OT: Nats, Wiz, O's, Ravens, Terps, Navy, Gtown, Mystics, Golf, Summer 2024 (Paris Olympics 2024 as well)

[usiel]

This was my logical train of thought after hey cool drafting #1!

 

[usiel]

Typically need to wait till the how spring play shapes out to evaluate the current draft class. Ethan Holliday is on espn's big board. Do like this tid bit:

There was pre-lottery buzz that Ethan wouldn't get past Colorado (tied for the best odds for the top pick), in part due to his father Matt's legacy with the team. That's less relevant now as the Rockies ended up sliding to the fourth pick. In addition, the Nationals have a history of shooting for the moon with upside at the top pick (Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg), though no one in this class is the slam dunk generational talent that those two were known to be a year ahead of time. Nats general manager Mike Rizzo followed that playbook even before that, drafting Justin Upton at the top pick in 2005 when he was the Diamondbacks' scouting director, another pretty easy call at the time. This pick is an open question right now, but Holliday fits Washington's tendencies best, if he continues to develop as many expect.

Nationals win 2025 MLB draft lottery! Here's a mini-mock draft predicting the top 5 picks

With Washington notching the No. 1 overall pick for next summer, let's see how the start of the first round could go down.

www.espn.com

https://www.mlb.com/news/draft-top-100-prospects-list-2025?msockid=2f0b58ecfcb86d421a394da9fdf76cb1

1. Ethan Holliday, SS/3B, Stillwater HS, Okla.
2. Jace LaViolette, OF, Texas A&M
3. Jamie Arnold, LHP, Florida State
4. Tyler Bremner, RHP, UC Santa Barbara
5. Seth Hernandez, RHP, Corona HS, Calif.
6. Kayson Cunningham, SS, Johnson HS, Tex.
7. Aiva Arquette, 2B, Oregon State
8. Xavier Neyens, 3B, Mount Vernon HS, Wash.
9. Kruz Schoolcraft, LHP/1B, Sunset HS, Ore.
10. Brendan Summerhill, OF, Arizona

 

[Ridley Simon]

Another Holiday. Shocker?

I assume the Orioles are picking in the late 20’s?

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

I don’t care if Jace from Texas A&M has an uppercase V in his last name, no to drafting someone whose last name is Laviolette. That name is bad juju in Washington.

 

[usiel]

I don’t care if Jace from Texas A&M has an uppercase V in his last name, no to drafting someone whose last name is Laviolette. That name is bad juju in Washington.

Watched a good amount of homers its basically all fastballs figured I'd see at least one homer on off speed. Velocity off the bat is pretty great.

Matt Adams was the Nationals rep for the lottery so representing as someone from the championship squad.

 

[Random schmoe]

Another Holiday. Shocker?

I assume the Orioles are picking in the late 20’s?

19.

The order for playoff teams factors when they got knocked out.

 

[usiel]

Mike Rizzo comments with MLB after the lottery queued up:

 

[usiel]

The Washington Nationals selected right-hander Evan Reifert with the sixth pick of the Rule 5 draft Wednesday. Reifert, 25, had the best season of his career in 2024, pitching to a 1.96 ERA in 35 relief appearances for the Tampa Bay Rays’ Class AA affiliate. He gives Washington another young arm in what is set to be an inexperienced bullpen.

“Just pure joy and excitement from just hearing my name getting called,” Reifert said. “It’s just been a surge of emotions kind of coming over me. Super excited for my opportunity here with the Nationals.”
The Nationals also added right-hander Hyun-il Choi in the first round of the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft. Choi spent five seasons in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ organization, which signed him out of South Korea in 2018.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/12/11/nationals-evan-reifert/

 

[Brian23]

Don't get me wrong, Mark Lerner seems to be an awful owner, but I really don't know if I can' blame them for not being hard on Soto. It's a little disappointing they didn't even try to get a cup of coffee, but that kind of money is ludicrous for a single player (even a HOFer like Soto). I give it less the 5 years before the Met's fanbase is ready to run him out of town.

Baseball is in desperate need of both a hard cap on salaries and a hard, much higher, floor. Too many owners just using the teams to prop themselves up. If they can't afford the floor, then sell the team and go be billionaires somewhere else in the world.

I will, however, say they need to spend something this year. I think it'll be a detriment to the teams future if they just muddle along again for another year.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Adding a 1st overall pick with Crews is exciting. If our owners ever want to spend again is another thing. It will suck seeing Harper, Turner, and Soto all in the div