18. Washington Nationals

Big Leagues- The Nationals have put together quite the young roster, and added two great free agents in this off season in Adam Laroche and Jayson Werth. Even after losing Adam Dunn they replenished the lineup with a power righty and lefty. Ryan Zimmerman continues to improve and their middle infield of Danny Espinosa and Ian Desmond continue to improve. There pitching staff needs work with Livan Hernandez leading the group and the injury to Stephen Strasburg sets the Nationals back a few years but they weren't looking to contend next year anyways. When Strasburg and Bryce Harper get to the Majors the Nationals will be ready to roll in the NL East.

Catcher- Pudge Rodriguez, Wilson Ramos
1st Base- Adam Laroche/ Mike Morse
2nd Base- Danny Espinosa
Shortstop- Ian Desmond
3rd Base- Ryan Zimmerman
Left Field- Roger Bernadina/ Rick Ankiel
Center Field- Nyjer Morgan
Right Field- Jayson Werth

Pitching- Livan Hernandez, Jason Marquis, Jordan Zimmerman, John Lannan, Yunesky Maya, Stephen Strasburg
Relief- Drew Stroren, Sean Burnett, Tyler Clippard

Top 5 Prospects
OF Bryce Harper- What could I possibly stay about Bryce Harper that you haven't already heard? The 1st overall pick in the 2010 draft was the most hyped draft pick in history. He left high school early and went to Junior College just so he could be drafted in the 2010 draft when he was just 17. Harper has gigantic power and a cannon of an arm that he will show off in the outfield for the Nationals. The Nationals will try to push Harper through the minor leagues and have him in the big leagues by 2013. He'll debut at Single A and I'm sure every sports television station will let you know what happens.

C Wilson Ramos- Ramos was acquired by the Nationals from Minnesota in the Matt Capps deal, and the Nationals may have snagged their catcher of the future. He spent the last year between AAA and the big leagues. He will never develop into a 20 home run kind of catcher, but he will play solid defense and could develop into a consistent .300 hitter. Ramos should have one more year backing up and learning from Pudge Rodriguez and it will definitely help him in the long run.

2B Danny Espinosa-The Nationals 2nd basemen of future got his first glimpse of the big leagues last year. He struggled with his average but had a very solid 6 home runs in 28 games. He's an excellent defender and did not make 1 error at 2nd base in 23 starts. He should be the Nationals opening day 2nd basemen.

RHP A.J. Cole- The Nationals 4th round pick in 2010 was suppose to go in the first round, but dropped because of signability. When the Nationals drafted the high school righty, they planned on giving him a nice bonus, and getting him into their minor league system, and that is what they did. The righty passed up his scholarship to the University of Miami, and took the 2 million dollar signing bonus. He should take a while to develop, but he could potentially be a steal.

C Derek Norris- Norris is a powerful young catcher, who struggled with his batting average as a 21 year old. He had 12 home runs and 19 doubles in 94 games. The highlight of his year was his plate discipline. Even though he struck out 94 times, he had 89 walks. He's a long term project and other prospects Wilson Ramos should contribute before he does.

Payroll and Direction- The Nationals are headed in the right direction, especially with Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper in their near future. They don't have the top prospects besides Bryce Harper, but they are finally throwing some money around signing Adam Laroche and Jayson Werth. They only had a payroll of 67 million last year, but it will be considerably higher now that Jayson Werth is making 18 million a year. Give the Nationals 2 or 3 years and they'll be fighting for the NL East pennant.