the Nationals select University of Georgia RHP Trevor Holder (senior)
workhorse type pitcher
from Baseball America
Senior righthander Trevor Holder was a 10th-round pick last season and should go in about the same range this June. He allowed 19 home runs in 92 innings as he failed to harness his improved velocity. Holder’s fastball touched 95 and sat in the 91-94 mph range for much of the spring, but it’s straight as an arrow at that speed, and hitters seemed to be running to the bat rack rather than being intimidated by the velocity. He has more movement when he throws it 88-91 mph, setting up a solid slurvy breaking ball and fringy changeup.
Seems another signability selection to me. I hope they are planning on grabbing some tough signs later in the draft.
#1 by Jeff E. - June 9th, 2009 at 22:16
booo! another NCAA arm to swap to Fish for a headcase???? LOL!!!
#2 by joNAThan - June 9th, 2009 at 22:16
Not much upside I suspect….I agree, hope they take some chances later on
#3 by Other Marc with a C - June 9th, 2009 at 22:16
Again, I don’t expect to see them make those tough sign selections. I just have a bad feeling about it.
#4 by HB3 - June 9th, 2009 at 22:16
So a 10th rounder per BA going in the 3rd??? WTF???
#5 by Brian Oliver - June 9th, 2009 at 22:17
10th rd last year though it’s still a questionable pick to me
#6 by Gil - June 9th, 2009 at 22:17
Was he the best value on the board ? Keep blowing smoke up our butts Rizzo
#7 by John - June 9th, 2009 at 22:18
I have to say that this has been as big a disappointment as can be for a fan of a team that got Strasburg. I hope some of these guys prove us wrong, but it’s looking like it’ll be Strasburg and a bunch of reaches. Very disappointing.
#8 by Gil - June 9th, 2009 at 22:18
This is the first bigtime reach..yuck
#9 by HB3 - June 9th, 2009 at 22:19
Referencing the “should go in about the same range this June…”
#10 by John O’Connor - June 9th, 2009 at 22:20
Did somebody drop the draft list in the war room and get the pages all out of order?
#11 by JMadIV - June 9th, 2009 at 22:21
sounds to me like they are going to break the bank with Strasburg, give Storen a decent bonus, and then Signability for the rest of the draft.
#12 by Wallyball - June 9th, 2009 at 22:22
I have been out all day, and am just catching up on all of it now. Average overall draft by Nats – not great, but not horrible. Can’t help but think that they missed a chance for it to be really special, though – Strasburg, White or Matzek, Kobernus, Broad would really have been something to talk about, I think. This last one puzzled me quite a bit. Money really seems to be a bigger factor than I thought – kind of ominous. I hope that they are upfront about it, at least.
#13 by Gil - June 9th, 2009 at 22:23
They had to say signability wasn’t gonna be a factor but we all know it is a huge factor
#14 by JMadIV - June 9th, 2009 at 22:23
in fact, I don’t care what Rizzo says. They’ve been drafting for signability with every pick except the #1.
#15 by Wallyball - June 9th, 2009 at 22:24
KC is havng a nice draft, and you have to give it to texas if they get both of those guys signed.
#16 by JMadIV - June 9th, 2009 at 22:30
a blind hunch says that Holder is a reliever in our organization, and not a starter.
#17 by Jeff E. - June 9th, 2009 at 22:32
Lacava come fall, I hope……after Rizzo gets the deal done with Boras for SS….
#18 by Brian Oliver - June 9th, 2009 at 22:32
JMad … a pretty safe bet in my opinion
#19 by Ric - June 9th, 2009 at 22:33
You could justify Storen and Kobernus as best available – obviously not consensus view, but you could at least accept that they see things differently. This pick can only be explained by lack of commitment to spending to get the best talent through the draft process. More likely than not that the Nats have picks 1 and 1A next year, fail to sign 1 and with 1A, take someone who is consensus bottom half of the first round talent.
#20 by Eric - June 9th, 2009 at 22:39
If they can’t sign Strasburg then this was the worst draft ever! I don’t know why I continue to care and follow this organization
#21 by Dick - June 9th, 2009 at 22:41
That was a real head scratcher. Hard to believe he is better or even cheaper than Louis Coleman, for example.
#22 by Sam - June 9th, 2009 at 22:43
Putting aside the decision to draft based on ability to get guys signed, which is controversial but not inherently crazy, why send everyone out with this absurd “honor the board” and “signability is not a consideration” press line?
It’s irksome. Fans who care enough to follow the draft are not going to freak at some consideration of getting guys signed. But being spun in such a hamhanded and ridiculous way is most unwelcome.
#23 by Jeff E. - June 9th, 2009 at 22:45
a couple comments by George Grande and Chris Welch off the FSOhio feed of tonights game: Frank Robinson did not want Brandon Phillips included in that Colon deal….Steve McCatty was part of an Oakland rotation which had 94! complete games. see. you can compete without a bullpen!!! LOL!!!!! keep laughing everybody!
#24 by joNAThan - June 9th, 2009 at 22:46
Its June 9, three rounds are over. You cannot presume that Strasburg won’t sign and certainly can’t judge a draft on 4 picks. The last one merits questioning, but there will be plenty of opportunities tomorrow to draft some players who might be above slot types–Stassi is still out there, so is Broad, and many others. Go Nats
#25 by joNAThan - June 9th, 2009 at 22:52
Dyson is still out there, as is Marrero
#26 by Wallyball - June 9th, 2009 at 23:03
I hear what you are saying, JoNAThan, but I agree with Sam. For me, it is not so much who they drafted, but what I was expecting compared to what they did. This year, given the economy and having to sign Strasburg, it would have been understandable to acknowledge that economics will play a part in later picks. I think that they are prepared to make a credible offer for Strasburg – say $15m at least, maybe more, and while no guarantees, I think that we have a decent shot at getting it done.
But, criminy, do they need to pretend otherwise, when it is readily apparent what they are doing? So we start letting ourselves dream – ‘Strasburg, White, and maybe Scheppers falls to 50!” If they would have been straight about it, I would have known that there was no chance at something like that and I wouldn’t have had extra disappointment. I just think that they were unwilling to take a perceived PR hit by acknowledging it.
When I first saw a headline saying ‘Nats get Strasburg and Storen’, I thought – OK, liked him better than Jenkins, not bad. But then I saw the first round list, and I couldn’t help with ‘you mean that they could have had Matzek, Miller, Scheppers, …. WHITE! And then I became disappointed with the draft. So, if Rizzo says that he had Storen rated higher than Matzek, for instance, there will be a real credibility gap for me.
#27 by chima - June 9th, 2009 at 23:04
stassi? why stassi? we have norris and nieto……
#28 by joNAThan - June 9th, 2009 at 23:14
Well put Wally. I guess I had already tempered my expectations somewhat, as I was thinking that to sign Strasburg and get some guys, like Matzek, Green, etc. who will sign above slot, they are maybe (and this is just a guess) looking at a 25-30M draft budget, which I don’t believe is realistic. This I expected some slot type selections.
I do wish Rizzo wouldn’t have said anything to be honest, I can understand why you feel set up, its like my wife telling me she’s gonna get me something special for father’s day (which she has stated) only to give me a Nats tie. Nice gift, not special. Now I’m sad.
Lets hope for the best tomorrow. Go Rizzo, Go Nats!
#29 by Andrew Z. Stebbins - June 9th, 2009 at 23:19
Because he can hit. Those guys can too, but why pass up the consensus BPA?
#30 by Brian Oliver - June 9th, 2009 at 23:19
chima – I would not let the presence of Nieto and Norris prohibit me from drafting a catcher if he is the best player available. There is no guarantee that Nieto and/or Norris will develop as you would hope.
#31 by JayB - June 10th, 2009 at 04:32
Brian_”if he is the best player available”….good one Brian….thanks for the laugh.
#32 by Markfd - June 10th, 2009 at 10:28
Yikes…the more I read about Holder the more I believe that signability is the Rizzo mantra here in 2009. After drafting two pitchers in the first round I was hoping for a 1B and CF prospect with the next two picks and we got a 2B (who sounds like a college version of Jose Oquendo) and pitcher with a AA stuff!?