Nationals Sign First-Round Pick Seaver King

The Nationals announced that they have signed Seaver King, who they selected with the 10th overall pick in this year’s draft. Jim Callis of MLB.com relays on X that the signing bonus is $5.15MM, a bit below the $5.95MM slot value for his pick.

King, 21, got into 60 games for Wake Forest this year, lining up at the three infield positions to the left of first base as well as center field. He hit 16 home runs in that time and slashed .308/.377/.577. He also stole 11 bases in 12 tries.

Based on his ability to contribute in multiple ways, he was one of the top ranked players coming into the draft. Each of Baseball America, MLB Pipeline and Keith Law of The Athletic ranked him 17th. ESPN put him slightly higher at 16th while FanGraphs was the most bullish by putting him 11th.

The outlets generally commend him for doing damage and putting up impressive exit velocities, though with some concern for his lack of discipline and propensity for chasing bad pitches, which leads to some weaker contact and few walks. Defensively, he’s considered a bit raw at his multiple positions but is expected to be carried by his athleticism in the short term and become more polished in time. FanGraphs sees a ceiling of an everyday shortstop but admits a multi-positional role is probably more likely.

The Nationals are at an interesting time in their rebuild, as they flirted with contention this year but have recently pivoted to selling, with Hunter Harvey flipped to the Royals. But they are starting to form a nucleus of controllable players at the big league level, with CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, James Wood and others up at the big league level.

Still down in the minors are notable prospects such as Dylan Crews, Brady House and more. King will join Crews and House in the minors, with his future defensive home and his role with the big league club still to be determined.