I had the great privilege of chatting with Baseball America National Writer Carlos Collazo. We had a very fun discussion about his background, the Nationals’ new regime, the state of the Nats farm system and the 2026 draft. He provided great insights, as you would expect from one of the best prospect evaluators and writers in the space.
How He Got Started:
Ever since he was a kid, Carlos Collazo has been in love with baseball. His dad taught Carlos and his brothers to play the game at a very young age. By the time he was four, a young Carlos Collazo was all-in on baseball. Like most kids, Collazo dreamed of being a big league player.
He played through high school, and even had a D3 offer. However, he had realized that his playing career was not going to progress beyond that. Collazo, who already had a growing passion for writing, decided to go to the University of North Carolina to pursue a career in journalism.
This led him to Baseball America, which was headquartered in that area back then. He landed an internship at BA before turning that into a full-time job. Collazo has been working for BA since 2017.
Along the way, Collazo has met plenty of interesting people in the baseball industry. One of the people he formed a connection with over the years is new Nationals President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni. He told me that, “Paul Toboni is one of the few POBO’s I have gotten to know prior to him becoming a the top guy”.
Collazo said that he has a lot of respect for what Toboni did in Boston and holds the people he has hired in high regard. As a younger writer who has spent a lot of time in the scouting world, Collazo has a unique insight into Toboni, as well as the baseball world as a whole.
Nationals BA Connection:
There is one hire Toboni made that Collazo has an extra special connection to though. Just over a week ago, the Nationals hired Peter Flaherty to be the Northeast area scouting supervisor. Flaherty worked with Collazo on draft content for Baseball America over the last few years.
The two had a special relationship, with Collazo calling him “my side-kick”. Unlike Collazo, who arrived at BA straight out of college, Flaherty had scouting experience. He worked with the Yankees for a year and spent his summers working in the Cape Cod League. Collazo said that, “Peter has a natural feel for evaluating and scouting players”.
While he is excited for his friend, Collazo told me he was going to miss his pal. He noted that he is “very sad to see him leave from a selfish perspective because he’s done an awesome job helping us elevate our draft coverage”. Collazo’s loss is the Nationals gain, as it seems like the organization is getting a great scout and someone Collazo described as an A+ human.
Thoughts on Washington Nationals Prospects:
Flaherty will help rebuild a Nationals farm system that Collazo sees as solid, but underwhelming. While he is high on some of the prospects, Collazo does not think the system is where it needs to be considering how much the Nats have been losing in recent years.
None of the Nats prospects are going to appear in the top 15 of BA’s next update. For a team that has not had a winning season since 2019, you would like to see more blue chip talent in the system. That is not to say the Nats have a bad system according to Collazo.
One guy he really likes is 2025 first overall pick Eli Willits. The high school shortstop got overshadowed by the more famous Ethan Holliday, but Collazo is very high on Willits. He did not appreciate some of the rhetoric about Willits being the cheap option, saying, “There were a lot of narratives that kind of got out of control that I did not appreciate”.
Collazo did not think that selecting Willits first overall was a reach, and noted that Willits was a top 3 player on their board in a draft without a clear top player. According to him, Willits was the most well rounded offensive player in the class and had less swing and miss questions than Ethan Holliday.
One move that really excited Collazo was the Harry Ford trade. He called it, “the exact kind of deal you want to make if you are a team like the Nationals”. While he sees Jose A. Ferrer as a good reliever, Collazo noted that quality relievers are a luxury rather than a necessity for rebuilding teams like the Nats. If you can move a reliever for a quality prospect like Ford, you should do it, at least according to him.
This logic makes plenty of sense. It is much harder to find a legitimate starting catcher than it is to find a reliever. Bullpen arms emerge all the time, but starting catchers are not something that you can find for cheap.
As a player, Collazo likes Ford’s offensive game. He noted that Ford has been productive for multiple seasons in the minors now. With his success in AAA last year, Collazo noted that Ford is, “ready for a chance to prove what he can do in the big leagues”. Given the presence of Cal Raleigh, he was never going to get that chance in Seattle.
Collazo, and those around the game are more skeptical about Ford’s defense though. He said that there are split opinions around the game as to whether Ford can stick behind the plate. The Nationals are going to give him a shot, but this is something worth monitoring. Fortunately, Ford does have the athleticism to play the outfield.
2026 Draft Deep Dive:
One thing Collazo was excited about is the upcoming 2026 draft. He called it, “one of the deeper, more impactful classes I have covered in a few years”. Unfortunately for the Nats, they are not able to pick at the top of this year’s class due to the lottery rules.
Collazo sees UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky as the clear cut number 1 overall pick heading into the season. If he was in the 2025 class, Collazo said the Nats would have had no debates about who to take. He sees Cholowsky as someone who is close to being a generational talent, though he did not fully commit to using the G word.
While it is a bummer that the Nats will not be able to take Cholowsky, Collazo is still very bullish on this class. He mentioned a group of college hitters, including Sawyer Strosnider, Derek Curiel and Chris Hacopian as potential options for the Nats. On the high school hitting side, he shouted out Jacob Lomard, Tyler Spangler and Blake Bowen.
Collazo is also excited by the three best college arms, which he sees as Liam Peterson, Cameron Flukey and Jackson Flora. Even though the Nats are not picking until 11, Collazo is confident that they can come out of this draft with a great haul.
He also seems more confident that these players will get the development they need. Under the old regime, Collazo said that the team “really struggled to make the players they are getting into their system better”. He added that he is curious to see if that can change under this new regime.
Some players he thinks the new regime could help include Alex Clemmey and Seaver King. When it comes to Clemmey, he just needs to throw more strikes. Collazo said he loves Clemmey’s stuff but projects him as a reliever right now due to his control issues.
Collazo really liked King coming out of college due to his athleticism and sneaky power. Despite a rough year, Collazo is still confident in King because of those attributes. He was encouraged by King’s showing in the AFL and is intrigued to see if he can keep that momentum going.
Overall, Collazo appeared cautiously optimistic about the state of the Nats. He loved the hires the new regime has made, but still seems to believe the team is not that close yet. It was really fun to talk to Carlos and our conversation was fascinating. If you want to see his work, subscribe to Baseball America, or watch some of his content on the BA Youtube channel. He is one of the best in the business, and it was a real pleasure to chat with him.
