Today, the Cardinals kick off a two-game series at home against the Washington Nationals.  I asked Brian Oliver, who follows the minor league teams at Nationals Farm Authority, five questions about the farm system.  His answers follow the jump.

1). Let’s start with a draft question. I read on MLBTraderumors that the Nationals are playing coy with who they’re going to draft.  If they don’t have concerns about his makeup, there’s no reasonable conclusion other than the Nationals drafting Bryce Harper, right?

I still believe Harper is the clear cut guy. He has done nothing to dissuade me from that opinion. If he stays healthy over the next three weeks, I believe he is a lead pipe lock for #1 overall.

2) Outside of Ryan Zimmerman, the Nationals don’t have any position players locked into long term deals that seem like above average players. Is there anyone in the upper minors that looks like they could step in during 2011 and make in impact on the team offensively?

Impact player? No. The Nationals have stated that they are focused on developing arms and signing or trading for bats. I personally don’t agree with that strategy. The highest ceiling bats in the upper minors are Danny Espinosa and Chris Marrero, both at Double-A. Neither guys seems to be an above average guy. The closest guy is Potomac (High A) catcher Derek Norris, who has big offensive potential; he just needs to show he can stay behind the plate.

3) I’m not sure the Nationals had any other draft picks in 2009 beyond Strasburg. The front office just went to sleep on draft day after that right? I kid. Tell me about Drew Storen, the Nationals 2nd pick from the 2009 draft.

Storen was their compensation pick for not signing Aaron Crow in 2008. He is a guy who is going to be in the majors soon [Ed. note: Shortly after this Q&A exchange, Storen was called up to the majors.], pitching out of the bullpen. He was signed quickly to a below slot deal and has some future closer promise. Aside from Strasburg and Storen, they really did not take any other high ceiling guys. Primarily college players who have the potential to develop into role player to average major leaguers.

4) Does Washington dabble much in the international prospect market? I can’t recall hearing their name connected to any international signings in recent years.  Is this an area that Jim Bowden neglected?

No, they don’t. There progress internationally has been really poor. Bowden fouled things up internationally (among other places) but Mike Rizzo really has not shown the desire to jump into that pool. I am still holding out for their first foray into the Pacific Rim in any way. I will give them credit for being in on Aroldis Chapman, but there is no prize for second place.

5) We all know Stephen Strasburg is going to be phenomenal. For the Cardinals, we followed Colby Rasmus for 4 years before he broke into the majors. Strasburg looks set to do so after about 4-8 weeks in the minors. How exciting is it to watch what he’s done so far being a fan of the Nationals?

Strasburg has been amazing. He entered the 2009 season as the clear cut favorite to go #1 overall and did nothing to change that mindset. Not only does he have the ability, it appears he is willing to listen to coaches and teammates about what it takes to get better. Having such a premium guy is nice to have on the heels of two 100+ loss seasons. I don’t believe he is going to be among the top pitchers in the majors from day one, but he is going to be fun to watch.

Many thanks to Brian for taking the time to answer my questions. You can find more of his work at Nationals Farm Authority.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 17th, 2010 at 10:00 am and is filed under Five Questions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.