Life On The Farm: Washington Nationals (# 21)

Big league team being bad means the system can't be bad, right? RIGHT?

Graduated To Majors: Justin Maxwell (CF, # 11), Roger Bernadina (CF, # 18), Ian Desmond (SS, # 19), Alberto Gonzalez (SS, UR), Jordan Zimmerman (SP, # 1), Garrett Mock (SP, # 12), Shairon Martis (SP, # 13), Craig Stammen (SP, # 20), Marco Estrada (SP, # 21), Tyler Clippard (RP, UR), Ross Detwiler (SP, # 2), Mike Hinckley (RP, # 22)

The Rest Of The Top 10 (with quick commentary)
Hitters: BA-OBP-SLG, AB, HR-RBI, BB-K, SB-CS
Pitchers: G-GS, W-L, ERA, IP-H-HR-BB-K

3 - Chris Marrero: 1B
Hi A: .287-.360-.464, 414, 16-65, 42-97, 2-3
AA: .267-.345-.387, 75, 1-11, 8-18, 0-1
Quick Take: Worked his way to a promotion and showed he wasn't quite ready for AA for the end of this season.

4 - Michael Burgess: RF
Hi A: .235-.325-.410, 480, 19-71, 54-135, 12-8
Quick Take: The most disappointing season in their system. Likely a repeater of the level next season.

5 - Jack McGeary: LHP
SS: 13-13, 2-6, 4.24, 57.1-61-5-41-46
Lo A: 13-13, 0-6, 6.79, 55.2-58-4-45-44
Quick Take: Disaster, thy name is Jack McGeary's 2009 season.

6 - Derek Norris: C
Lo A: .286-.413-.513, 437, 23-84, 90-116, 6-3
Quick Take: The toast of the minors for awhile, can he still hit when every pitcher knows who he is?

7 - Destin Hood: LF
R: .330-.388-.614, 88, 3-24, 8-19, 3-0
SS: .246-.302-.333, 138, 2-24, 11-45, 2-1
Quick Take: Not a terrible season for a high school guy in his first full season. May start the year at Lo A next season.

8 - Adrian Nieto: C
R: .212-.327-.273, 132, 0-16, 20-30, 1-2
Quick Take: This, on the other hand, was a terrible season from a high school and will likely be back in either R or SS next season.

9 - J.P Ramirez: RF
SS: .264-.306-.407, 295, 4-39, 14-45, 6-9
Quick Take: Some struggles, but is another raw high schooler who at least got a lot of development at bats.

10 - Esmailyn Gonzalez (Now Carlos Alvarez): SS
R: .280-.423-.427, 232, 3-25, 49-30, 5-6
Quick Take: The center of an embarassing event that was one of many things that led to the removal of Jim Bowden, he actually put up solid numbers. Now, if only he was still 20 and not 23, there could have been something here...

AAA: Syracuse Chiefs (IL)
Breakout Hitter: Ian Desmond (# 19): .354-.428-.461, 178, 1-14, 20-32, 8-1
Disappointing Hitter: None (all these guys are AAA veterans, nothing unexpected)
Breakout Pitcher: J.D. Martin (UL): 16-15, 8-3, 2.66, 88-75-4-10-63
Disappointing Pitcher: Zechry Zinicola (UR): 26-0, 0-1, 7.56, 33.1-47-2-10-31
Quick Take: Desmond and Martin got their 1st looks of the bigs. The fact the Chiefs didn't have a disappointing hitter is a tough look at the organization, as that means no one of consequence was pretty much at AAA for a full season, meaning a dim future. Zinicola got a 2nd half promotion to AAA and fell on his face badly.

AA: Harrisburg Senators (EL)
Breakout Hitter: Ofilio Castro (UR): .296-.372-.395, 301, 4-36, 37-50, 0-4
Disappointing Hitter: Luke Montz (# 29): .182-.285-.323, 291, 9-35, 41-62
Breakout Pitcher: Drew Storen (UL): 10-0, 1-0, 0.00, 12.1-3-0-6-12
Disappointing Pitcher: Cory Van Allen (# 28): 31-16, 3-5, 5.07, 94-116, 13-31-69
Quick Take: Castro is a 26 year old 3B who finally had a solid season, so take that with a grain of salt. Storen, on the other hand, is a 2009 draftee who may do the impossible and beat Strasburg to Washington. Montz went from big league debut last season to struggling in AA while Van Allen battled balls hit hard in play all season.

Hi A: Potomac Nationals (CL)
Breakout Hitter: Chris Marrero (# 3): Line above.
Disappointing Hitter: Michael Burgess (# 4): Line above.
Breakout Pitcher: Brad Meyers (UR): 15-14, 6-2, 1.43, 88.1-71-1-21-65
Disappointing Pitcher: Colton Willems (# 26): 6-6, 1-4, 7.40, 20.2-27-3-7-12
Quick Take: Marrero propelled himself to AA, while Meyer's projectability finally came to fruition, as I saw him in Lo A last year and graded him as an organizational guy. Burgess struggled very, very badly while Willems has been a disappointment since entering pro ball as a 1st round pick.

Lo A: Hagerstown Suns (SAL)
Breakout Hitter: Derek Norris (# 6): Line above.
Disappointing Hitter: Stephen Englund (UR): .109-.182-.139, 101, 0-5, 9-48, 1-1
Breakout Pitcher: Marcos Frias (UR): 25-23, 9-5, 2.91, 126.2-124-6-30-112
Disappointing Pitcher: Jack McGeary (# 5): Line above.
Quick Take: Norris appears to be one of the better hitters in the minors while Frias took a big step forward and showed swing and miss stuff with good control. Englund's hitting earned him a chance at getting to pitch. McGeary is still young enough to reach his vast ceiling, but he needs to start showing some proof that he can do it.

TK's Early 2010 Top 10 Prospects
1) Stephen Strasburg: RHP
Seriously, do I need to explain myself?
2) Derek Norris: C
The Matt Wieters for that other team in the D.C. area?
3) Drew Storen: RHP
Could see him in the bigs next June if they don't convert him to starting.
4) Brad Meyers: RHP
You know, Josh Johnson of the Marlins used to be an 88 mile per hour fastball, all projectability guy too...
5) Chris Marrero: 1B
Dropped more due to the breakout season and influx of talent then his season.
6) Marcos Frias: RHP
Breakout season, can he follow up with this same level of performance?
7) Danny Espinosa: SS
Futures Game alum looks to keep building and improving.
8) Tom Milone: LHP
22 year old lefty out of USC went 12-5, 2.91 in 27 appearances (25 starts) with 36 walks and 106 strikeouts in 151.1 innings.
9) Michael Burgess: RF
Bounceback season anyone?
10) Destin Hood: LF
High schooler looks to continue to build on his debut.

Dropped From Top 10: McGeary (# 5), Nieto (# 8), Ramirez (# 9), Gonzalez/Alvarez (# 10)

Final Overview: Don't look now, but this system has some impact talent, though not much depth. Strasburg is said to be the greatest prospect ever, but names like Ben McDonald and Todd Van Poppel come to mind in that same vein with the Alex Rodriguez and the Josh Beckett of the awesome prospect list. If guys like Burgess and some of their other guys had strong seasons, they would be in much better shape. The loss of # 1 prospect Jordan Zimmermann to TJS after showing great potential in his rookie season is also a huge blow. This is likely now a middle of the pack farm system. But remember this about the Nats, they are one of the ultimate tools organization and love projectability, so a lot of their guys are going to be more tools then production and will ultimately have more higher ranked busts then others.