Why Farm System Rankings Don't Matter That Much for the Nationals

Washington has infused a haul of talent into the organization during this rebuild. It just hasn't stacked at the same time.

Top prospect lists are starting to drop, and we’re getting an updated look on how the industry views recent draft picks like Seaver King and risers like Travis Sykora and Jarlin Susana.

We’re getting our first looks at how how the industry views the system as a whole. Keith Law dropped his farm system power rankings on Thursday, ranking the Nationals 17th on the list between the Pirates (16th) and Marlins (18th). Washington and Pittsburgh formed a two-team group in Law’s “Tier 4” of seven total tiers.

For a team that’s been in some form of rebuilding since 2021, it feels like that should be higher at this point, or at some point in the rebuild. But it feels like the team has never been considered a truly elite farm system at any point in the rebuild, and that can understandably cause some angst and nerves for fans that want to see winning baseball return to D.C.

But here’s why it shouldn’t be cause for concern that the system isn’t highly-ranked, and that the team only has between 2-3 consensus Top 100 prospects.