Nationals & affiliates websites-Updated for 2009

[Aa3rt]

Here are links to the websites for the Washington Nationals and all their minor league affiliates for the 2007 season:

Washington Nationals: Nationals website (http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=was)

Columbus Clippers, International League, AAA: Columbus Clippers website (http://www.clippersbaseball.com)

Harrisburg Senators, Eastern League, AA: Harrisburg Senators website (http://www.senatorsbaseball.com)

Potomac Nationals, Carolina League, A: Potomac Nationals website (http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp?sid=t436)

Hagerstown Suns, South Atlantic (SALLY) League, A: Hagerstown Suns website (http://www.hagerstownsuns.com)

Vermont Lake Monsters, New York-Penn League (short season), A: Vermont Lake Monsters website (http://www.vermontlakemonsters.com)

Gulf Coast Nationals, Gulf Coast League, Rookie: Gulf Coast Nationals website (http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/clubs/ip_index.jsp?sid=milb&cid=t466)

[PJ-34]

Wow, the Lake Monsters are a Rookie League club and they have a better website than the Chiefs!!!

http://www.syracusechiefs.com

[Aa3rt]

With the regular season having ended for the parent Nationals, here's a quick rundown of how the minor league affiliates fared during the 2007 season:

AAA Columbus Clippers 64-80, .444 18.5 GB in the 4 team International League West Division.

AA Harrisburg Senators 55-86, .390 26.5 GB in the Eastern League Southern Division.

A Potomac Nationals 40-29 (2nd Half), .580 5 GB in the Carolina League Northern Division.

A Hagerstown Suns 55-81, .404 27 GB in the Sally League Northern Division.

A (Short Season) Vermont Lake Monsters 38-37, 5.5 GB in the New York-Penn League Stedler Division.

Rookie Gulf Coast League Nationals 23-31, .426 16.5 GB in the Gulf Coast League Eastern Division.

Overall, Nationals affiliates didn't fare too well either. Is this attributable to the farm system having been decimated during the stint when MLB "owned" the Expos/Nationals franchise or is there another explanation?

To be fair, I didn't check up on how minor league affiliates of other teams did. Does a winning minor league system necessarily translate into winning at the major league level? (Particularly in these days of free agency?)

[sds416]

Just cruising through...

As far as the Nats minor league system, several factors...

1. There is a certain "recovery" factor to the results of the minor league system being ignored for so long under MLB ownership.

2. Although Baseball America has thought very highly of the draft choices the Nats have made over the past few years, the Nats have been unable to sign many of these players. They have been extremely cheap in terms of initial offers and many players have chosen not to sign and go back into the draft rather than sign with Washington.

3. Morale at the minor league level. It is awful. Everything is done 4th rate, on the cheap. Every dollar and cent is monitored like crazy. Simple things like sunflower seeds for the dugout come out of the players pockets. Even more simple, and important things like bats are in short supply sometimes. It's absolutely pathetic what some of these kids are going through in what is supposed to be professional baseball.

[Peorgie T]

Which picks did they not sign?

[sds416]

The Nats were able to sign a majority of their 2007 draft picks, however in 2006 they lost 2nd rounder Sean Black, 7th rounder Sam Brown, and 9th rounder Joey Rosas, among othres. Black was a steal to fall to round 2, many figured him gone by the middle of round 1. Brown was one of the top 10 lefty arms available according to some scouts and Rosas was a nice find in the 9th. All would have helped bolster an organization that has been been pitching deficient, however Washington couldn't get any of these guys signed.

The most contentious was the Black negotiations. The Nats were SUPER cheap on their offer and it cost them.

[riredsox]

It would be great if winning in the minors translated to winning in the majors, but it doesn't happen. 1 reason is that there are guys who, for one reason or another, excell in the minors, but don't have the ability to play in the majors (4-A is a term a lot of them get). It's a shame to waste a draft pick on one, but it happens sometimes, and when it does, it's unfortunate. Few people realize that of the thousands of players in the minors, only a small percentage will ever make it to the majors, and of the few that do, most don't make a big enough impact to help out the major-league club.

[Aa3rt]

While the rest of the organization has remained surprisingly stable, there were no changes in affiliates for 2008, the Nationals new AAA team is the Syracuse Chiefs, a franchise the Washington Senators had a working agreement with way back in the early 1960's.

Here's the link: Syracuse Chiefs website (http://syracuse.chiefs.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t552)