Now we only have one round to go on, as MLB has decided it wants to emulate the NBA and NFL drafts and generate faux excitement, despite having many more rounds and much less coverage of what is usually the most coveted segment: high-ceiling high school players.
Still, as the headline notes, the Nats’ draft philosophy has been to load up on arms – especially college pitchers – and rely on IFAs for the development of position players. Thus it was a bit of a shock to learn last night that the Nats had taken a position player for just the fifth time since 2009, and just the second high school player of that time.
Naturally, the “instant analysis” was to make comparisons to the last 1st. Rd. HS pick—Carter Kieboom—who was also a shortstop from Georgia, and also rather big/tall for the position. Now I’m starting to tear up.
For me, I’ll take it. Even if folks are disappointed that Kieboom hasn’t lived up to the hype (few do), the Nats do have a pretty good track record when they do take position players early in the draft, even if it’s a maddeningly small sample size.
Anyway, here’s a place for folks that do find the draft interesting or want to talk about who gets picked today and tomorrow.