Personal Top 15 Prospect Lists: Nationals, D-Backs, Rockies

There's not really much need for an introduction at this point. Just don't forget that next week Dave and I will be doing our own top-100 lists, and we're also doing side-by-side lists for a few of the top farm systems in the game- Kansas City, Toronto, Tampa Bay, Atlanta and the Yankees. But we're going to get through the other 22 organizations before we go there, and we've still got 13 to go, so let's go through a few of those today.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS

1) OF Bryce Harper

2) C Derek Norris

3) SS/2B Danny Espinosa

4) RHP A.J. Cole

5) C Wilson Ramos

6) RHP Sammy Solis

7) OF Eury Perez

8) OF Destin Hood

9) LHP Robbie Ray

10) 1B Chris Marrero

11) SS Rick Hague

12) RHP Cole Kimball

13) 2B Steve Lombardozzi

14) RHP Bradley Meyers

15) OF J.P. Ramirez

When most people talk about Washington's farm system, the discussion is limited to Bryce Harper and his potential exploits. While that's primarily because Harper appears to be a uniquely brilliant young player, it's also due to a lack of exceptional depth beyond him. They have some strong up-the-middle prospects in Norris, Espinosa and Perez, but there's a clear lack of impact bat potential beyond Harper and Norris. There are some potential regular types, like Marrero, Lombardozzi, Hague and Ramirez, but you'd generally like to see more upside among the 10-15 guys. It's definitely a system that's improving under GM Mike Rizzo, though.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

1) RHP Jarrod Parker

2) LHP Tyler Skaggs

3) SS Chris Owings

4) 3B Matt Davidson

5) OF Marc Krauss

6) 3B Bobby Borchering

7) LHP Wade Miley

8) OF A.J. Pollock

9) LHP Pat Corbin

10) LHP David Holmberg

11) OF Ty Linton

12) RHP Charlie Brewer

13) OF Keon Broxton

14) 1B Paul Goldschmidt

15) SS Raul Navarro

This system has quietly improved a good deal over the past year or two. Parker is still among the top right-handed pitching prospects in the game, and Skaggs continues to move up the charts as well. I think that a lot of people are underrating Owings, who could emerge as one of the best shortstop prospects in the game with a strong 2011. And most people know about the bats, namely Davidson, Borchering, Krauss and Goldschmidt, all of whom hit pretty well in 2010. The bottom of the list is littered with high-risk/high-reward prospects, with Kevin Goldstein noting that, "[Broxton] had the best tools in the Midwest League after Mike Trout, but he looks foolish against even the fringiest of breaking balls." It's a strong system, though, even with an underwhelming 2010 draft class.

COLORADO ROCKIES

1) LHP Tyler Matzek

2) C Wilin Rosario

3) 3B Nolan Arenado

4) LHP Christian Friedrich

5) RHP Peter Tago

6) RHP Juan Nicasio

7) OF Kyle Parker

8) RHP Chad Bettis

9) LHP Rex Brothers

10) OF Charlie Blackmon

11) C Jordan Pacheco

12) SS Christhian Adames

13) OF Rafeal Ortega

14) RHP Albert Campos

15) SS Hector Gomez

I personally really like this system. I had to omit Chris Nelson, a guy that I really like, but I don't think he can match Adames or Gomez when it comes to potential. Matzek's stock took a hit early in the season, but he finished strong and is still undoubtedly an elite prospect. And I would slot Rosario into the elite category as well; his offensive potential as a catcher is truly tantalizing. They have some nice pitching depth with Friedrich, Tago, Nicasio, Brothers and Bettis all joining Matzek in the top ten, and there are scouts out there that really like Blackmon. It's not among the top-ten systems in the game, but it's still a strong system with a couple of premium guys.