The Nationals are still benefiting from the return on the Juan Soto trade.

Now that Major League Baseball’s summer has begun, thoughts are turning to the future for everyone. That indicates the upcoming season in most cities; for others, however, it refers to the longer term, the next three to five years. As they say, you’re either selling victories or you’re selling hope. This time of year, we at THEDAILY Sports try to give as much hope as we can by analysing the farm systems of each team.

Naturally, not every team has a farm system that is equally effective; as you will discover throughout this process, some teams fall short in that regard. That does, however, indicate that THEDAILY Sports will be analysing the top three prospects in each organisation over the course of the next few months. Since we define “prospects” as those who will still be eligible to play as rookies in 2024, it is likely the case that a young player is absent.

These evaluations and lists come from discussions with scouts, analysts, and player development specialists. In addition, bias and direct assessment are present. Remember that ranking players is a difficult undertaking, and it’s acceptable to disagree with the rankings. These are only opinions, and they won’t actually affect anything in the future. Click this link to view our list of the top 25 winter items.

Considering that, let’s get right in and analyse the Washington Nationals.

1. Dylan Crews, OF (22 years old)

  • Top 25 ranking: No. 5
  • The short version: The best prospect in the draft is a well-rounded player.
  • MLB ETA: Summer 2024

Every winter, we consider how to evaluate a player’s first exposure to professional ball. According to skill evaluators who talked with THEDAILY Sports during the previous selection cycle, Crews was regarded as the finest player in the class. So, after only a few months, is it fair to move him below Langford? For two key reasons, we said yes: 1) Crews’ poor contact rates; and 2) Langford’s supremacy at every turn. Even though he batted.405,.545,.685 against SEC opposition and had more walks than strikeouts, he struggled in 20 Double-A games, finishing with a.595 OPS and hitting only 70% of his swings. Years and years of evidence proving Crews’ skill mean there’s little sense overreacting to a small sample, but we do believe it’s necessary to take into account every new piece of information. We chose, at this point, to roll with Langford instead of Crews based on that.

2. James Wood, OF (21 years old)

  • Top 25 ranking: No. 6
  • The short version: Towering outfielder with great patience and power.
  • MLB ETA: Summer 2024

Wood is an intriguing potential and, from the Nationals’ standpoint, the key to the Juan Soto trade. At 6-foot-6 and 240 pounds, he is regarded as strong, and he has already demonstrated enormous raw power displays. (He hit six home runs to left or left centre field out of his 28 total hits.) much yet, it’s evident from looking at him that he has room on his frame to gain much more muscle in the years to come. Two further developments will occur as that comes to pass: He’ll do two things: 1) outgrow centre field, and 2) develop into one of baseball’s top sluggers. The lone possible drawback is that Wood is incredibly prone to strikeouts because to his length and patience. In Double-A, he struck out in about 34 percent of his at-bats, which would have been the highest percentage in the majors. Even with a low strikeout rate, he can still be productive due to his on-base and slugging potential, but if he can raise it to 30% before turning pro, there’s superstar potential here.

3. Brady House, 3B (20 years old)

  • The short version: Big-time power bat with hit-tool questions.
  • MLB ETA: Summer 2024

Even before the Nationals selected him with the 11th choice in the 2021 draft, House was a contentious prospect. Some scouts have found it difficult to ignore the shortcomings in his game. In 36 Double-A games, his strikeout percentage skyrocketed to 28.4%, and he has continued to pop up balls. However, other analysts believe that House is a prospect that is not as good as it seems. This is due to his enormous power potential in the hot corner and his professional background of outperforming expectations at the level even if he is still young. To give his offensive game additional depth, we would like to see House tighten up his technique and go for more walks. However, on its own, hitting home runs and being a solid third baseman are always desired attributes.