Juan Soto – Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats
There are so many familiar names on the MLB.com Top-100 Prospects list that Washington Nationals fans will recognize. There are ex-Nats Jesus Luzardo and Dane Dunning along with current Nats Carter Kieboom, Juan Soto, and Victor Robles on the the top-100 prospects list.
This week, Baseball America and Keith Law of ESPN posted their prospect lists, and while the differences vary by each analyst, there is very little debate about the futures of Robles and Soto in the eyes of anyone watching.
The MLB.com list was the most bullish on the Nationals prospects overall as they placed Juan Soto higher on their list much higher than Baseball America (Soto #56/Robles #5) and ESPN (Soto #42/Robles #4), and Carter Kieboom was at #90 on the MLB.com list, while Victor Robles led the group at #6 on the MLB.com list which was a spot or two lower than the others.
“[Juan Soto] is one of the best hitters in the Minor Leagues. In the long run he may end up in left field.” — Jim Callis Senior writer for MLB Pipeline.
On the MLB.com prospect ratings, the top three names on the list were higher OPS players with the big power tools making Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (#3), Ronald Acuna (#2), and Shohei Ohtani (#1) the top-3. Ohtani is of course being touted as a two-way player who will both pitch and play the field — or at least that is the plan.
In the NL East though, the excitement will be when Acuna and Robles play against each other like they did in the Arizona Fall League. They are special players with all the tools including great speed, defense and the hit tool.
“I’m proud of him,” Rafa Nieves the agent for Victor Robles said to us about all the prospect ratings. “He’s worked hard at it and deserves it, but that’s stuff is meaningless once you get to the ‘show’. He’s still got to work to do, and he knows it. The goal is to play 20 years in the big leagues and win championships [for the Washington Nationals].”
Potential is what many prospect ratings are based on, and real progress on the field is the most important part. We will watch the rest of the Nationals top-20 in action with names like Seth Romero, Erick Fedde, and so many others who look to impress the Nationals front office.
There you have it!
