Nats recent draft failure

[OriolesMagic83]

Nationals president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo has already prioritized some offseason changes in how the Nats scout and develop their players, due to a lack of recent help in the minor league pipeline.  The draft is the most glaring example of this issue, as MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman notes that Anthony Rendon (picked sixth overall in 2011) is the last Washington draft pick taken in any round to generate more than 1.0 WAR for the team.

Shocking that the great Nats had no one since Rendon drafted in 2011 make for than 1.0 WAR for the Nats.  The article mentioned some of the Nats trades.  That makes the O's of the early 2000's sound competent.  Obviously right before that, Strasburg, Harper and Rendon were huge successes. 

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

Nationals president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo has already prioritized some offseason changes in how the Nats scout and develop their players, due to a lack of recent help in the minor league pipeline.  The draft is the most glaring example of this issue, as MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman notes that Anthony Rendon (picked sixth overall in 2011) is the last Washington draft pick taken in any round to generate more than 1.0 WAR for the team.

Shocking that the great Nats had no one since Rendon drafted in 2011 make for than 1.0 WAR for the Nats.  The article mentioned some of the Nats trades.  That makes the O's of the early 2000's sound competent.  Obviously right before that, Strasburg, Harper and Rendon were huge successes. 

Someone who has literally never watched a baseball game in their life but who had access to Google could have drafted Strasburg and Harper.

[OriolesMagic83]

35 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Someone who has literally never watched a baseball game in their life but who had access to Google could have drafted Strasburg and Harper.

Elias probably would have went underslot for a guy who had an advanced bat.  lol

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

Elias probably would have went underslot for a guy who had an advanced bat.  lol

Harper was drafted as a college outfielder, I feel confident Elias would have picked him.

[Grady]

Should this be over on the Senators message board? I could give a rats ass about any Washington sports team

[Frobby]

18 minutes ago, Grady said:

Should this be over on the Senators message board? I could give a rats ass about any Washington sports team

Well, it probably belongs in the MLB section, where there are lots of threads about other teams.  But since it’s not on the main board, who cares?

i see two guys the Nats drafted after 2011 who’ve been worth more than 1 WAR, but after being traded:

Giolito (11.1 rWAR) - traded for Eaton

Pivetta (3.8 rWAR) - traded for Papelbon

I believe we’ve picked ten guys after 2011 worth more than 1 rWAR - Hader, Gausman, Mancini, Means, Yastrzemski, Walker, Hart, Hays, Mullins, Mountcastle. 

[El_Duderino]

Who cares. They also signed Soto who is on an early HoF track.

[BohKnowsBmore]

13 hours ago, El_Duderino said:

Who cares. They also signed Soto who is on an early HoF track.

Apparently the Nats FO does...

Quote

Nationals president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo has already prioritized some offseason changes in how the Nats scout and develop their players, due to a lack of recent help in the minor league pipeline

 

[Yossarian]

19 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Harper was drafted as a college outfielder, I feel confident Elias would have picked him.

I believe he was a catcher in high school/college, wasn't he?

[Frobby]

17 hours ago, El_Duderino said:

Who cares. They also signed Soto who is on an early HoF track.

Soto (17.5 rWAR through age 22) is a superstar, and Robles (4.5 rWAR) has had his moments, though he’s seemed lost the last couple of years.   Those are the only foreign amateurs signed by the Nats in the cited time window (after 2011) who’ve been worth more than 1 rWAR.   

[El_Duderino]

4 hours ago, BohKnowsBmore said:

Apparently the Nats FO does...

 

I pin their problems less on draft misses and more on their unwillingness to spend like the dodgers. Their lineup should have a core of Turner, Soto, Harper, Rendon. 

[Frobby]

19 minutes ago, El_Duderino said:

I pin their problems less on draft misses and more on their unwillingness to spend like the dodgers. Their lineup should have a core of Turner, Soto, Harper, Rendon. 

“Unwillingness?”  The Dodgers’ annual revenues are $200 mm+ higher than the Nationals’.    The Nats have spent a much higher proportion of their revenue on payroll than most teams over the last decade.   They don’t have the capacity to spend as much as the Dodgers.   Harper and Rendon would have cost more than $65 mm/yr to keep, plus luxury tax.   

[El_Duderino]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

“Unwillingness?”  The Dodgers’ annual revenues are $200 mm+ higher than the Nationals’.    The Nats have spent a much higher proportion of their revenue on payroll than most teams over the last decade.   They don’t have the capacity to spend as much as the Dodgers.   Harper and Rendon would have cost more than $65 mm/yr to keep, plus luxury tax.   

They outspent the Dodgers in ‘19.

[ShoelesJoe]

On 10/12/2021 at 6:24 PM, El_Duderino said:

I pin their problems less on draft misses and more on their unwillingness to spend like the dodgers. Their lineup should have a core of Turner, Soto, Harper, Rendon. 

I don't think Harper was ever going to sign long term with the Nats, and they knew it. He had a serious dispute with them over the contract he signed after being drafted in 2010. There was bad blood there and he was always going to bolt DC the first chance he got. 

[El_Duderino]

17 hours ago, ShoelesJoe said:

I don't think Harper was ever going to sign long term with the Nats, and they knew it. He had a serious dispute with them over the contract he signed after being drafted in 2010. There was bad blood there and he was always going to bolt DC the first chance he got. 

“I sat there with my wife and said, ‘Babe, we’re going back. We’re going back to D.C.,’” Harper said. “If they offer me anything close—I want real money though. I don’t want deferred money. I wanted them to understand that. If they would’ve deferred a little bit of it, I would’ve been fine with that.”