The Nationals have agreed to sign first round selection Lucas Giolito, ESPN.com's Keith Law reports (on Twitter). MLB recommends a $2.1MM bonus for the 16th overall selection, but Giolito obtained a $2.925MM bonus, according to Law.
The high school right-hander entered the year as one of the most talented draft eligible players, but suffered an elbow injury in March. “I’m confident that this issue is behind me,” he said the day after the Nationals selected him.“I’m looking forward to getting on the mound soon.” Giolito's fastball can reach 99 mph and he sits at 94-96 mph, according to Baseball America. He also throw s a plus-plus curveball and a plus change-up.
…. that’s all it took to get him…. I hate my team now for passing.
AWESOME!!! Great job Nats!! Yet another excellent first round pick
The genius of Mike Rizzo continues.
That’s what’s up! Way to go and get this guy, Mike!
Wow….Washington is just hoarding potential superstars in the draft. Good for them, I wish my team could string together drafts like this.
outta curiosity, whose your team?
Brewers.
It’s been pretty bare bones since Jack Z left for Seattle, although the farm is in better shape now than it has been the past few years.
oh okay gotcha. yeah i know they made a lot of trades, but they should get a good return for greinke. and if they hold onto him could have a lot of picks in the draft
excellent job! this is huge for replenishing the farm (not like it was bad before). hes probably our new #1 prospect
Meyer will be #1 at the start of next year
In my opinion, it’s Giolito, the ONLY thing that’d hold him back is the injury he had this year, Brian Goodwin is pretty awesome too and is more age appropriate for the league.
interesting..he might. he is more proven in the minors, and also has dominant stuff. Rendon i think will drop to 3 maybe 4. all of a sudden our farm looks pretty strong again
Great sign!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Nats have gone from a joke of a franchise to one teams should emulate. They got lucky getting Strasburg and Harper at #1 but have made a lot of other shrewd moves to get to where they are. The best thing that ever happened was Bowden leaving and Rizzo getting full control 2 1/2 years ago. He got rid of the garbage and built a great team and a clubhouse that players want to be a part of. It’s amazing what he has pulled off.
Lucky is a huge understatement. The Werth contract was just awful though. He’s made some decent moves, like picking up E Jax and Gio but that contract is inexcusably bad.
Rizzo knew what he was doing with the Werth contract. The guy isn’t stupid, he knew Werth would/will never live up to that deal. But before Werth the biggest FA acquisition the Nationals made was Jason Marquis.
It was more a statement by Nats ownership that they were willing to spend big money to bring in guys to help the team.
If he knew the contract wasn’t worth it before he agreed, and only did it because he wanted to spend money then that’s actually way worse.
Only if you think the image the Nationals gained as legitimate suitors for top level free agents and not just a franchise who scraped the bottom of the barrel doesn’t mean anything.
Werth wasn’t a top-level free agent, he was a high-to-pretty-good level free agent. The fact that the Nationals gave him a top-level contract doesn’t change this fact, and lo and behold, Werth is failing to meet expectations.
Whether they gained legitimacy or not for dealing out a bad contract is up to you
I didn’t say Werth was a top level free agent. I said paying Werth 126 million showed they were willing to spend top level money.
And yeah they did gain legitimacy which is why they were linked to guys like Pujols and Fielder last year, and guys like Bourn this coming offseason. Honestly, if they hadn’t given Werth that deal would you have thought they’d be linked to those guys?
They don’t understand, you are one hundred percent correct. On every comment.
Absolutely correct. 1. Werth was having a good year before he got hurt. 2. He was brought in to teach the team how to win. His effect has been a blessing for this team. On field he is not worth his price tag. However, his impact is much more than just his numbers
You act like there is a salary cap or negative consequences for SPENDING money. People grip when we don’t sign players so there are two sides to every sword my friend. Plus with the new MASN deal we can spend as much as we please without a worry because every ticket sale and concession sale is profit straight to the Lerners. Not to mention they are the richest owners in the league. Rizzo clearly understands that which is why it is not that big of a deal. Yes he was grossly overpaid, but we paid for a top-tier FA which in turn will draw many more top-tier players to sign with us in the future
holy balls. that’s 4 years in a row of getting someone with #1 overall potential, plus matt purke who would’ve close to #1 if not for injury.
Love the sign. Knew Rizzo would get it done. They should give Giolito Tommy John Surgery tomorrow and get it over with.
Great job by the Nats by picking Giolito. I remember in the beginning of the year this guys was going to be considered to go #1 or 2 overall before his injury.This guy is going to be great for you guys. Just think of a top of the rotation with Stephen Strasburg Gio gozalez and Giolito in the future. Maybe Giolito and Max Fried will face each other in the future?
I can’t believe the Nats keep lucking into these super talented players every year.
They took the risk drafting him so its not just luck. He is an injury risk and everyone knew he was going to be a tough sign. They deserve credit for rolling the dice and getting a deal done.
how is it lucky? the other teams failed to draft him, thus we did.
i get your point and yes it was a pleasant surprise to drop to us, but its not like the other teams didn’t control their draft picks.
Plus he is an injury risk, we may never hear from him again…who knows
I’ve changed my mind about Rizzo. He’s the real deal. Too many great moves to be coincidence. But for the first couple years after he got the GM job, I thought he was just a self-promoting media hog with a good scouting background but none of the other skills that also go into making an outstanding GM. He’s won me over pretty bigtime since then.