WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The future of the Nationals begins to take shape more and more each day of Spring Training. While the players in Major League camp vie for spots on the Opening Day roster, those in Minor League camp have been at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches working toward the next steps in their pro journeys.

“It’s the best group of upside players we've ever had here,” general manager Mike Rizzo said on Friday. “I've been here since Day 1; I've never seen it like this before. And then when you filter in, there’s 22-, 23-, 24-year olds that are already kind of established in the big leagues, I think you see what we're trying to accomplish here. I think that will be the first rung on the ladder to get back to the championship.”

The Nats are entering the second full season of a reboot since overhauling their roster at the Trade Deadlines in 2021 and ‘22. This spring is the first Minor League camp to include the highly anticipated prospects acquired last August in the Juan Soto deal with the Padres -- Robert Hassell III (ranked as the Nationals’ No. 1 prospect by MLB Pipeline), James Wood (No. 3) and Jarlin Susana (No. 8) -- plus '22 fifth overall Draft pick Elijah Green (No. 2) and ‘22 No. 2 international prospect Cristhian Vaquero (No. 7), among others.

“I just think you've got yourself a cluster of high-end physical, physically gifted, mentally strong and terrific work ethics,” Rizzo said. “And when you put that stuff in a group setting and you get that competition gene going with all these big-time athletic prospects, I think you see something special happen.”

Although the players are more than a decade apart, Rizzo sees the similarities between the club’s young talents this spring and those who were critical to shaping the organization in its early stages. In addition to prospects in Minor League camp, the potential future starting pitching core of Josiah Gray, MacKenzie Gore and Cade Cavalli, as well as the middle-infield duo of 22-year-olds CJ Abrams and Luis García, already are at the forefront of the Nationals’ foundation in the Majors.

“It kind of mirrors what we did back in ‘09, ‘10 and ‘11,” Rizzo said. “When you establish yourself with some good, reliable, durable starting pitching and you develop, you get yourself some homegrown prospects, you see more guys coming, and then usually your payroll is at a point where you can go and add in that direction down the road. And that's kind of how we built this thing back in the day, and I don't see us veering off that road map right now.”

Those years noted by Rizzo were pivotal in Nationals history. Seasons of development led to a franchise-high 98 wins in 2012, followed by multiple playoff runs before the World Series championship in ‘19. It is an approach the Nats hope will lead to similar success.

“When you look back on the team when we were rebuilding here, and you draft [Ryan] Zimmerman and all of a sudden he's a guy at third, and [Ian] Desmond comes kind of out of nowhere to become one of the best shortstops in the game, and then you draft Jordan Zimmermann and Stras [Stephen Strasburg], and then you feel it's time to make a move and you trade for a Gio [González] and/or a [Doug] Fister or those type of guys,” Rizzo said. “That's how these things are rebuilt, and I think you kind of reload, and then you try to go on that sustained run like we did before.”

As these players develop in camp and beyond, there will be adjustments and growing moments on the field. Rizzo emphasized the importance of maintaining a winning culture and positivity along the way.

“The parameter is, we're judged by wins and losses,” Rizzo said. “That's what this thing is all about, so that will be my barometer. We want to win. We're certainly not going to be blinded by our win-loss loss record only. We understand where we're at in the process. But players [have] got to play better, and we want them to grow, and I think that the competition factor that we're going to put into Spring Training is going to be key to that. …

“I keep going back to ‘09, ‘10, ‘11. Did we want to win only that few of games back in those days? No, but we see what was happening, we could see us getting to the point where we're going to be good and sustain good for a long time. And that's what we're looking at this year.”