Honestly, just giving a top 10 for a system is almost like taking a remedial course in college just so you can get an A on your transcript. In year’s past McDaniel has gone much deeper (22 prospects in 2024, 28 in 2023, 32 or more in 2022), so maybe we’ll get a more comprehensive list eventually, but for now, here’s his top 10 for the Nats system.
Quick thoughts.
- Four of these players are in his top 100, a high mark for any of the overall top 100 lists.
- He retains confidence in House, unlike Law, BA, and MLBPipeline.
- Interestingly he has Sykora below Susana, also a first in this off-season.
- King at #5 is now pretty standard after the top 4 names.
- Clemmey and Cavalli remain on his top 200, though one has to think Cavalli’s last year of being a prospect is 2025. He’s either going to produce in the majors or become our most high profile 1st round failure since Romero
- This is the highest we’ve seen either Lile or Lomavita.
- Wallace at #10 means he’s creeping up, and it’ll be super interesting to see how the organization handles/juggles playing time for both Wallace and House if they’re both in AAA. One has to make way for the other, especially since House is the better bet to be a longer-term 3B in the majors.
Not making the top 10, but who are top 10 calibre on other lists:
(This is not criticism of this top 10, which is pretty solid honestly, but here’s some players who have made top 10 lists on other shops so far this year):
- Hassell
- Morales
- Lara
- Dickerson
- Chapparo (which was on a fantasy-focused list, so that’s an outlier)
I’m not sure you’re making an argument for any of these five over Lile or Wallace. Ok, maybe if it was ME i’d make an argument over Lile, but i’m low-man on Lile and high-man on Hassell.
One last thing: McDaniel’s callout for prospect ot watch is Dickerson, which we’ve heard a couple times already. Super excited to see what he can do in 2025.