The draft is coming up, and thanks to ineptitude (finishing in last place and not signing Crow) the Nats are the first team ever to have 2 of the first 10 picks. Alot of people, including those at Baseball America, thought that maybe the Nats would look to save some money with their 2nd pick. After all, some are saying that it might take $50 M to sign Strasburg. Well according to Jim Callis at BA, that aint the case:
Washington general manager Mike Rizzo contacted Baseball America to say that talent would be the only consideration for that latter pick, which won’t be protected by compensation a second time.
“We do not have to take a signability pick,” Rizzo said. “We’re going to take the best guy. We’re going to have 10 names up there on the board, and we’ll take one we like.”
“We do see this draft as one where the guy we take with the No. 10 pick might be No. 25 on someone else’s board,” Rizzo said. “But if we take, say, Chad Jenkins or [California outfielder] Brett Jackson or whoever, it’s because we think he’s the 10th-best guy in the draft.”
The draft isn’t until the week after next, I’ll take a look at some of the prospective picks closer to the date. Meanwhile, from a fan’s perspective, that’s the best news you could hear before the draft. This team is bad right now, although they can hit. A successful draft is important to get people excited, but more importantly, it’s important for them to get better.