The Washington Nationals have quickly and quietly built one of the better young cores in all of baseball. They're not led by veterans like Bryce Harper and Max Scherzer like they were a few years ago. Instead, they've been replaced with stars like Dylan Crews and MacKenzie Gore.
The Nationals have landed multiple top draft picks over the last few years as well as a few blockbuster trades over the last few years. This has built up a roster with talent from top to bottom with a majority of it being players in their early to mid 20's.
They've built this roster through commitment to the farm system.
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Nationals' young core is a product of commitment to the farm system
While the aforementioned Crews was a product of the MLB Draft a few seasons ago, a lot of this young core was built in a few major trades, namely the Juan Soto deal that sent Soto to the San Diego Padres a few seasons ago.
In return for Soto, the Nationals landed Luke Voit, Jarlin Susana, Robert Hassell III, James Wood, CJ Abrams, and the aforementioned Gore.
Voit is out of Major League Baseball and playing in a professional league in Mexico. He didn't make much of an impact. Susana is one of the more underrated pieces of this trade. He's still just 21 years old despite the deal taking place years ago. The right-handed pitcher is the No. 2 ranked prospect in the Nationals' system and the No. 66 ranked prospect in all of baseball, according to MLB Pipeline.
Hassell has been a bit of a let down, but it's impossible to call him a bust in this deal yet. He's 23 years old, banging on the door of the big leagues, and a top prospect in the Nationals' system.
The trio of Gore, Wood, and Abrams is where the Nationals won the trade. Each of these three have flashed All-Star potential in their young big league careers. They all look to be stars in the league with the potential to grow into true superstars.
The Nationals' commitment to the farm system is paying off in a huge way and it all stems around the massive Soto trade that landed them a plethora of young talent.