2004 first-round pick Bill Bray (AP photo)
Washington Nationals
- Mike Hinckley, LHP, A-
- Bill Bray, LHP, B
- Larry Broadway, 1B, B
- Brendan Harris, 3B-2B, B
- Ryan Church, OF, B-
- Tony Blanco, OF, C
- Darrell Rasner, RHP, C
- Daryl Thompson, RHP, C
- Colin Balester, RHP, C
- Clint Everts, RHP, C
- Kory Casto, 3B, C
- Danny Rueckel, RHP, C
- Rogearvin Bernadina, OF, C
- Josh Karp, RHP, C
- Ben Cox, RHP, C
- Josh Whitesell, 1B, C
- Ian Desmond, SS, C
- Brandon Watson, OF, C
- Marvin Lowrance, OF, C
- Josh Labandeira, SS, C
2004 draftee Bill Bray (pictured above) is also a solid talent. After that you have three position players that I like, Broadway, Harris, and Church. I don't see any of them as stars, but rather solid contributors. Rule 5 guy Tony Blanco has enormous power but will be lucky to hit .240 in the Majors unless he makes substantial improvements in his plate discipline.
The big mass of Grade C guys includes future bench/role players like Brandon Watson and Josh Labandeira, some talented but very young/raw guys like Daryl Thompson, Colin Balester, Marvin Lowrance, and Rogearvin Bernadina, a Tommy John rehab (Everts), and a smattering of others who would probably not appear in a top 20 list for most teams.
I hold out little hope for Josh Karp, although a conversion to relief could help him. Darrell Rasner has a good sinker, but his numbers even in the low minors are not that impressive, and it remains to be seen (at least for me) if he will develop into a useful pitcher.
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