The third MLB Draft Lottery took place on December 10 at the Winter Meetings in Dallas, Texas, and the Washington Nationals were awarded the first pick.
The Nationals jumped up three spots ahead of the Los Angels of Anaheim, Colorado Rockies, and Miami Marlins.
Manager Dave Martinez and their vice president of amateur scouting, Danny Haas, talked to World Baseball Network about landing the first pick.
“I’m very excited. I know we’ve been here before, but this will just give us more momentum in the future,” Nationals Manager Dave Martinez said.
“We have a lot of young talent in our system, and these guys have showed that they can handle it at the big league league level,” Haas said
He also talked about the track record of Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo and Martinez.
“We’re just going to continue to add to it, and Rizzo has done this before. Martinez has shown he can develop our young players,” Haas added. “It’s a really exciting day for the organization.
Two years ago, the Nationals also had some good fortune, getting the second pick in the lottery. They selected LSU outfielder Dylan Crews in the 2023 Draft.
“We’ve been in this before, and hopefully we don’t do this again for a long time, but it does add another exciting layer to the process,” Haas said.
The projected first pick for the Nationals on MLB Pipeline.com Draft Prospect Rankings is first-ranked prospect third baseman/shortstop Ethan Holliday.
Holliday is the brother of Orioles rookie Jackson and the son of Cardinals and Rockies legend Matt. The left-handed hitting Ethan could join Jackson as a first pick. Jackson was the first pick in 2022 by the Baltimore Orioles. This would form an intense rivalry between the brothers since Washington, D.C., and Baltimore are less than an hour apart.
Ethan will be a senior out of Stillwater Oklahoma High School and is committed to Oklahoma State.
