by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
by Stephen G. "Ghost" Mears
The Washington Nationals have reseeded their starting rotation, and the birthday boy, Patrick Corbin, takes the mound on his 35th birthday. As expected, first round draft pick, Seaver King, was at Nats Park to sign his contract at a reported $5.15 million, and third round pick, Kevin Bazzell, signed his contract also. Both King and Bazzell participated in the batting practice with the team.
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Draft picking can be about as unpredictable as the roulette wheel. The best drafts, rightfully, are judged years into the future. Still, evaluators will grade how each team did in real-time. The new amateur draft and scouting group led by Danny Haas, VP of Amateur Scouting, received good reviews from those watching the results of the 2024 MLB Draft, along with the third best ranking by Bleacher Report at an A-. MLB Pipeline named the Kevin Bazzell pick in the third round as their favorite draft pick by the Nationals.
Brad Ciolek is the Nats’ new Senior Director of Amateur Scouting, and was a key addition to the Nats draft group, along with Reed Dunn, as they both joined Haas to form perhaps the best amateur scouting group in MLB. From 2010 to 2014, Dunn was with the Nats, and they got him back from the Braves as the new Assistant Scouting Director and National Crosschecker.
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The trade deadline is on July 30 at 6 p.m. EDT, and that is now less than two weeks from today. While considering trades, teams will simultaneously be working on signing their drafted players to contracts with a deadline of August 1st. That will keep all front offices busy. The man at the top for the Washington Nationals, general manager Mike Rizzo, will be overseeing all of that plus tasking his young team with higher expectations for fundamental improvement.
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Numerous times, Washington Nationals’ general manager Mike Rizzo has made it clear that he would have to be blown away to trade key players like Hunter Harvey, Kyle Finnegan, and Lane Thomas, who all had team control that extended into the 2025 season. Well, on Saturday, Rizzo traded Harvey to the Kansas City Royals for their No. 2 prospect, and their one tradeable draft pick, No. 39, in Sunday’s MLB Draft.
In the trade, Rizzo literally traded away 1.407 seasons of Harvey’s contract for Cayden Wallace, and that coveted No. 39 pick. What Rizzo’s new draft group turned that pick into was Baseball America’s No. 18 ranked draft prospect, catcher Caleb Lomavita. Keep in mind, Harvey hits free agency after the 2025 season.
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The Washington Nationals “war room” set-up for the draft looked different, felt different, and it was different.
Everyone was asked to wear a coat and tie versus the business casual dress code in the past. This draft room was stealth and with very few leaks — and trust me, we tried. The main name floated out there was Bryce Rainer, the high school kid from Harvard-Westlake (Lucas Giolito‘s alma mater), and the type of athletic archetype that general manager Mike Rizzo might have chosen in the past. So when Rainer was available at pick №10, it seemed like a no-brainer. But it wasn’t. The Nats went with Seaver King, the slightly smaller-sized, 6’0″
freak athlete, with a big-time college pedigree and impressive wood bat numbers.
Today we have reached the point of the first and second round of the MLB Draft. Teams still don’t know who is picking which players until the names are called, and kind of like last year, we have to wait to see who is chosen ahead of the Washington Nationals. Last year, it was just waiting for the Pirates to pick at No. 1 to know the Nats were taking Dylan Crews as the second pick in the draft.
There was extra intrigue added yesterday as general manager Mike Rizzo traded Hunter Harvey, the Nats picked up a Competitive Balance draft pick, №39, to go with their №10 and №44 picks.
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The Washington Nationals pulled off a miraculous comeback from a 5-run deficit to score six unanswered runs with a Luis Garcia Jr. pinch-hit home run, and the clutch ninth inning 2-run blast by All-Star, CJ Abrams, that put up the blown save on the Brewers’ closer as well as the finally tally to take the score from a 5-4 deficit to a 6-5 winner. Of course the bottom of the 9th inning was a heart thumper when right fielder Lane Thomas had to sprint back to the wall with a jump to catch what easily could have turned into a disaster. Kyle Finnegan earned the save, and the bullpen threw up another shutout. But that seemed bittersweet, because shortly after the game ended, the Nats were hugging top set-up man, Hunter Harvey, who had been traded to the Royals.
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While the Washington Nationals came back from a 5-0 deficit to win a shocker over the Milwaukee Brewers, it was bittersweet after teammates were saying goodbye to top set-up reliever, Hunter Harvey, who was traded officially minutes ago to the Kansas City Royals.
The Washington Nationals acquired the Royals №2 overall prospect, third baseman Cayden Wallace, and maybe more importantly, the Royals’ competitive balance draft pick (№39 overall) and the slot money ($2,395,000) that goes with it, from Kansas City in exchange for Harvey. The Nats’ bonus pool for the MLB Draft has now increased to $13,895,100 from $11,500,100.
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The Washington Nationals are readying themselves in a few hours for the All-Star Futures Game in Texas, and 24-hours before the 2024 MLB Draft in Texas. Last night, the Nats were the deepest they have been all season as an underdog — and Jackson Rutledge delivered along with the bullpen, some timely defense, and some key hits. At about the time the All-Star Futures Game gets going — the Brewers will be pitching to the Nats in Milwaukee.
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The Washington Nationals are about 48-hours before the 2024 MLB Draft, and on the mound in a call-up today is Jackson Rutledge, the team’s first rounder from the 2019 draft. Just two days ago, Don H. was wondering if Rutledge should be shifted to the bullpen. Well, Rutledge will get another opportunity after his dismal 2024 season and a 6.66 ERA in Triple-A Rochester to show he still can be an MLB starter.
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"Opening Day should be a National holiday"
