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BK: You have to give a lot of credit to Jim Bowden and the scouting and player development departments for turning things around.

JIM: You know it was tough, the last few years in Montreal, they really had a skeleton staff. One of the things that personally made me very happy was Dana Brown kept that scouting department together with a lot fewer resources than any other club the last few years in Montreal. I thought it was great that the when they moved to Washington. He kept his job and looks like he will be able to stay on for awhile and work with a full staff. I think what they are (accomplishing) is showing and now that they have full resources, they can be aggressive and go out and sign players. There drafts weren’t that bad in Montreal. They weren’t deep drafts but they found some good players. So now they are getting some good players and building some depth.

BK: Lets get specific then with a couple of the players in your top 10. Look at the lefthanders on the list: Ross Detwiler, Jack McGeary, Josh Smoker and John Lannan.

JIM: The Nats have an impressive list of lefties and that’s a product of the draft last year. Detwiler, Smoker and McGeary weren’t a part of the franchise last year and were found in the draft, so that’s definitely an area where they have really stepped up. Glenn Gibson was another leftie (that was on this list) that they traded for Elijah Dukes. John Lannan wasn’t that highly regarded, an 11th round pick out of Siena, he doesn’t blow you away with his stuff but he can really pitch. At the beginning of the year he had never even pitched in low A and by the end of the year he was holding his own with Nats on the major league level.

BK: On the team’s outfield situation after trading for Dukes and Lastings Milledge, does that help to give a little breathing room for Chris Marrero, Justin Maxwell, Jake Smolinski and Michael Burgess to develop without pressure of forcing them into the majors too early?

JIM: I don’t think the Nationals would have rushed those younger guys anyway. I think they are going to let guys develop at their own pace. With that said, you get Dukes and Milledge, those guys are ready to play in the Majors. As we know, those guys weren’t traded because they weren’t ready or for a lack of talent, they were traded because of concerns about their makeup. If Dukes and Milledge can get the job done on the field and helps boost the offense and then you won’t have to rush the (younger) guys. With a guy like Marrero, especially now he that I think he will be playing primarily first base, he is going to be focusing mainly on the bat. Its not like first base is as challenging as third base or left field was so I think Marrero can move (up) pretty quick. Maxwell got up there at the end of last year. I think you will see him up fairly quick (as well). Some of the other guys like Burgess and Smolinski, it will take them a little bit longer.

BK: Is Chris Marrero’s future in the majors at 1st base?

JIM: Yes, I think that’s what it will have to be for Marrero defensively. In 2006, he was considered the best all around high school player in the draft. Pretty good athlete, I think his speed is mediocre. He’s got a strong arm but wasn’t real good in the outfield. He played a lot of first base in the instructional league and that seems to be the plan this year. He will start at Double A. He’s only 19, turns 20 during the season, so he’s probably got another couple of years before he gets to the majors. Most cases you are worrying about what is best for the player rather than putting him in a spot that the team may have a vacancy. I think you put him in a position that the team thinks he can handle which is what the Nats are doing with Marrero and then you worry about how he gets into the big league lineup when he is ready for the big leagues. They’ve got at least 18 months in deciding what they are going to do in Nick Johnson vs. Dmitri Young vs. Chris Marrero. When he is ready they will deal with it. I have heard this many times, it’s never a problem to have too much talent. A lot of times you may seem overloaded at one position and then the next year you don’t have any depth there at all based on injuries or trades or whatever. Sounds like what we have been told is that Marrero will be a full time first baseman this year.

BK: Former Yankees pitcher Tyler Clippard at #12, he’s going to get a good chance to make the club.

JIM: It’s funny, you know, Yankees fans are a breed of their own. I can’t tell you how many emails I got over the years about how we don’t mention Clippard enough, and then after he gets traded to the Nats those emails shockingly stopped. But, if you look at Clippard, his numbers in the minors have always been better than his stuff. His stuff is fine, its average, its not plus stuff, he’s not going to blow guys away, but he’s always put up pretty good numbers. I think he is more of a 4 or 5 starter. I do like the trade. It comes down to him just commanding his pitches. He got his chance with the Yankees last year. I think, as with a lot of pitchers, he tried to be too fine, didn’t throw strikes, fell behind in the count and got hit. But if he just trusts his stuff I think he can be like a John Lannan-type pitcher for the Nationals where you get some decent rotation from the back of the rotation.

BK: Anyone else jump out at you from the list of Nats prospects?

JIM: Michael Burgess is one of the best hitters in the draft. He came out and had a great debut. I think one guy that will be interesting to watch is 1B Matt Whitney, who was a supplemental first round pick from the Indians, who wound up breaking a leg in a pick up basketball game, is on the come back trail and he’s got a real good bat. One guy that fascinates me and had a really good year is RHP Adam Carr. Carr was one of the top home run hitters in college baseball and played at Oklahoma State. Pros looked at him as just an aluminum bat hitter but the Nats saw him working out in the bullpen. He didn’t even pitch his senior year. The Nats drafted him as a pitcher. Now he is a hard throwing reliever and is #13 on our list. And he continues to interest me in that the Nats saw something in this guy that no one else saw. A lot of times guys throw hard, you convert him to pitcher and it doesn’t necessarily work out. But in Carr’s case its working out very well and you could seem him pitching in relief in Washington in a year or two.

Jim Callis is the Executive Editor of Baseball America and joins me throughout the season on Nationals minor league issues.

WASHINGTON’S TOP 20 PROSPECTS
BASEBALL AMERICA

1. Chris Marrero, 1B/OF
2. Ross Detwiler, LHP
3. Collin Balester, RHP
4. Michael Burgess, OF
5. Jack McGeary, LHP
6. Josh Smoker, LHP
7. Jordan Zimmermann, RHP
8. Justin Maxwell, OF
9. Colton Willems, RHP
10. John Lannan, LHP
11. Jake Smolinski, OF
12. Tyler Clippard, RHP
13. Adam Carr, RHP
14. Ian Desmond, SS
15. Garrett Mock, RHP
16. Stephen King, SS
17. Esmailyn Gonzalez, SS
18. Shairon Martis, RHP
19. Brad Peacock, RHP
20. Kory Casto, OF/3B

Byron Kerr. Can be heard weekdays 11:00am to 3:00pm on WTOP radio doing the sports updates and is a host on MASN's Nats Xtra. Byron watched the Omaha Royals growing up, thought the Glenn Davis trade was going to be a good one for the Orioles and attended the University of Virginia.