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The 2024 MLB Draft

MLB Draft 2024 Analysis: Who Do The Washington Nationals Take At No. 10?

MLB Draft 2024 Analysis: Who Do The Washington Nationals Take At No. 10?

After taking Dylan Crews No. 2 in 2023, the Washington Nationals look to add another young piece to their roster in the 2024 MLB Draft.

Mar 11, 2024 by Joe Harrington
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The Washington Nationals may have had the best draft position in baseball in 2023. 

Instead of making the tough choice between the two consensus top options– the phenom pitcher Paul Skenes and one of the best advanced college hitters in a while, Dylan Crews– they had the ability to just let the Pittsburgh Pirates make the tough choice. 

They wound up with Crews, who could debut before the All-Star break in 2024. The hope is he, a crop of talented prospects and the No. 10 pick in the 2024 MLB Draft will help create another sustained run of success. 

Since winning the World Series in 2019, the Nationals have gone through a surprise rebuild. 

A surprise because a large market team tried and couldn’t extend generational talents from that World Series team. In a market the size of Washington, D.C. and players with a championship legacy, it seems odd that neither Trea Turner or Juan Soto signed massive extensions. Soto reportedly rejected a 15-year, $440 million contract. The Nationals reportedly offered Turner a six-year $100 million deal. It was rejected. 

And thus, the Nationals tore apart their championship roster. Perhaps the albatross contracts to Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin prevented the team from retooling after those players rejected the extensions and led to the rebuild.  

But the club has moved on. 

Since 2021, they’ve drafted No. 2, No. 5 and No. 11 and will draft at No. 10 this year. Two of those picks, No. 11 in 2021 Brady House and Crews are top 50 prospects. Then there’s James Woods, the No. 14 prospect, who was part of the Soto trade in 2022. That trade also sent them shortstop CJ Abrams and starter Mackenzie Gore.

The trade that sent Turner and Max Scherzer to the Dodgers the summer before landed the Nationals two of their most prominent young major league players, catcher Keibert Ruiz and 2023 All-Star Josiah Gray. 

The Nationals are in a tough division with juggernauts like the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies, the New York Mets’ bank account and the young and fun Miami Marlins. The Nationals are seemingly in a spot where they don’t have to rush any of their prospects to compete for a division title in 2024. 

But this roster may be ready to compete for the playoffs in 2025 or 2026, which means the No. 10 pick will become an important piece to that. 

So who do they take?

What The Washington Nationals Roster Has Before The 2024 MLB Draft

There’s a lot riding on C.J. Abrams. 

While Wood and Gore were big prospect names in the Soto trade, Abrams is probably the guy the Nationals wanted the most. The now 23-year old infielder was the No. 6 pick in 2019 and he debuted in 2022. Last season he hit .245 with 18 home runs. 

Washington is hoping for a bigger leap from him in year three. 

The Nationals have other young pieces to build around. 

Ruiz was a top catching prospect but was blocked by All-Star Will Smith with the Dodgers, which made him available in the Scherzer-Turner trade. He was the main prospect in that deal and his 2023 season was solid with a .260 average and 18 home runs with 67 RBI. 

The Nationals enter this season with a very good bullpen led by Jordan Weems, Kyle Finnegan and Hunter Harvey.

Veterans Joey Gallo and Joey Meneses and a reclamation project in Nick Senzel, the No. 2 pick in the 2016 draft by Cincinnati, are all interesting pieces. 

And that’s the major takeaway from the Nationals. The team still seems to be in a rebuild and with the veteran pieces in the bullpen, and the veteran hitters on expiring contracts, few teams could be in better position to improve their farm system than the Nationals.

Washington Nationals Prospects And Minor League System

And that farm system ranked No. 15 at Baseball America. That’s down from No. 7 last season.  

Crews, Wood, House and pitcher Cade Cavalli could all debut this season. The first three could start the season in Double A and be promoted quickly. Cavalli is recovering from Tommy John would likely be a September call-up i he debuts. 

No. 5 prospect Elijah Green, another outfielder, is slated for Single-A. Though Green needs to bounce back from a poor 2023 season. 

If the Nationals become sellers during the season, the system will get a shot in the arm. And given the amount of players who could graduate this season, the system will need it. 

And the top prospect could be the No. 10 pick. 

Who Are The Washington Nationals Taking With The No. 10 MLB  Draft Pick

The Nationals have not shied away from drafting high school players. They took prep players in back-to-back years in 2021 and 2022. Depending on the prospect list you’re using, there aren’t a ton of elite high school options but the No.8 prospect in the FloBaseball composite prospect list is Mississippi prospect Konnor Griffin, an outfielder. 

Seaver King, however, seems like a possible spot here. 

The Wake Forest shortstop and outfielder is the No. 7-ranked prospect at Baseball America and has shades of Trea Turner skillset in his game. He hit .411/.457/.699 with 11 home runs and stole 13 bases in 2023 at Division II Wingate. His Cape Cod season was even more impressive with .429/.479/.542. His athletic ability allows him to play just about everywhere, including centerfield. 

Although he batted .255 through 12 games with Wake Forest so far in 2024, he has hit four home runs. 

Like almost all these picks between Nos. 3 and 10, pitcher is always a possibility. Especially if one of the top 3 are available. 

Iowa right-hander Brody Brecht throws as hard as any pitcher in the draft, but would likely need the most development. Chase Burns and Hagen Smith are probably the two best pitchers in the draft and the most likely to be taken in the top 10. 

That leaves lefty Josh Hartle of Wake Forest, whose location and offspeed ability is his calling card, just like his 2023 teammate and No. 7 pick last year, Rhett Lowder. 

More MLB Draft 2024 Coverage 

When Is The 2024 MLB Draft?

The 2024 MLB Draft is part of MLB All-Star week and will be in Arlington, Texas, where the World Series champion Texas Rangers are hosting the All-Star Game. 

The All-Star Game is July 16. The official date of the draft has yet to be announced, but the 2023 MLB Draft began the Sunday before the All-Star Game, which was played on Tuesday.  

MLB Draft 2024 Order

The New York Mets, New York Yankees and San Diego Padres’ first picks dropped 10 spots because the clubs exceeded the second surcharge threshold of the competitive balance tax by more than $40 million. 

Here’s the order: 

  1. Cleveland Guardians
  2. Cincinnati Reds
  3. Colorado Rockies
  4. Oakland A’s
  5. Chicago White Sox
  6. Kansas City Royals
  7. St. Louis Cardinals 
  8. Los Angeles Angels 
  9. Pittsburgh Pirates
  10. Washington Nationals 
  11. Detroit Tigers
  12. Boston Red Sox
  13. San Francisco Giants
  14. Chicago Cubs
  15. Seattle Mariners
  16. Miami Marlins 
  17. Milwaukee Brewers
  18. Tampa Bay Rays
  19. New York Mets
  20. Toronto Blue Jays
  21. Minnesota Twins
  22. Baltimore Orioles 
  23. Los Angeles Dodgers 
  24. Atlanta Braves 
  25. San Diego Padres 
  26. New York Yankees
  27. Philadelphia Phillies 
  28. Houston Astros 
  29. Arizona Diamondbacks 
  30. Texas Rangers
  31. Arizona Diamondbacks
  32. Baltimore Orioles 
  33. Minnesota Twins
  34. Baltimore Orioles
  35. Arizona Diamondbacks
  36. Cleveland Guardians
  37. Pittsburgh Pirates
  38. Colorado Rockies
  39. Kansas City Royals

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