Taking a look back at the first day of the Nationals draft, they selected the following six players:
1st round selection RHP Aaron Crow from the University of Missouri. I understand the concern of some about bypassing a bat like Justin Smoak to select another pitcher. But in my opinion, Crow was arguably the best pitching prospect in the draft. There have concerns mentioned about his delivery and whether it will lead to a future injury. I understand these concerns but I’ll turn to Will Carroll who stated the following, “It is a bit torquey, but he’s never had arm problems. I don’t think you worry so much about his mechanics now absent injuries. You focus on results until you get to someone with just crazy bad mechanics who you’ll have to fix. I wouldn’t draft a project this high.” While some may argue, I think it was a very good pick. There were some rumors about him being a tough sign but I have also read stories to the contrary.
2nd round selection Alabama HS OF Destin Hood. This is a standard Bowden toolsy outfielder selection. He has drawn comparisons to current Nationals Lastings Milledge. He is without question a project and the Nationals not only have to hope he learns how to hit but more importantly, they are going to need to buy him out of a college football commitment to the University of Alabama. As I stated in my preview, I would have preferred a bit more certainty in a guy like Tyler Ladendorf, the Nationals have decided to gamble on upside and the ability to sign him. This one will certainly bear watching.
3rd round selection SS Danny Espinosa from Cal State Long Beach. The Nationals grab their middle infielder. His scouting reports speak highly of his defense though there is a debate whether he can remain at shortstop. He looks to me like a switch-hitting utility guy. All of the scouting reports about him rave about work ethic. Personally, I would have leaned toward CA Petey Paramore here as a catching prospect who has drawn comparisons to Jason Varitek but the Nationals might have made out with their fifth round selection.
5th round selection CA Adrian Nieto from American Heritage HS in Florida. A switch-hitting catcher (scouting reports say SW, he’s listed as a RH) with an above average defensive reputation and compliments on his hard-nosed approach. Baseball America had him as their 73rd best prospect and the fact that he was still on the board in the 5th round is puzzling to me. Per Kevin Goldstein at Baseball Prospectus “That’s a bit of a mystery. I honestly don’t know. He didn’t have a big college commitment and I didn’t hear any big dollar needs, so I’m as surprised as you. It will take some detective work to figure out what happened there.” If there are no issues there, this is a great selection by the Nationals.
6th round selection RHP Paul Demny from Blinn JuCo. He is the biggest unknown of day one. Even the Nationals press release was brief “6-foot-3, 200-pound hurler with a mid-90s fastball, who went 2-4 with a 4.21 ERA in 14 games at Blinn College (TX). He recorded 53 strikeouts in 51.1 innings this season as a freshman.”
My initial take is the Nationals had a solid first day. Not great like in previous years, but solid. They drafted arguably the top right-handed pitcher in the draft, a projectible HS outfielder, switch-hitting middle infielder, projectible LHP, in my opinion the fourth best catcher in the draft [Posey, Skipworth, & Castro ... Lawrie isn't a CA], and an unknown RHP. I might have gone in a couple of different directions but not a bad haul in day one.
It will bear watching if the Nationals take some tough signs on day two with designs on complementing their early picks with some tough signs later.
#1 by Andrew S - June 5th, 2008 at 21:31
Last year’s draft was so beastly because the Nats had so many picks and it was a better class in general. So far I would put this day second only behind last year, but that is not a knock on the Nats.
#2 by Nats fan in NJ - June 5th, 2008 at 21:58
I like the draft. You can never have too many arms. I would like to have Smoak, but drafts are so iffy that with Crow on the board, you have to take him. Plus, I like that his fastball is harder than most of the others from last year.
Rest of the draft is good. I like Hood in the second round and Nieto in the 5th is surprising.
Brian – I was out all day (chaperoned my daughter’s trip to the Bronx Zoo) and getting back and being able to catch up as completely as this site allows is fabulous. As always, thanks a ton!!
#3 by Positively Half St. - June 5th, 2008 at 22:05
The team has not shown fear when it came to drafting kids it would take extra money to sign. I actually feel confident they will sign who they drafted by chucking the bucks at them. I really hope they take some chances in the remaining rounds, if there is anyone left worth spending big money on.
#4 by Brian H - June 5th, 2008 at 22:29
I thought this was a good haul considering the lack of choices. Finding Nieto in the 5th is a steal unless there’s something we don’t know about that previous arm injury. Either way, thanks for all the great info today… this blog is a one-stop source.
#5 by Marcus - June 5th, 2008 at 22:42
Alex Meyer in the 6th tommorow would be a great move BBA had him in their top 25. But signability will be an issue with Boras as his agent.
#6 by John - June 5th, 2008 at 22:50
Alex Meyer, Rashun Dixon, Harold Martinez, Dan Hultzen, and Niko Vasquez could be tough signs. I’m sure I’m forgetting others.
It really seems the Nats are thinking long term. They’re obviously confident in their instructors being able to teach these younger, toolsy players.
#7 by Hoagie - June 5th, 2008 at 23:01
I like the mix of projectibility and raw talent. Good first day!
#8 by Andrew S - June 5th, 2008 at 23:35
John, the toolsiest player they took was Hood. Who is almost as toolsy as they come. Hicks and Demny are young, with a lot of projection left. Crow is what he is, and is good at it. Espinosa is what he is.
#9 by McBride - June 6th, 2008 at 00:29
Am I the only one having crazy problems with FA’s RSS feed? When I click on a post in my reader it sends me to anyresults.net, some BS list of yellow page sites.
I’ve subscribed through Google Reader for a few months and I only started having trouble yesterday/today. I love the site, but I’m an RSS snob. If it ain’t coming to me, I ain’t reading it.
#10 by hartmanbirge - June 6th, 2008 at 00:33
The Nats would have been freaking insane to take Smoak over Crowe. A power college arm that projects to a frontline starter – I don’t understand what the debate would be. You can find first basemen – we already have two very good ones in our system as it is (Marrero and Rhinehart). But right handed workhorses that throw up to 98mph don’t grow on trees. The Nats got real lucky that he was there at #9. Jim Callis was calling him the best pitcher in the draft as late as 30 May. We got him at #9 – to me that’s a slam dunk.
#11 by Los Doce Ocho - June 6th, 2008 at 00:57
Demny was drafted by the Braves in the 15th round last year out of high school. He was an AFLAC All-American. I have no idea why he didnt sign and elected to go JUCO instead of NCAA.
Here is a response from a Perfect Game Chat about a year ago (Demny pitched in the showcase):
posted May 17, 2007 05:59 PM
“89-92, lots of 92s and topped out at 94. Great life on his fastball, showed a couple good breaking balls and even a good change. Command was a bit shaky, but he traveled all night, got stuck in an airport and had to drive awhile and got there just in time to pitch.
We really like Paul, once he is able to repeat his delivery a bit better he will be a “skies the limit” type! If someone sees him on the day he has it all (we have before) he’s an early round type. If you see him on a bad day, you might think he needs to further develop. But he has a great arm and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him doing wellin the Major Leagues some day.”
#12 by Los Doce Ocho - June 6th, 2008 at 01:01
Just saw this on Graham Hicks…he has signed with UCF to play baseball and this was a blurb from the UCF recruiting class highlight page:
“Graham Hicks – LHP Lakeland, Fla./George Jenkins Led George Jenkins to the 2007 district title by going the distance with six strikeouts in a 1-0 win over Lake Region, which came just a few days after hitting a two-out walkoff homer in the seventh inning to defeat Lakeland in the regular-season finale…Won seven games as his team reached the regional semifinals…Named Class 5A all-state honorable mention by the Florida Sports Writers Association in 2007…Helped Chet Lemon’s Juice claim the 2007 WWBA 2007/18U National Championship by pitching six shutout innings in the team’s semifinal win. Craig Cozart: “A 6-foot-4 left-handed pitcher that has got an unbelievable amount of potential left in him, even though his stuff is ready right now. He could walk on campus and pitch in our rotation immediately. He’s going to pitch comfortably, from 88-89 mph and we’ve seen him run it up to 90-91. He has developed a slider that is just unhittable right now. He pitched down in Lakeland at the Florida Diamond Club and punched out all six guys that he faced. He runs it in on righties and away on lefties, both are equally effective. He’s got a change-up and a curveball and he’s a true four-pitch guy, which is very rare to say that you are bringing in a four-pitch guy onto campus. He loves to play the game and it’s really fun to watch Graham Hicks pitch because he has such enthusiasm with a care-free attitude even though he is a great competitor. He is a very, very polished left-handed pitcher at this point.”
#13 by Scott - June 6th, 2008 at 07:30
Destin Hood good pick or a waste. If you like Milledge than you love the pick. I think it was a waste. If signed, we will hear three years about bat speed and quick hands. But, if he is anything like Milledge we have a immature athlete who doesn’t know how to play baseball.
#14 by Chris - June 6th, 2008 at 08:51
Why is hood being thrown under the bus? The draft is a complete crapshoot so I have no problem rolling the dice on a guy who could be a star. He might never put it together, but the same can be said for Crow. And hes been compared to Milledge tools wise, I have seen nothing said about him being a headcase (besides, Milledge has behaved so far in DC)
#15 by Jeff - June 6th, 2008 at 12:02
“Why is hood being thrown under the bus”?
Because he’s a toolsy black player who’s last name is Hood… No, but seriously… How is this a wasted pick? Only if he doesn’t sign. And Milledge is only 23 years old. He doesn’t know how to play baseball? Because he’s struggling with his average right now and isn’t Andruw Jones defensively in CF? The guy, to me, is a guy that in the next few years is gonna be a 20/30 guy… He has to just get it together but the ability is there and he’s not a trouble guy at all so there should be no worries about his character… I swear it’s so unfair to throw that “immature” word around so loosely when speaking of young black ball players… It’s really unfair. How is he any more immature than Ryan Zimmerman? What has he done to show you this? He plays every day and he doesn’t get into trouble… That “bat speed, quick hands” comment is another black baseball hitter stereotype given because you don’t think he can play baseball and you think scouts just marvel at his “athleticism” and “raw” ability… Sorry the Nats didn’t go with Johnny White guy with the 2nd round pick because we sure know he’d be squeaky clean and “know how to play baseball” SMH
#16 by Andrew S - June 7th, 2008 at 00:06
But Hood does have quick hands and tremendous bat speed. That isn’t a knock, its some of the highest praise.