The Nats Have Set Themselves Up For a Winning Future Under The Strength Of Their Farm
With perpetual prospect Brian Goodwin finally in the majors and Pitcher Erick Fedde just recently promoted to AA, I figured this would be a good time to venture down to the farm. The Nats’ minor league system is in a lot better shape than it could have been if Rizzo traded for Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, or even Will Smith. While we might feel more comfortable with Chapman’s blistering fastball and 2 Ks an inning come October, the margins between Chapman and Melancon’s production is tiny if it even exists at all and the minor league capital that was spared is tremendous.
Unfortunately, Brian Goodwin, who played in his first MLB game on the 6th, probably won’t be much more than a 4th outfielder for Washington at this point. Since he was drafted in 2011, Goodwin has been mentioned among the Nationals’ top prospects and while his career probably won’t be as great as we thought it would be back in 2013 when he was a top 100 prospect, I’m glad to see him finally get his shot and, with a nice combination of power and speed, he should find success as a backup outfielder.
We all know about Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez at this point and we will definitely see both again in DC before the end of the year. I’ve mentioned it before with Lopez but I’d be very happy if one or both of these guys made the postseason roster as hard-throwing and potentially dominant relievers with the ability to toss a few innings if need be.
Another guy that we should keep an eye on is Max Schrock, a Single-A SS that has hit .330 with 22 swiped bags over 107 games this year. None of the Nationals’ top draft picks (Carter Kieboom, Dane Dunning, and Sheldon Neuse) have had enough opportunities to stand out yet.
By protecting the farm and not trading everyone away for rentals, the Nats have set themselves up for a bright future to go with the already established guys in the big leagues. The future is bright in DC.