O's are definitely a top team and I know I'm a homer but they're WC1 in the East and should have won the division if not for absolutely ridiculous injuries to their entire pitching staff as well as key position players all year long.
They didn't lose the most man-games or the highest dollars due to their salary, but the guys they lost were core.
I have no idea how they have so many picks other than a few recent trades like Mancini and Hayes, maybe. Haven't followed those closely.
I have the same feeling about them as a top team, to include the risk of homerism. I just didn't want anyone to start arguing the definition of 'a top team'.
They could get one pick immediately after the first round as a 'prospect promotion incentive ' pick if Cowser wins Rookie of the Year. He's not the betting favorite, he's 2nd, but it's possible he wins, he led for much of the season and is still the favorite among some analysts. (There are other ways to get the PPI picks, but this is the only one relevant to them this year.)
And then because they're a revenue sharing recipient team, if they offer a top pending free agent a qualifying offer and he signs elsewhere for a certain amount they'll receive a compensatory pick right after the PPI picks. Anthony Santander and Corbin Burnes are shoe-ins to get the QO, and the Os are unlikely to re-sign either player.
Last season the PPI picks (for Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson winning ROY) were #31 and #32. And the only qualifying free agent compensatory pick was #33.
Both the Nats and Os will also get their normal 2nd round picks unless they sign one of those top qualified free agents in which case they'll forfeit the pick. That round will be about overall picks 40 through 70, fewer depending on how many teams sign those top FAs (forfeiting that pick in the process.)
Both teams will then again get a competitive balance pick, just for being revenue sharing recipient teams, immediately after the 2nd round. Last year there were 8 teams in this range, so call it picks 70 to 78.
So bigger picture/scale, Os could have 6 picks in the top ~78 and Nats 4.