February 25, 2013; Clearwater, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers second baseman Jeff Kobernus (46) hits a single in the fifth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Bright House Networks Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Kobernus was a second round pick in 2009, and is seen as a potential utility infielder and wasn’t going to stick in Detroit, who actually traded a player to Boston for the right to see him up close. Not surprisingly, the Nationals took him back instead of trying to complete a trade. Kobernus doesn’t have the hype of an Anthony Rendon or Matt Skole but with his start so far in Syracuse, may be a better prospect than people give him credit for.

Through four games, Kobernus is 8/14 with one home run and five RBI. Not only that, but he also has drawn four walks for a pretty insane line of .571/.632/.786. Yes, it’s only four games, but last year was .282/.325/.333 in 82 games at AA Harrisburg so he isn’t completely useless with the bat. He was a piece that Washington probably wasn’t going to miss had he stuck with the Tigers but having him the organization is something that has the potential to be interesting.

The Nationals already have a utility infielder in Steve Lombardozzi who was extremely useful when the team had injuries to Jayson Werth and Ian Desmond. Having Kobernus, whose bat can still develop is a wild card the same way that having Corey Brown and Eury Perez is. You can never have too many players. The fact that Washington had so many players taken away in the Rule 5 draft is a testament to that. Kobernus may only be a bench player in the future, but his start in AAA should be raising some eyebrows.

I didn’t like the fact that Detroit had taken Kobernus, but the fact he is back in the fold and off to a strong start is nice to see. He may not have been heard of before (and maybe even after) he was taken away from the Nationals but it’s someone worth keeping an eye on.

March 07, 2012; Melbourne, FL, USA; Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon (6) at bat during the spring training game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Space Coast Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports

In light of the recent Top Prospect lists published by MLB.com, Baseball America, and Fansided’s own Seedlings to Stars, we here at DoD have decided to compile our own Top Ten Nationals Prospect list. With prospect lists from myself, Editor Jared Book, Staff Writer Andy Linder, and All Over The Hill Editor Michael Natelli, we will come up with a consensus top ten list by combining each of the submitted lists. In a few days, we will start publishing our prospect rankings, starting with #10 and making our way down to #1. Each post will include comments from the rankers and the lowdown on the prospect, so keep an eye out for these posts coming soon!

July 17, 2012; Washington, D.C., USA; Washington Nationals first round draft pick Lucas Giolito in the dugout before a game against the New York Mets at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

After looking at Baseball America’s list a few weeks ago, both Fangraphs and MinorLeagueBall have announced their Nationals top prospects list. There isn’t much difference surrounding all of the lists as all of the prospect experts see the same few prospects at the top, and some solid, if unspectacular depth throughout the rest of the system.

John Sickels put the top-three as Anthony Rendon, Brian Goodwin and Lucas Giolito. He penalizes both Rendon and Giolito for their injury concerns and both would have been rated higher if it was based solely on their baseball-playing ability but as we know with prospects – it never is. He even goes as far as insinuating he would have had Giolito at the top of the list if he would have been assured of his recovery from Tommy John surgery.

“A healthy Giolito is a Grade A prospect, but Tommy John recovery is not automatic and we can’t assume that Lucas will follow the same path as Jordan Zimmermann and Stephen Strasburg,” Sickels wrote.

Over at Fangraphs, Marc Hulet has a slightly different order putting Goodwin above Rendon and Giolito. Also of note is that Hulet did not have left-handed pitcher Matt Purke in his top-15 (Sickels had him at #8.) Purke is another Nationals prospect who dropped due to injury concerns. The Nationals seem content to pick up prospects with upside and some injury history and with their touch when it comes to handling players after a major surgery to date, who can blame them?

Another name to keep an eye on who is high on every prospect list is Matt Skole. He made a name for himself with a very solid Fall season and has the power to play either corner infield spot giving the Nationals some room to maneuver with Rendon and his future position.

Also of note, the Nationals top-10 prospects from last year at Fangraphs was completed before the Gio Gonzalez trade. So from that list, five are no longer considered: Bryce Harper was #1 and has graduated, A.J Cole, Brad Peacock and Derek Norris were #3, 7 and 9 before being traded to Oakland and #4 on the list last year was Alex Meyer who was traded to Minnesota for Denard Span. Any system that loses that many quality players is bound to see a little bit of a drop, but the consensus is that the Nationals do have some very good upside down the road if some of the prospects reach their ceiling or anything close to it but as with any prospects there is some risk involved and the Nationals top prospects all have more risk than some of their counterparts.