:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/24836571/20131120_mjr_su5_048.0.jpg)
Brian Goodwin was named Washington's top outfield prospect by Baseball America earlier this fall, and was ranked the third prospect in the organization overall as he finished up his 2013 season in the outfield in his second stint in the Arizona Fall League, the so-called "finishing school" for the game's top prospects.
Goodwin followed a full season at Double-A Harrisburg, where the 23-year-old, 2011 Nationals' 1st Round pick put up a .252/.355/.407 line with 19 doubles, 11 triples, 10 home runs and 19 stolen bases in 30 attempts over 122 games and 533 plate appearances in his second full season in the Nationals' system, with a 19-game run in Arizona in which he put up a .296/.333/.444 line with four doubles, a triple, two home runs and three stolen bases in 88 PAs for the AFL East division-winning Mesa Solar Sox.
Goodwin was one of six outfielders named to the Arizona Fall League's Top Prospects team tonight.
The Arizona Fall League announces its 2013 Top Prospects Team. http://t.co/0z3xQzAcZk
— Arizona Fall League (@MLBazFallLeague) December 9, 2013
In a profile of Goodwin in October (included below), MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo said the outfielder "has the ability" to lead off and play center at the major league level at some point in the future. "He's not just a guy on top of the order who will get on base and steal bases," Mr. Mayo says in the video, "but I think he's going to have a little more power than your sort of, general, run-of-the-mill leadoff hitter."
Denard Span, who is under contract for 2014 (at $6.5M) with a $9M club option for 2015 (w/ a $500K buyout), was acquired from the Minnesota Twins last winter to play center in D.C. until the next generation of Nationals' outfielders were ready to play in the majors.
Denard Span In D.C.: Year One
Photo © Jonathan Ernst/Getty Images
"We think we've got guys in the system that fill this role," Rizzo told reporters last November. "But they're years away. They're in the pipeline and we're looking for big things from them down the road."
With Goodwin and 22-year-old, 2009 6th Round pick Michael Taylor (7th on BA's Top 10) who is currently tearing up Liga de Beisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente pitching, posting a .358/.393/.491 line in 26 games for the Indios de Mayaguez, the Nationals definitely have some options to keep center field in the nation's capital covered in the organization after years after struggling to find a center fielder through signings and trades.
