Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats

If big free agent signings are your thing, the Washington Nationals short-changed you again this offseason. But if you want some optimism to go with the West Palm Beach sunshine, we can blow some of that sunshine up your hot stove! Yes, we can cherry-pick the outliers of media analysts who not only think the Nats had an A- offseason, but also the №6 farm system in all of baseball in another report.

Beauty is in the eye’s of the beholder, and former Nats’ GM Jim Bowden believes the Nats achieved their offseason objectives of trading MacKenzie Gore for some top prospects as well as acquiring what Bowden called a full-time player, Harry Ford, for a reliever in Jose A. Ferrer. On top of that, Bowden liked the other short-term moves while keeping some cash for potential contract extensions for core players. Bowden gave an A- to the Nationals in The Athletic.

“The Nationals made three significant trades under their new front office leadership. In the first two, they acquired one of the best offensive catching prospects in the game, Harry Ford, and one of the best pitching prospects in the Red Sox farm system, Luis Perales.”

“The best trade the Nationals made was the swap with the Rangers that landed them 2025 first-round pick Gavin Fien, who now becomes their long-term answer at shortstop. In addition to Fien, they added four more prospects in that deal, including right-hander Alejandro Rosario, who has a strong arsenal and upside, though he will miss the 2026 season as he deals with a torn UCL.”

— Bowden wrote in The Athletic

The third name in the Gore trade, Devin Fitz-Gerald, 20, has been ranked by some as the best prospect in this trade. He was Texas’ №8 prospect according to Baseball America. Jeff Passan of ESPN wrote, “Evaluators love Fitz-Gerald.” He hit .302 with seven doubles, six homers, 20 RBI, 28 walks, eight stolen bases, and 33 runs scored in 41 games between the Arizona Complex League and Single-A Hickory in his first professional year in 2025 until he had a shoulder injury that ended his 2025 campaign.

On farm system rankings, Keith Law of The Athletic, just gave the Nats a №6 overall ranking and a Tier-2 grade of all farm systems in baseball. Law is bullish on the Nats, and he lives in Wilmington, Delaware which gives him the ability to see just about every prospect make it through the Nats’ complex there. He is also a short drive to Salisbury, Maryland to see Single-A prospects who pass through that facility. And of course Law travels to showcases and big games to see the top prospects before they are drafted.

“The Nationals have certainly restocked their system in the last seven months, trading MacKenzie Gore for five prospects, four of whom are on their top-20; trading Jose A. Ferrer for a former top-100 prospect, Harry Ford; and picking up four more guys on their Top-20 in smaller trades last July — all on top of having the №1 pick in the 2025 draft, which they used to take prep shortstop Eli Willits. On paper, it’s a lot of talent, but it’s also a lot of underperforming talent, at least relative to expectations when those players were drafted or first emerged as real prospects, giving the new front office a significant challenge in their first year on the job.”

— Law wrote in The Athletic

And you might be surprised by Law’s new Top-20 farm system ranking for the Nationals. As you would expect, Eli Willits tops the charts, and Law has Gavin Fien at №2, followed by Seaver King to give you a Top-3 of talent. And they all made his Top-100 prospect’s list in baseball.

The next three names on Law’s list, and just outside his Top-1oo, make sense with Travis Sykora, Harry Ford and Jarlin Susana. And Law is very high on Sam Petersen and anyone who saw him in the Arizona Fall League saw those flashes of talent as I commented in my reports from the AFL. Also on Law’s list as a surprise is Sir Jamison Jones. He didn’t make any Top-30 lists other than Law’s list.

Law doesn’t put the Dominican Summer League (DSL) names on his list. And one name that stood above all others was Marconi German. Click his link and see what he did during his 2025 season. This analyst (below), Eric Cross of RotoBaller, has German as his №9 prospect.

New Nationals Top 10 Prospects for #FantasyBaseball after the Gore trade.

1. Eli Willits, SS
2. Travis Sykora, P
3. Jarlin Susana, P
4. Gavin Fien, SS
5. Harry Ford, C
6. Alejandro Rosario, P
7. Luis Perales, P
8. Seaver King, SS
9. Marconi German, MI
10. Devin Fitz-Gerald, INF

— Eric Cross (@EricCrossMLB) January 22, 2026

And Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, has NINE Nats in his Top-200 rankings. On average, an MLB team would have 6.7 players on a Top-200 if these rankings went strictly by dividing 200 by 30. And it doesn’t work that way. This is where the Nats have been making progress. And only the Los Angeles Dodgers (12), Milwaukee Brewers (12), Cleveland Guardians (11), Minnesota Twins (10), and Tampa Bay Rays (10) have more players ranked in their Top-200 per ESPN.

And great work @kileymcd @ESPN expands his top prospects list to a Top-200:

41. Eli Willits, SS
58. Travis Sykora, RHP
74. Jarlin Susana RHP
82. Harry Ford, C
117. Gavin Fien, SS
121. Luke Dickerson, SS
133. Devin Fitz-Gerald, SS
182. Seaver King, SS
190. Alejandro Rosario, RHP https://t.co/MgYspfLwon

— Talk Nats (@TalkNats) January 28, 2026

You are seeing a lot of Willits and Fien together in rankings, and the world of small coincidences is that they were teammates on Team USA 18U, and played against each other in showcase games. Fien was the №12 pick in last year’s draft, and 11 spots after Eli Willits was taken at №1 overall by the Washington Nationals.

This duo of Willits and Fien were teammates on the USA Baseball 18U National Team that won the gold medal at the Baseball World Cup on August 12, 2024, and then they flew from that game in Panama to San Diego to compete on opposite rosters just two days later in the 2024 MLB High School All-Star Game. Less than 1½ years later, they are teammates in pro ball.

Back to August 2024, Willits and Fien went from the international stage to this premier national game in San Diego. The two teenagers showed their skills in that All-Star game too. Fien was named the Most Valuable Player of that showcase invitational game for the best non-senior high school players in the country. And Willits showed his tools by manufacturing the first run of the game after he worked a walk then stole two bases and scored on an errant throw by the catcher.

Of the Top-5 ranked stars of that high school All-Star game, four of them can now be directly tied to the Washington Nationals. Fien, as the MVP of the game, was ranked as the №1 star of the game, and three of the next four standouts of that game, were all drafted by the Nats with Miguel Sime Jr., Mason Pike, and Willits all selected by Washington. As you might remember, Pike indicated he was going to college which affected his draft status that dropped him to the 19th round pick by the Nats, and he did choose to go to college at Oregon State. Also in that game was Landon Harmon, who was the top drafted pitcher by the Nats.

Again, these writings might have been too optimistic for you. Enjoy!

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