Washington building from within

By Brian Hunsicker

Published: June 21, 2008

The Potomac Nationals clinched the Carolina League’s Northern Division title this week, securing their first postseason appearance in four seasons. Other championships for the Nationals at other levels may yet be on the way: Double-A Harrisburg entered the weekend 3.5 games behind Southern Division leader Akron in the Eastern League, and Triple-A Columbus was just a game back of International League West Division leader Toledo.
For the moment, we can only deduce that the Nationals’ farm system is competitive with its peers. The ultimate question — whether that talent carries over to the major leagues — won’t be known anytime soon.
Even if it doesn’t, that success has shown that the Nationals are building successfully from within.
When the organization landed in D.C. from Montreal, the farm system lay in ruin, barren of legitimate prospects. The Nationals were annual contenders for the bottom of Baseball America’s list of best farm systems. They finished in just that spot entering the 2007 season; this year, BA bumped them up to 10th on the strength of a strong ’07 draft.
It’s far too early to assign any sort of grade to the 2008 draft, though the Nationals’ front office was predictably pleased with the players the picked up. Aaron Crow was the first of 21 pitchers, going ninth overall.
The talent on the way to Nationals Park should be enough to change some of the gloominess that’s currently there. While Potomac will play in the postseason, Washington certainly won’t. A never-ending injury list ended any high hopes for this season, however slim they may have been with the Nationals’ lot of castoffs.
Entering the weekend, only four of the Nationals’ regulars were hitting above .250. And just over half of its rotation has an ERA under 5.00, though that may not be an awful thing in this era of offensive baseball.
As a team, they’re closing in on a 2-for-1, nearly losing twice as many games as they’d won. Even the New York Mets, as dysfunctional as an outfit can be, are eight games ahead of the Nats.
But that’s a large gap and not a true test of where the Nationals are as a franchise. The woefully underachieving Mets had the talent to be one of the National League’s best, a luxury the Nationals don’t yet have.
If their farm clubs’ success is any indication, though, maybe that gap will be narrowed before long.
Brian Hunsicker is a staff writer for the Potomac News & Manassas Journal Messenger. Reach him at 703-878-8048 or via e-mail at .