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Scottish Sun
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Scottish Sun
John Swinney insists he will not quit despite Nats' Holyrood by-election disaster
The First Minister doesn't intend to resign after losing the formerly safe seat of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse Going Nowhere Going Nowhere John Swinney insists he will not quit despite Nats' Holyrood by-election disaster JOHN Swinney yesterday insisted he will not quit despite Nats' Holyrood by-election disaster. The First Minister shrugged off calls from SNP grandees to resign after losing the formerly safe seat of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse to Labour. 2 The First MInister did hint that a long-rumoured cabinet reshuffle is imminent Credit: PA 2 Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar accused Mr Swinney of pushing voters to Reform UK. Credit: Getty Former deputy leader Jim Sillars and ex-Cabinet minister Alex Neil urged him to end his year-long reign. But Mr Swinney claimed Nats are making 'real progress' on key policies. He said: 'Twelve months ago, the party turned to me at a moment of real jeopardy. "It asked me to use all my skills and experience to bring people together. 'We will win again.' But he did signal a long-rumoured cabinet reshuffle is imminent, saying: 'I'll have to look at the team.' And he failed to rule out a fresh coalition with Greens if the SNP fall well short of a majority at next year's Holyrood election, as polls suggest. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar accused Mr Swinney of pushing voters to Reform UK. His deputy Jackie Baillie said: 'Far from steadying the ship, John Swinney has sailed the SNP into another iceberg.'
New York Times
06-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Washington Nationals 2025 top 20 prospects: Dylan Crews, Seaver King lead the way
A great draft class in 2024 massively boosted the Nats' system, which was pretty top-heavy before that and graduated one of those top prospects, James Wood, last season. They're a little lighter on up-the-middle position players, stronger on the corners and now on the mound with some high-ceiling arms who carry some bullpen risk. (Note: Tools are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale; ages as of July 1, 2025.) Advertisement Crews was the second pick in the 2023 draft and made his major-league debut about 13 months after signing, advancing quickly through the minors as expected but without the dominance that most people anticipated. Crews hit .274/.343/446 in Double A, in a good hitters' park in Harrisburg, and .265/.340/.455 at Triple-A Rochester. It was a solid performance, boosted by above-average defense in center field, but he's not just any prospect — he won the 2023 Golden Spikes award after starring at LSU and beating up on SEC pitching for three years. The good news is that his batted-ball data points to better results going forward, as he ran into some bad luck in the majors despite hitting the ball pretty hard in a small sample; his hard-hit rates in Triple A (43.3 percent) and the majors (44.7 percent) were both above the median, even though he was just 22 and young for both levels. He's closed off some of the trouble he had in 2023 with fastballs up in the zone, and missed just 10 percent of the fastballs he swung at in the majors. He hit lefties fine in his brief sample in the big leagues as well, struggling mostly against breaking stuff from righties, especially down and away. Even with the tepid performance in the high minors, he still shows the underlying characteristics of an above-average hitter in the big leagues, and that coupled with what is probably grade 55 defense in center — or plus if he moves to a corner at any point — would still make him at least a consistent 3-4 WAR player right now. I'm still hopeful there's more upside here with the bat than he's demonstrated in his year-plus in pro ball. King spent two years at Division II Wingate University, then transferred to Wake Forest for his junior year and excelled for the Deacons despite the huge jump in competition, hitting .308/.377/.577 with just a 12 percent strikeout rate. He mostly played third base and center field for Wake, occasionally moving to shortstop when Marek Houston was hurt or needed a day off, but the Nats took King with the No. 10 pick and only played him at short in his pro debut. He's a 55 defender there now and could still improve given his lack of experience and limited instruction. He's got a quick bat and is very aggressive at the plate, especially early in counts, because he can put so many pitches in play, even ones out of the zone — for now, at least, as that doesn't always work as you get farther up the ladder. He's got sneaky pop, maybe good for 15 homers a year, but his game is going to be much more about hitting for contact and average, since his current swing doesn't get a ton of lift on the ball. His 55/60 speed makes him a solid defender in center if shortstop doesn't work out, but he's most valuable at short and I think he's going to hit more than enough to be a very good regular there. Advertisement Sykora was the first pick on Day 2 of the 2023 draft, and signed with Washington for a first-round bonus. All he did in 2024 was pitch like a first-rounder, as he struck out 39.2 percent of Low-A hitters he faced and walked just 8.2 percent in 85 innings across 20 starts, posting a 2.33 ERA. He's a giant already, and his delivery has arms and legs flying everywhere, so it must be terrifying for hitters to see all of that mass coming toward them, followed by a small projectile that might be moving at 99 mph. He sits more 93-96, with a slider that ranged from the upper 70s to the mid-80s with short but abrupt downward break, and a heavy split-change around 83-85, with both of the offspeed pitches missing a ton of bats this year. The arm is still kind of late relative to his front leg, and all the moving parts in the delivery make me suspect it'll always be more control than command for him. He also doesn't seem to pitch down with his four-seamer at all, which might not be an issue but strikes me as unusual. Sykora pitched like a future ace last year, and he has two pitches that could get him there. He may have simply out-stuffed Low-A hitters, however, and I would like to see him do it against more advanced hitters before buying in completely. I've been a Brady House believer since his pro debut, more or less, but his Triple-A debut last year was scary because it confirmed all of the concerns I'd had and heard about him before: in 236 PA at that level, he struck out 68 times and walked (Count von Count voice) one, two, three, four, five, six, seven times. That's a walk rate under 3 percent, with a strikeout rate of almost 29 percent. House was young for the level at 21 and spent less than a full year in Double A — he only had 641 pro PA before 2024 — so there are reasons to dismiss or at least deprecate what he did in Triple A, but his propensity to chase pitches out of the zone was always there; he got away with it at lower levels because he's so strong and his bat is so quick. House swung at fastballs out of the zone 50 percent of the time in Triple A, and his overall chase rate of 43 percent is just unsustainable. His exit velocities at the level were strong, but not elite, and he still played solid defense at third. He has to calm way the heck down at the plate to be the Nats' third baseman of the future. Susana sits 99-101 as a starter and can hold 97+ deep into outings, with a hard slurve at 88-91, and that's how he struck out 35.3 percent of the batters he faced between Low A and High A last year — 157 strikeouts in total in 103 2/3 innings. He comes from a low three-quarters slot that makes him deadly to right-handers, but gives lefties a long look at the ball and makes it hard for him to locate to his glove side. He allowed a .407 OBP to left-handed batters last year, walking them 17.6 percent of the time. He just turned 21, giving him time to find a third pitch and develop his command and control; right now I think he's a high-upside reliever, with maybe a 5-10 percent chance that he ends up a starter — but a very good one if he does. Advertisement The Nats got a steal in the third round when they took Bazzell out of Texas Tech, where he'd hit .307/.401/.473 with a 10 percent strikeout rate, announcing him as a catcher after he'd split time between there and third base as an amateur. He doesn't chase pitches out of the zone and has excellent feel for contact, whiffing on pitches in the strike zone just 5 percent of the time last spring. His swing doesn't have a ton of loft in it and he projects to 45 power, so he has to catch, and with limited experience there he has to work to catch up, with maybe 45 defense at the moment but good enough actions to project him to average. If he gets there, even without much power, he'll be a regular. Acquired from Cleveland with José Tena and Rafael Ramirez Jr. in the Lane Thomas trade, Clemmey is a big, athletic lefty who has a chance for two plus pitches but right now has 40 control. He was up to 100 as an amateur with a violent delivery, working more 93-95 mph last year after Cleveland tried to reduce some of that effort so he could throw more strikes. His mid-80s slider is a 55 and could end up plus if he was more consistent with it, while his changeup is still a work in progress that he'll have to throw more this year. He has huge upside in the rotation, with no real floor given his walk rates to date (16.1 percent last year), meaning there's a chance he doesn't see the majors at all. Cavalli blew out his elbow right after making his big-league debut in 2022, returned last year to make three rehab starts where he looked a lot like he did pre-injury, but then he caught COVID-19 and was unable to return to pitching after June. He's got big velocity, a 12/6 curveball, a straight changeup, and a short slider, with the potential for a solid four-pitch mix that gets righties and lefties out. He's lost essentially two full years now, however, and will need more time to ramp up, so while there's still mid-rotation starter potential he might not get there until he's 27 or 28. Dickerson was the Nats' second-round pick — third Nationals' pick overall — last year, taking home a first-round bonus to sign him away from his commitment to Virginia. He's got a powerful right-handed swing and is a plus runner underway, a shortstop for now who would probably slide to center field if he can't stick at his current position. He projects to above-average to plus power as he fills out, with more questions about his ability to hit good velocity; scouts had questions about his bat speed before the draft. He's an excellent athlete who should be able to make adjustments on both sides of the ball as needed. He's an interesting upside play in a draft where the Nats otherwise were heavy on good college picks, and he has an above-average regular ceiling at short or in center. Stuart was the Mets' sixth-round pick in 2022 and came to the Nats in the Jesse Winker trade this past summer, after which he was dominant in four starts in Double A and then struggled with the strike zone in four starts in Triple A. He works with a 55 slider and 50/55 changeup along with a mid-90s four-seamer that doesn't have much life, plus a two-seamer and cutter he doesn't use much, with most of his stuff playing up a little because he's 6-9 and gets some extra deception from it. He doesn't extend well at all over his front side, however, which seems like a giant waste of being that tall; if he finished better out front, the slider would probably be plus, and hitters would have so little time to react to what he's throwing that he'd probably miss a lot more bats. Right now he looks like a back-end starter. I just see the potential for a lot more. The Nats took Lomavita with their second pick in 2024, a selection they acquired the day before the draft in the trade that sent Hunter Harvey to the Royals. Lomavita is a plus defensive catcher who can run and is an excellent athlete, with the defensive foundation to catch in the big leagues for a long time, but the guy swings at absolutely everything. He rarely walked in college and chased stuff out of the zone way too easily, and he has to cut that down to have any shot at being a regular or even more than an emergency backup. He does have contact skills and enough strength for 10-12 homers a year, so it all comes down to developing a real plan at the plate, rather than just swinging regardless of where the pitch is going. Morales missed about half of 2024 after injuring his thumb on a slide into home, and he was off to a rough start in Double A before the injury, hitting just two homers in April and May combined. He's strong enough to drive the ball out of the park, and the Nats worked with him on loosening up his hands and getting his lower half more involved. His bigger issue remains his propensity to chase pitches out of the zone, which limits his ceiling to that of a .300 OBP guy who splits time around the corners. There's more potential here if he cuts down on the chase — and gets his power back, which he seemed to, briefly, in his return in August from the injured list after the Nats helped him make some of those adjustments to his swing. Wallace came over from the Royals in the Hunter Harvey trade while he was already dealing with a nagging oblique injury, and then broke a rib after the deal, playing just 15 games in the Nats' system after they acquired him. He hits the ball pretty hard, but his tendency to chase pitches out of the zone — all pitch types, but even more so on offspeed stuff — is killing him at the plate. In parts of two seasons in Double A, he's hit .248/.311/.367. He's a 50/55 defender at third with plenty of arm. He's got to make better decisions at the plate to turn his strong exit velocities into actual production. Last time I checked, no team ever won a game just by scoring higher EVs. Advertisement Lile might be a tweener, lacking the power for an outfield corner and with just a fringe-average defense in center, leaving him in Fourth Outfielder Town, which is only two stops away from DFAville. He does hit a lot of low line drives and makes great swing decisions, leading to a lot of contact but mostly singles rather than extra bases. He did improve his approach significantly from 2023, even with a bump up at midyear to Double A, and is only 22 this year, so he has time and some foundation to be more, and maybe get himself back to Everyday Junction. I'll stop now, sorry. Lara made incremental progress in 2024, although it's increasingly likely he's going to end up a fastball/slider guy out of the 'pen. His slider is his best pitch, probably his only above-average weapon, while his four-seamer is light at 90-93 and his changeup isn't good enough to get lefties out consistently. He allowed a .467 slugging percentage to left-handed batters last year, giving up 12 homers to them against just four to righties. The slider misses enough right-handers' bats to give him potential as a short reliever, especially if the role brings his fastball velocity up toward average. Hassell is going to end up the least valuable of the six players the Nats acquired from the Padres for Juan Soto — not counting the only veteran in the return, Luke Voit, and assuming C.J. Abrams decides to get some sleep — as he's probably just a fourth or fifth outfielder who can hit right-handers a little and plays strong defense in center. He's a plus runner and has above-average plate discipline, at least against righties. He didn't have a single extra-base hit off a lefty in 76 PA last year, and had just three (all doubles) off them in 2023, for a .218 slugging percentage off southpaws over two years. He also doesn't hit the ball that hard off righties, so his best shot at any kind of major-league role is to get on base more and use his legs. I was way too high on him at the time of the trade; he kind of stopped hitting entirely the moment he got to the Nats' system and hasn't resumed. Made has to get stronger, full stop. He looked better at shortstop last year, his pitch selection is good, but he pulls off the ball a lot and that seems like a consequence of the lack of strength; he slugged just .300 last year, with two homers in 386 PA between High A and Low A. He could tighten up his recognition of breaking stuff somewhat, but nothing else matters if he can't hit the ball harder. Last year was his fourth straight season at either level of A-ball, and he finally debuted in Double A in July. This is almost a placeholder — he has enough of a base of other skills to be a utility infielder, as long as he starts to hit the ball harder. If he doesn't do that, he's not a prospect. Bennett had Tommy John surgery after the 2023 season, missing all of last year, and should be ready to go this spring. Prior to the injury, he worked with a 55 changeup, average fastball, and average-ish slider, with the last pitch improving over the course of 2023, and he showed plus control and 55 command of everything. It was a high-probability fourth starter package before he got hurt; I wouldn't be shocked to see the Nats move him quickly if he shows the same kind of stuff on his return. The Nats' fifth-round pick in 2024, Diaz was undrafted out of high school in Puerto Rico and ended up at Indiana State, where he bounced back last spring from a broken hamate bone to hit .360/.437/.632 with 18 homers for the Sycamores. He's a plus defender at short as well, and just hasn't faced much quality pitching yet, skipping the summer of 2023 due to the hamate issue and not playing in the minors after he signed due to another injury, although he was on Puerto Rico's roster for the WBSC Premier12 tournament. If he hits in the minors, he'll move way up this list. Cranz was the Nats' seventh-round pick last year off a spring where he dominated out of Oklahoma State's bullpen with his 92-94 mph fastball and above-average slider. He has four pitches, however, and a good enough delivery that he should at least get to try to start in pro ball, with the bullpen an obvious fallback option for him. Outfielder Sam Petersen was their eighth-rounder last year and hit well in half a season for Iowa around injuries, with 70 speed and 60 raw power along with some questionable recognition of offspeed stuff. It's a great tools package for that late in the draft … Shortstop Angel Feliz signed last January for $1.7 million and had a solid debut in the DSL, with some power and a surprising 27 steals given that he's maybe a 45 runner. He's probably going to outgrow shortstop and move to third or second, with some power even to go the other way and a little too much swing and miss right now … Rafael Ramirez Jr. was part of the Lane Thomas trade as well, a raw infielder, better at second than short, with some tools but also a swing that needs some help to keep him on plane … Cuban outfielder Cristhian Vaquero is tooled up, with potential 60s in speed, power, and arm strength, but he hit .190/.291/.303 in Low A last year with a 34 percent strikeout rate … Sir Jamison Jones, OBE, is an 18-year-old catcher from outside of Chicago, drafted by the Nats in the 15th round last year. He's probably a long ways off, but there's a chance for both defense and feel to hit here — just a fun name (in both ways) to remember. Advertisement Crews is going to be their everyday rightfielder to start the year, and should be among the Rookie of the Year favorites in the NL. Elijah Green was the No. 5 pick in the 2022 draft out of IMG Academy, but he's looked lost at the plate since he first went to Low-A Fredericksburg to start 2023. He repeated the level last year and was worse, striking out 206 times, for 44 percent of his plate appearances. He may end up the poster player for the harm done by the death of short-season leagues. Clemmey has top 50ish stuff and a great frame, with plenty of athleticism to get that walk rate down. Scouts love what they see; he just has to work on repeating the delivery to get to even fringy control to take the leap. GO DEEPER Top 100 MLB prospects 2025: Keith Law's rankings, with Roman Anthony at No. 1 GO DEEPER MLB prospects who just missed Keith Law's top 100 ranking: Caissie, Saggese and more GO DEEPER MLB 2025 farm system rankings: Keith Law ranks all 30 teams, Mariners are new No. 1 (Top photo of Crews: Sam Hodde / MLB Photos via Getty Images)
