Jim Bowden: Nats prospecting for gold this offseason

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - As we enter the middle of August, offseason planning is in full swing. Our baseball operations staff has begun to make offseason plans for all major league and minor league players. The offseason is not a time to sit around for five months. Players need to get into shape, make personal improvements and become better ballplayers.

When the season ends, all players are issued a personalized conditioning program designed by either major league head trainer, Tim Abraham, or minor league training coordinator, Steve Gober. The goal is to get all players in top playing shape for when they arrive to spring training. This will give players more time to work with coaches on improving their game, rather than spending the time getting into shape.

The offseason is also used to accelerate a young player’s development. By playing in any one of several winter leagues, players can work on weaknesses, make up for time missed to injury and even skip a level in the minors.

The Arizona Fall League is a collection of each team’s top high-level prospects. Each team can send seven players to the Fall League. They must have at least reached Double-A by Aug. 1 of this season, but not yet accumulated one year of major league service time. Last year, we sent Ryan Zimmerman. He definitely was aided playing in the league. One player we want to gain the same sort of experience this year is left fielder Kory Casto. He’s one of our top hitting prospects and is having a phenomenal season in Double-A Harrisburg. He would be a logical choice for a September call-up. Unfortunately for him, we already have a pretty good left fielder. We hope the Arizona Fall League will provide Kory with enough experience playing against other teams’ top talent, so that by next spring training, he can fight for a spot on our major league roster.

This offseason will see the return of Major League Baseball’s relationship with the Hawaiian Winter Baseball League. The Hawaiian Winter Baseball League is designed for players below the competitive level of the Arizona Fall League, particularly players in A-ball or below and those who participated in Double-A for the first time this past season. The rosters will also constitute Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and native Hawaiian players. Among the players we plan on sending: shortstop Ian Desmond and pitcher Marco Estrada. Ian is a promising young shortstop, currently in high Class A Potomac. He is an exciting young player who has demonstrated good range with a strong arm. We hope he will use this experience to find a consistent approach at the plate. Marco is a starting pitcher drafted last year, currently in Low-A Savannah. He has shown a promising repertoire of pitches, but was limited this season due to injuries. We hope we will regain some the development time lost to injuries.

Winter ball is not only for minor league players. We have spoken to Ryan Church about playing in the Mexican League. This league consists of many veteran players and has a reputation of being a breaking ball league. This should give Ryan the opportunity to develop hitting the soft pitch away. If he can make this adjustment, it will improve his chances for next season.

While the regular season may end Oct. 1, next year will actually be beginning.

As told to The Examiner’s John Keim. Nationals General Manager Jim Bowden provides an exclusive column to The Examiner each week, ranging on topics from the Nats to the state of Major League Baseball.