Collin Balester in the top 5. He is a top 3 prospect in my book. 21 years old, good stuff, his control is getting better. We'll see him this year.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

Your top 3 were pretty hilarious.

It wasn't so much that as it was all of the misspellings (referring to Cory VanAllen as "Allen" and saying "as of know"), as well as the fact that he wants to randomly come up with a top 3 prospects in late-May - as if this means anything.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

Most scouts/analysts have Collin Balester in the top 5. He is a top 3 prospect in my book. 21 years old, good stuff, his control is getting better. We'll see him this year.

Unfortunately, the improved control has been accompanied by easier stuff to hit.  He's given up a discouraging 11 HR in just 50 innings of work at AAA.  He needs to do what Mock and Clippard have done and find that happy medium wherein he has both good control and pitches that aren't so easily tagged.

[GMUTrkstar]

Geez Mike Daniel has to be the most underrated prospect in our system! I know he doesn't have the cieling of Marrero, Burgess, and Maxwell but he atleast deserves to be in the conversation.

Top 10 based on potential and this season

1. Ross Detwiller
2. C. Marrero
3. J. Zimmermann
4. J. Maxwell
5. M. Burgess
6. C. Ballester
7. C. VanAllen
8. J. Smoker
9. G. Mock
10. S. Martis(he hasn't been mentioned at all in this thread either but is doing well in his double A dayview and performed well last season in high-A too)

Just missed:
T. Clippard
J. McGeary
S. King

Others of Note:
E. Gonzalez
R. Bernida
Z. Zincola
A. Carr
C. Willems
M. Daniel
A. Alaniz
Smoliniski
S. Souza
D. Norris

[daveb32]

Geez Mike Daniel has to be the most underrated prospect in our system! I know he doesn't have the cieling of Marrero, Burgess, and Maxwell but he atleast deserves to be in the conversation.

Top 10 based on potential and this season

1. Ross Detwiller
2. C. Marrero
3. J. Zimmermann
4. J. Maxwell
5. M. Burgess
6. C. Ballester
7. C. VanAllen
8. J. Smoker
9. G. Mock
10. S. Martis(he hasn't been mentioned at all in this thread either but is doing well in his double A dayview and performed well last season in high-A too)

Just missed:
T. Clippard
J. McGeary
S. King

Others of Note:
E. Gonzalez
R. Bernida
Z. Zincola
A. Carr
C. Willems
M. Daniel
A. Alaniz
Smoliniski
S. Souza
D. Norris

How can you put Smoker in there if he hasn't even pitched this season, same with McGeary. Bernadina is not even close to be considered a prospect. (perhaps only to those who don't know our system..and mikehughes)

[GMUTrkstar]

How can you put Smoker in there if he hasn't even pitched this season, same with McGeary. Bernadina is not even close to be considered a prospect. (perhaps only to those who don't know our system..and mikehughes)

My list is for this season and overall potential. Smoker has to be in the top ten based upon his overall potential and he performed better than McGeary in their brief stints with Vermont last year. BBA, BP, Brian Oliver, etc.... have Smoker in our top ten overall so i really can't see your big complaint about him being in mine. Plus the fact that he's on a natural development path of a prospect and McGeary's not gives him the nod over him.

As far as Bernadina goes dudes not in my top ten not even in the just missed section I'm just saying he's someone of note. Nationals.com thinks he's noteworthy of atleast a call up: http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080522&content_id=2749597&vkey=news_was&fext=.jsp&c_id=was

He's only 23 bout to be 24 and hitting over .300 at double A he's noteworthy!

It'd be interesting to see your top 10 tho

[UMDNats]

Ah, Daniel, I knew I forgot someone. I guess he gets lost in all the shuffle.

Smoker and McGreary are on there for their potential. McGreary had 1st-round talent.

[ncg1983]

Rhinehart has to be in there.  He's only at Low A, but he's hitting over .330 with 48 RBIs in 48 games.  not bad.

[Senators2005]

As is evident with this thread...just about everybody has an opinion about somebody.  That's why minor leaguers and prospects are so hard to judge.  The difference in who you face in the minors and who you would face in the show are so completely different that a typical guy lighting it up in Harrisburg or below will usually get his clock cleaned at Nationals Park.

[BBQ]

Rhinehart has to be in there.  He's only at Low A, but he's hitting over .330 with 48 RBIs in 48 games.  not bad.

He is relatively old. But he is still killing low A.

[tomterp]

I fixed the thread title spelling, I couldn't stand it any longer.

[UMDNats]

As is evident with this thread...just about everybody has an opinion about somebody.  That's why minor leaguers and prospects are so hard to judge.  The difference in who you face in the minors and who you would face in the show are so completely different that a typical guy lighting it up in Harrisburg or below will usually get his clock cleaned at Nationals Park.

Or, like in Jesus Flores' case, someone can struggle in AAA but tear up the majors. ( I believe Flores was hitting around .200 before the call-up)

[Skinz72]

Perhaps there should be two different lists.  One list that displays the best performing players in the organization.  The second would list the best potential. 

Best performers (no order)
Alaniz
Rhinehart
VanAllen
J. Zimmermann
Whiting
Rogelstad
Montz
Daniel
Estrada
Stephen King
Bernadina
Brownlie (cooling)
O'Connor
Langerhans
Escobar
Zinicola (cooling)

Potentials:
Maxwell
Marrero
Detwiler
Burgess
McGeary
Smoker
etc...

[PennSkinsFan]

I think we all under value Bill Rhinehart.  Check out my blog and the Nats minor league wrap up.  Rhinehart is absolutely tearing up the South Atlantic League.  Rhinehard was good at Vermont last year as well, so he is showing consistency.  Another 2007 draft pick I think may be underrated is Aaron Suess who tore up Vermont last year.  Suess is hitting .301 in Hagerstown.  Stephen King is having a super hot season so far.  Over his past ten games he is hitting .442 and overall .356.  But if you are going to name Jordon Zimmerman the number one pitching prospect, that is fine, but Alaniz, Van Allen, and Estrada have to be solidly right behind.  These guys are pitching fantastic baseball right now. 

Pitching wise, a guy who has catapulted to the top is 22005 draft pick Marco Estarda.  He is 6-2 with an ERA of 2.78, an is 5-0 with an ERA of 1.087 in his last 6 starts.  Alaniz, Van ASllen and Zimmerman also have to be up there as well. 

[PennSkinsFan]

He is relatively old. But he is still killing low A.

He is only 24 and was only drafted last year.