They donned Nationals jerseys for the first time and sat beaming on stage before friends, family and other interested bystanders.
Anthony Rendon, Alex Meyer and Brian Goodwin – all selected among the top 34 picks in the 2011 Major League Baseball draft – hope they’re wearing those uniforms for real in the coming years. Washington’s front office is confident they will. Agent Scott Boras, no surprise, insists that they will. But for one day at least the trio was simply getting introduced to Nationals Park. Their big-league careers can wait.
“We’re extremely proud to have them in the fold,” said Nats general manager Mike Rizzo. “I’d like to thank the Lerner Family for allowing us to be aggressive in the 2011 draft and sign such a talented group of young players.”
Rendon says he is fully recovered from the shoulder injury that restricted him to designated hitter duties during his junior year at Rice. Boras said his client – the No. 6 overall pick – spent two months at a sports fitness institute in California after the draft and followed a rehab plan by renowned surgeon Dr. Lewis Yocum. Rendon was also examined by Nats’ team doctors before signing a $7.5 million major-league contract last week and earned a clean bill of health.
Meyer, a 6-foot-9 right-handed pitcher, went with Goodwin to another respected surgeon, Dr. James Andrews. Both were deemed healthy and, it turns out, Meyers might still be growing.
“The cake is still in the oven. And I think we’re going to end up with a three-layer cake,” Boras said, adding that doctors told him Meyer, now 210 pounds, could hit 250 before all is said and done.
Boras has a vested interest, obviously, but compared Goodwin to Atlanta Braves center fielder Michael Bourn. That’s an aggressive stance given Bourn’s talent level, but Rizzo did say last week Goodwin has the skills to stick in center. With his patience and decent power at the plate that’s an intriguing package for a team in desperate need of young talent at that spot. It has enough coming through the pipeline at other positions – something that didn’t go unnoticed by the three draft picks.
“I think that makes more special [to be chosen by Washington] and that I’m right around the corner from home,” said Goodwin, a native of Rocky Mount, N.C., less than four hours from the District. “All of that makes me real happy to be with the Nationals.”
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