ESPN.com's Keith Law, one of the most respected talent evaluators around, released his organizational rankings today.
You may (or may not, depending on the amount of Uncle Stan's kool-aid you drink) be surprised to find out that he still has the Nationals minor league system ranked in the lower third of the league, at No. 23.
There's not much analysis, but I'll publish it here for you.
Getting there, slowly, but a number of top draft picks from 2006 to 2008 haven't developed as expected, and two of their top three guys -- including Stephen Strasburg -- came in the 2009 draft.
Law acknowledges that the organization is making some progress, but notes (correctly, I'll add) that with two of the franchise's top prospects coming in last spring's draft -- and as close as they are to the big league squad -- once they've graduated, it's right back to square one.
I think when the traditional lists of individual top prospects come out in the coming weeks, we're going to see Strasburg, Drew Storen and probably even Derek Norris' names sprinked about, and with good reason. They are all top-notch talent.
But after that, the farm still has very precious few difference makers from top to bottom. One hopes that now that the front office has been reshaped with the folks that GM Mike Rizzo hand picked things will turn around and the farm system can become a model in MLB.
So far, though? Baby steps. And a long way to go to reach the top.
