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Nats try camp within a camp

February 22, 2007 12:35 am

BY TODD JACOBSON

VIERA, Fla.--The big leaguers had left, carrying their bags and bats back to Space Coast Stadium, and most of the fans lining the fences and waiting for autographs were gone, too, as the afternoon sun began to beat down on the back fields at the Washington Nationals' minor league complex.

Right-hander Collin Balester, at 20 years old already one of the Nationals' top prospects, stood on a bullpen mound, digging into his glove and gripping the ball for a changeup.

A few minutes earlier, first-year Nationals manager Manny Acta addressed the 42 players assembled as part of Washington's minor league accelerated development program, delivering a simple message.

The players--especially the prospects that will fill the team's minor leagues this season--are part of the team's minor league accelerated development program.

They are the team's future, and the Nationals would be watching closely.

"You never know. Anything could happen," said Balester, who was watched by a group of coaches but few others as he fired pitch after pitch during an afternoon bullpen session.

"One good bullpen could get you a couple innings [with the big league club] and anything can happen," he added. "My attitude is to keep throwing the way you are throwing and someone is going to see me sooner or later and my time will come."

The players range in age from 17 to 33 (veterans Tony Bastista and Dmitri Young are here, too, trying to resurrect their careers), and include plenty of talent.

Eight of the team's top 10 prospects as ranked by Baseball America are here, including Balester, the team's top prospect. Nine picks from last year's First-Year Player Draft are also taking part in the program, including first baseman Chris Marrero, the team's top pick.

Esmailyn Gonzalez, the 17-year-old Dominican shortstop who this summer received a $1.4 million signing bonus, made his United States debut yesterday, fielding groundballs, taking batting practice and being timed in a 300-yard shuttle run.

"I'm ready, and I want to get going," he said through an interpreter when he arrived in camp Monday.

The Nationals are anxious, too, because the group of 40 prospects that took the field yesterday afternoon represents an ambitious plan to revamp the team's scouting and player development system.

"We need for those guys to be stars in the future for us and build our club around them with the good core group of guys we have already," said Mike Rizzo, the Nationals' vice president for baseball operations. "We have to continue to pile on and pile on pitching and we're building something here that's going to be exciting in the long term."

So in many ways, what is happening on a cloverleaf of baseball fields behind the team's minor league complex is as important as what's happening at Space Coast Stadium, where the Nationals' big leaguers are preparing for what could be a dismal season.

Since a group led by Theodore Lerner took over the franchise last summer, team officials have pledged to rebuild the franchise by first sinking money into scouting and player development.

The team's minor league system had deteriorated during Major League Baseball's four-year stewardship of the franchise. There is still a long ways to go, said Bob Boone, the Nationals vice president in charge of player development, but plenty of progress has been made in the last year.

"With the trades and the draft we've upgraded our minor leagues significantly," Boone said. "It's going to be a slow process of rebuilding but we made some great strides last year and I think we're going to make some big strides this year. This is the first visible step we're seeing."

The accelerated program allows for the team's top prospects to get a jump-start on minor league spring training, which doesn't start for another two weeks, and special attention from a cadre of coaches.

They'll play a packed schedule of games, similar to big league spring training, and some of the players could be called up for big league games. Perhaps most importantly, the players will get plenty of individual instruction.

At least a dozen coaches milled around the field yesterday as the workout began.

Spin Williams, the team's minor league pitching coordinator, watched Balester and right-hander Adam Carr throw in the bullpen. Boone and Bob Henley offered tips Erick San Pedro and a group of catchers, and Tim Foli, the Nationals' minor league hitting coordinator, slapped groundballs to Marrero and a group of infielders.

"It's good to get a head start," Marrero said. "It's good to know that everyone is watching you."

Though he didn't stay for the entire workout, Acta made it a point to address the players before they went on the field, and he milled around as the prospects warmed up.

Pitching coach Randy St. Claire stopped by later to watch the bullpen sessions of a handful of pitchers.

"We've got to let those kids know we are paying attention to them," Acta said. "Those kids are part of the future here and we're going to stop by over there and also, we have to go over there and kind of let them know the way we want them to play the baseball game. We want continuity."

Todd Jacobson: 540/735-1974
Email: tjacobson@freelancestar.com