The Nationals have agreed to sign Eli Willits, the first overall pick of the 2025 draft. The high school shortstop announced yesterday (in an interview on CNN with Wolf Blitzer) that he planned to officially ink his first pro contract today, and the Nats indeed have a press conference set to mark the event. MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis reports that Willits will receive an $8.2MM bonus, which is the highest bonus ever given to a high school draft pick. However, Willits’ bonus is well beneath the $11,075,900 slot value assigned to the 1-1 selection.
Washington’s decision to select Willits raised a few eyebrows on draft night, and it would seem like his willingness to take a below-slot deal factored into the Nationals’ plan. With just under $2.876MM saved in draft pool money, the Nats can now re-allocate some funds towards other members of their draft class. To wit, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reports that the Nats went way over slot to sign fourth-rounder Miguel Sime Jr., who had committed to LSU. Sime will now instead start his pro career after getting $2MM from the Nationals — Sime’s draft spot of 111th overall has an attached $687,800 slot price.
Several teams have adopted this tactic in the draft pool era, opting to spread around to their available money to multiple highly-touted players rather than commit the bulk of the draft pool towards its top pick. Willits will still end up with just under half of Washington’s $16,597,800 total pool, and the $8.2MM figure seems purposeful, as Willits can at least claim to getting the biggest draft payday of any high schooler.
This isn’t to say that the Nationals necessarily reached by picking Willits, who still well-regarded even if he didn’t top the boards of any of the most notable pundits. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel and Baseball America were highest on Willits as the third-ranked player in their pre-draft rankings, MLB Pipeline and Fangraphs each had Willits fifth, and The Athletic’s Keith had Willits eighth.
Willits is viewed a relatively safe, high-floor type of pick, as the evaluators agreed that Willits looks like a big leaguer, even if he could top out as a regular moreso than the type of star usually associated with the 1-1 selection. That said, there’s still a lot to like about Willits’ upside given his contact skills and mature approach at the plate, especially if he can add more power. Willits has plenty of other tools, including plus speed, and a plus throwing arm and good defensive range that should make him a solid shortstop.
Unbelievable
Thanks for the insight ‘Not my President (insert Republicans name here)’ lol….I’d love an article on how these slots work? So he may have gone lower, but agreed to lower slot value and still be drafted in upper tier? Is that somewhat right?
Yay let’s talk about more politics!
Politics! Politics! Politics!
You may not care about politics, but politics care about you.
Politics matter a whole lot less than you think, imo. Get a good education and job, save your money, and you probably do well. Become a drunk and drop out of HS, not so very much. The president won’t matter.
The president clearly does not matter more than the personal choices one makes, however the president’s decisions to do things like cut your job or the grants that funded your job can impact your life whether you are drunk and even if you voted for him. It matters that our president is not smart or curious. It matters that he is more concerned with political vengeance and military parades to build his importance than the actual problems facing working families. It does not matter if that president has an R or a D after his name. That is the truth.
It’s possible to enjoy something in life without being perpetually obsessed to turning it into whatever the latest political talking points are. Touch grass
I don’t listen to political talking points or pretend that I am somehow evolved past people that do. Both parties exploit the fact that their followers are fans that rout for their team, not students of politics with ideals and standards that they hold their leaders too. I touch more grass than most and did not start political talk in this thread. I think it is important to talk about politics respectfully and not be afraid to talk about politics. We can disagree without being disagreeable, and we all want what is best for America, even if we disagree about what is best and how to get there. I’m not sure if that is the latest political talking point or not.
Soooooo is anyone going to answer my question about slot negotiations?!….Talk about ‘touching grass’, no one even made it to the second sentence geez lol
First they came for the people who cared about politics …
I’ve never seen an administration — Democratic or Republican — purposely put as many people out of work as this one. Plus purposely raise taxes on everyone at the same time. Done more harm in 6 months than most thought possible.
Yes. That is how slot value works. They negotiated with several possible picks before the draft who they thought were worthy of the top pick. They took the guy who agreed to the lowest amount so they could spread around the money to others. Most likely, as I don’t think this has actually been confirmed.
Well, you could’ve simply asked the question without fixating on that username.
I’m always amused at JoeBrady’s attempts to look smart and philosophical
If you are relying on the government for a job you are part of the problem.
@TurmOffTheTV Politics do not care about us. Politics in the corporate oligarchy that is America is a bunch of politicians .maintaining the status quo via hot button issues. Meanwhile they stay in office, day trade with immunity, and live opulent lives while keeping constituents in line by pandering to emotions via hot button issues.
At the end of the day politicians from both parties go to sane country clubs and attend same fancy restaurants. All are also backed by Super PACs that our insuring their interests via campaign contributions.
So no Politics neither care about is or really matter. At the end of the day our democracy has been bought out by Corporate America and their $ has the ultimate say.
@braves Every pick has an assigned slot value. The sum of those values equals how much all the teams get. When they sign a player below value they can try and entice later picks to sign who might otherwise opt for playing in NCAA instead.
Im curious to see how NIL deals will impact the signing bonuses. There is obviously no where near as much $ in NCAA baseball opposed to football and basketball. However, there still will be $ available to some players. So these mid round guys that have been lured to MLB early by signing bonuses now have even more leverage.
The mute button is our friend.
How does the orange man taste?
Troll and rage bait user. Unfortunately, many people these days are very easy to offend.
Excited to see what he can do!
The Nationals may have executed the greatest trade in baseball history and their rebuild looks great on paper. Even their drafts have been rife with sexy, top 10 picks.
All that being said, the honeymoon is over for these guys and it’s time to move into contention mode for the Washington Nationals.
Hopefully, their unusual ’25 draft strategy pays off and they can make a couple of wise, “value” free agent additions in the off-season. Here’s to hoping Mr. Willits turns out to be the right pick.
It’s not an unusual draft strategy and draft pool money doesn’t relate in any way to free agency.
Do they have a single pitching prospect to join these hitters?
Slot values are absurd
Why are slot values absurd?
Because internet person says so.
Until the Lerners sell, this franchise will not be a contender & less so consistently in the NL East. Look at the history (sans 2019) and the quality players that ran through and out of the Nats since coming to RFK!
2010s were really good and they spent a lot to win
The reason this rebuild has taken so long is because they’ve been trying to rebuild until one of the big 3 (Philly and Atlanta and New York) finally collapse
Atlanta is not looking good right now so 2026 should be the year of the nationals
Not quite ready for next year. 3 stars now. Need 2 more.
They also need a totally reconstructed bullpen. Since major league starters max out around 6 innings, bullpens are more important than ever. Rizzo always built his bullpens on the fly.
The Lerners have been rudderless since their patriarch, Ted, died. They have always been a little weird as owners and make their big decisions after holding family committee votes, but Ted could at least steer them the way he wanted most of the time. His son Mark does not have the same clout within the family although he is the official head of the franchise.
You are absolutely right. Plus, Ted was late in life and was willing to spend on players to win before he passed, which they did. Even when Ted ran the team they nickel and dined everywhere else (managers, broadcasters, etc). It really is an unusual organization at the top.
Dimed
I knew they would
Nationals sign first overall pick Eli Willits.
How does a team agree to the offer it proposes to the player?
Offer. Acceptance. Counteroffer.
Business Law terms 101
You forgot a word after counteroffer, which is agreement.
If someone had given me 8 mil upon HS graduation, I probably would be dead by now. Just sayin’.
Great move by the Nats, Kid is a stud and they saved 3 mil to throw further down and get aggressive. Well played.
In what way exactly is he a stud?
He was projected in atleast one publication to go 4th overall to Colorado. He’s a very high draft choice and would still have been even if he fell some. The stud part seems to be self explanatory in going with that territory.
Ethan Holliday had no desire to go to Washington, and the teams at 2-3 were more inclined to take arms. Willits probably would have gone to Colorado at 4…but that was going on Holliday 100%.
If you’re asking for specifics on Willits as a player. That’s a simple google search.
It seems to me that he asked a simple question,. in what way exactly is he a stud. Obviously you couldn’t answer that question. Unless you want to look stupid, your path is obvious. If you don’t know the answer, just don’t comment.
When was the last time a 40 FV power SS prospect was drafted in the 1st round? That would be JP Crawford at #16 in 2013. The only one ever taken at 1-1 was Tim Beckham in 2008 and even then he was only taken #1 because he would sign for a million below slot. That didn’t work out so well.
When was the last time a 40 FV power SS draft pick turned into a “stud”? Let me give you my definition for that. I mean a consistent 4+ WAR player. JP Crawford has had a 4 WAR season once in his 1st 8 seasons of his career. 2025 is his 9th season.
When was the last time the Rockies picked a relatively powerless (40 FV) position player in the 1st round? If you answered not in the last 20 years you would be correct. Even Sterlin Thompson was a 45 FV for power).
You have no freaking clue if Holliday would have gone to Washington. What Holliday would NOT have done is take a discount to sign there and Willits did. Holliday will likely get more from the Rockies than Willits did from the Nationals.
Did you read the article? I suggest you read Peter Flaherty from Baseball America too. Willits was his No. 1 pick prior to the draft. The hit tool, defense, baseball brain, work ethic, and he played at 16 years old on the USA Baseball 18U team and showed well against the older competition.
As I’ve said to people, knowing what you know now, would you have taken Jacob Wilson this year at 1 of 1?
Steve M. Willis is a good #1 there. But I believe the Nats essentially had Holliday off the table. So Im not even going to consider him in that mix. Im saying this as a former Rockie Midwest League scout who grew up with Holliday family connections. Its not just Matt tied to the Rockies. It was Uncle Dave.
It seems like for the Nats and their desires it was really a choice over those two. But…like with Matt…Ethan took himself off the table essentially. He just made sense for Colorado. Willits isnt like a fall back. They got a real legit talent. Im with you on that.
Next time they can save even more under slot by signing an 8 yr old and lavishing him with plush toys and Chuck e cheez
^^^ yeah thats a theory
Theory? I stated facts. You haven’t yet. Its pretty obvious you don’t have any.
Pads Fans. I wasn’t even responding to you. Not that I have a wish to. But Im not going into details that are a simple Google for anyone. Especially troll type stuff. You seem to want to engage in some kind of negative conversation. Dont make thr mistake of believing I wish to engage you at all. You’re an easy mute
Only problem is Gore, Abrams, Wood will be gone by time this guy gets to MLB.
Your math is way off. Gore yes,. Abrams maybe., Wood is team controlled through 2030 and WIllits could be up in 2028.
There sure are a lot of people saying that the Nationals didn’t take the best possible player at #1, they took a player that would take the least amount of money out of the top 10draft prospects.
Willits has no loud tools and will never hit for power. He has a lot of good tools with his hit and his run tools being plus, but nothing that makes him a standout prospect. In a game that rewards loud tools, other than the nearly $3 million discount, why did they take him?
They took another guy with insanely loud tools in 2022. We see how that is working out. Maybe taking the guy with a higher floor was in order, here.
They took Willits because they weren’t getting Ethan Holliday. Thats how the game works when your dna is embedded that deep with the Rockies and they still have a Top 4 pick.
This rebuild is taking as long as it is because the Lerners are cheap, and Ted was the only one in the family who cared about winning.
They tried to get Strasburg to take less than he was contractually owed in a retirement settlement, and he and Scherzer are the top two most highly paid Nats “players” this year. Strasburg, at $25 million a year, will be the most highly paid Nat for the forseeable future. The highest paid guy who actually still plays for them? C Kiebert Ruiz, who Rizzo stupidly gave 8-years, $50 million, Ruiz has always been bad defensively, and he’s increasingly proving he can’t hit well enough to move to 1B or DH. So they’re stuck with him until C Caleb Lomavita is ready in 2028-29, or more likely, until that contract ends after the 2032 season.
They don’t have a legit 1B prospect in the upper minors, quickly got outbid for Walker and never even bothered to extend an offer to Alonso, so they had to trade a RP for Lowe. Otherwise utility IF Trey Lipscomb would have gone into spring training this year as the starting 1B. If somebody is desperate enough to want Lowe and they’re smart enough to trade him at the deadline they’re going to be back in the same situation before next season. Except this time Alonso, and Josh Walker, are going to want and get more $. The Nats will have to make another trade, or overpay an aging veteran like Goldschmidt, Santana, Muncy or Flores. (Or go back to what didn’t work before and resign Gallo or Dominic Smith.)
They have a bunch of nothing (Parker), injured SPs ( an about to be 33 yr old Trevor Williams, Cade Cavalli who hasn’t pitched in MLB since TJ surgery in 2022, a human gopher ball who regularly outsmarts himself with his 8 pitches in Josiah Gray, and DJ Herz) and question marks who have never pitched in MLB yet (Sykora and Susana) behind Gore, who’s a UFA after the 2027 season. They needed to at least try be competitive in 2026 or he’s likely going to get traded at the deadline next year, or before or during the 2027 season. Unless DeBartolo thinks the draft pick they get when Gore walks as a free agent is worth more than the prospects they’re offered in a trade, that is.
So instead of taking one of the most ready college SP and showing both their MLB roster and fans they’re trying to win in 2026 for the first time since their WS title, what do the Lerners and DeBartolo do? They go underslot and select one of the youngest players in the draft.
Here’s what’s going to happen to the Nats:
DeBartolo’s more of an analytics guy than Rizzo, by far. Rizzo had to be basically dragged against his will into 21st century baseball a few years ago when ownership fired all of his top hand picked front office guys. Considering Rizzo whiffed on most of his 1st round draft picks, (most infamously OF Elijah Green who’s back in Rookie ball for the 3rd year in a row) that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But it *does* likely mean DeBartolo and Rizzo probably disagree on what they’re looking for in a player, especially on offense.
From an analytics perspective, most of the Nats offense isn’t very good because they K too much and don’t walk enough. I have very little doubt DeBartolo is going to “reboot” this rebuild in the next 1-1.5 years, just like the CWS rebooted their previous rebuild attempt and traded guys like Giolito, and Crochet (and should have traded Robert) a couple years ago. After Gore gets traded within the next year, the next guy out the door will be CJ Abrams because he’s a UFA after the 2028 season.
Willits isn’t going to zoom through the minors like Jackson Holliday, and even Holliday wasn’t ready as fast as many people thought he was. Even if everything goes perfectly (and it hardly ever does, just ask Nats 2021 #1 pick SS/3B Brady House) Willits isn’t going to be in MLB until 2030.
If the Nats are lucky, Wood will keep developing enough so he brings back a haul of prospects like Soto did. If they’re *really* lucky, Rizzo didn’t whiff on Dylan Crews and he’ll be good enough to get a haul of prospects too. Unfortunately for the Nats, not only is Crews not coming off the IL until at least sometime next month, making 2025 all but a “lost” season for him, some of his minor league stats were a little concerning in the first place. He’s another guy who K’d too much and didn’t walk enough in the minors, and his power #s weren’t good enough to “justify” the tradeoff. Trading Wood and/or Crews is going to further demoralize a fan base that already feels like we’re fans of the Mets/Phillies/Dodgers “AAAA farm team.”
The only draft pick that feels like it’s worked out for Nats fans is Strasburg, and he got “taken” from us far too soon by injury. Even worse, the Lerner family’s treatment of him during the retirement settlement negotiations has ensured Strasburg won’t be back to say goodbye and allow Nats fans to thank him for bringing our first WS title to DC.
Unless the Lerners sell the team to an owner with enough $ to spend to sign multiple expensive free agents like Ted Lerner went out and got OF Jayson Werth and Scherzer, (and this is admitedly going to be difficult now that the Mets have more $ than Scrooge McDuck) the Nats aren’t going to be competitive again until at least 2029. By that point, most of the fan base like me who grew up Orioles fans will have stopped caring.
The Nats benifitted a lot by how much O’s fans in Virginia and DC hated Peter Angelos for what he did to the O’s (like being so “hands on” free agents didn’t want to come to Baltimore, and chasing beloved radio announcer Jon Miller out of town for being too honest and not enough of a homer.) Unless Rubenstein somehow screws up (and he’d almost have to try to screw up as bad as Angelos) the Nats *have* to win to remain relevant in the DMV. Their best crowds over the past few years have been when the Mets, Phillies and O’s are in town. This year, their best crowds have been when those teams, plus the Cubs and Tigers, have been in town.
From a fellow depressed Nats fan, I agree with your sentiment. I’m skeptical the Lerners will spend close to the levels they did in the 2010s now that Ted has passed.
But there’s several things wrong or likely not the case with what you wrote. In other cases, I just simply disagree.
– Ruiz is signed until 2030. The team has club options for 2031 and 2032. So they are not stuck with him until 2032 unless they choose to be.
– Lomavita was drafted last year out of college and is at high A. He’s doing okay offensively there for a catcher, and Wilmington is not the easiest place to hit. Injuries or poor performance could delay his debut until 2028-2029, but it is not difficult to envision he debuts at least a year sooner than that.
– Not every team has a ‘legit’ 1B prospect. They drafted Yohandy Morales in 2023 who plays 1B & 3B. He hit well in 127 AB in AA this year and has hit okay in 168 AB in AAA. I wouldn’t call him legit, but he’s a decent prospect.
– Isn’t it a good thing they got ‘outbid’ for Walker? He’s making 20M this season and has put up -0.7 bWAR. Nathaniel Lowe is worth 0.0 bWAR … so technically better lol. But yes, in hindsight it would have been better to trade for Naylor than Lowe.
– He might not make it, but Sykora is one of the better pitching prospects atm. Susana has insane stuff, but his current injury paired with him throwing 100+ is not great for his chances to stay healthy in the future, and there’s high reliever risk. I agree their pitching is overall poor and Gore is the only one that stands out, but those 2 are legitimate prospects.
– Just because they passed on a college arm does not necessarily mean they have no intention of competing next year. We’ll know that by whether the Lerners decide to spend money in the offseason and/or the team trades Gore by this deadline. Taking Willits and 3 (if they sign them all) overslot HS players out of the top 5 picks was for boosting their farm’s depth, which is horribly insufficient for being 4 years into a rebuild. So yes, Holliday perhaps has higher upside, but Willits has a higher floor and likely allowed them to sign higher upside players in the later rounds.
– The Nationals have among the lowest K rates in baseball this year (20.4%), so I wouldn’t say they strike out too much. Instead, they tend to chase a lot of questionable pitches and make poor contact as a result. Their walk rate is pretty bad (7.8%).
– A Mackenzie Gore trade could very well happen if the Lerners don’t plan to increase payroll in ’26. Of note, he’s represented by Boras, so an extension past ’27 is unlikely. Wood and Crews are also Boras clients, but don’t hit FA until after 2030. Abrams is not a Boras client, so perhaps an extension with him is more feasible. That is, if the Lerners are okay giving out anymore large contracts 😛 If the front office knows they won’t have more money to work with in ’26, then trading Gore now might be the most prudent thing to do, since his value probably will never be higher.
– Jackson Holliday’s rise as a prospect is extremely unusual, so no kidding. And yes, he was ‘overmatched’ in 2024. But in 2025 he’s done okay as an everyday MLB player at 21.
– Brady House has turned into a top 100 prospect who put together 2 impressive seasons (2023 & early 2025) in the minors and so far at the age of 22 is doing fine in his first 100 AB in the Majors. A HS player making his MLB debut 4 years later and being a top 100 prospect for most of it is not slow development.
– Willits could very well be ready earlier than 2030. It may take him that long due to his age and if he has any injuries or doesn’t perform well, but under a similar timeline to House (who you said was far from perfect), Willits would likely make his MLB debut at the end of 2028 or in early 2029.
– Wood has already developed into one of the best young hitters in MLB and the Nats have him for 5 more years. Even if he doesn’t ‘develop’ any further and simply matches the production up until this point, or even slightly below it, for the next 2-3 of years, he will command close to a Soto return if they decided to move him then.
– Crews was considered by almost every reputable source to be the 1B to Paul Skenes 1A. Rizzo should not deserve blame for taking him #2 in the draft, especially because he was able to do that and somehow sign Sykora in the third round. I don’t know if Crews will turn into a good MLB player, but it’s far too soon to tell. He has a ton of defensive and offensive ability, had a good barrel rate and his expected numbers were much higher than his actual ones before he got hurt. Honestly, he just seemed nervous and overly aggressive in a lot of his at bats. That’s not unusual for a young player.
– I get the feeling of being a AAAA farm team, but what star players have we traded to the Mets and Phillies recently? Juan Soto, Bryce Harper, Trea Turner were all free agent signings.
– Strasburg being the only good draft pick in Rizzo’s tenure is laughable. Bryce Harper, hello? Anthony Rendon? Lucas Giolito? Jesus Luzardo? I agree, the mid to late 2010s were a bad time for drafting. The farm depth under Rizzo was never good after the mid 2010s and many of the first rounders never made the major leagues or struggled tremendously when they did. But c’mon, be more honest. Though yes, the Lerners treated Strasburg horribly after and it was a national embarrassment.
– Hate to break it to you, but if you look at the attendance figures for the Nats this year, given they are a ‘large market’, I’m pretty sure most have already stopped caring.
Anyways, here’s hoping we’re both wrong and the Lerners spend like it’s 2017 this offseason. Or sell the team to someone who will. Though I won’t be holding my breath.
Damm war and peace weren’t written in the space of these 2 epic rants
Your friends tell me you’re cheap. And your rant is from information that you think you know.
Watcha talkin bout Willits
Quite a lot of money for someone who hasn’t proven he can play at a major league level
Your name should be CaptainObvious
And your point is ?