The past two seasons the MLB draft has arguably been the most important date on the Nats’ calendar. Forget games. In 2009 and 2010 it was all about selecting no-brainer draft picks Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper and getting them signed before losing their rights at the mid-August deadline. There’s a little less attention on the draft this time around. Washington picks sixth overall instead of No. 1. But the organization is preparing just as hard. In fact, with three picks in the first 34 selections the Nats have a chance to make a deeper impact on their farm system. That’s why general manager Mike Rizzo brought his key front-office personnel to Nationals Park for meetings this week as the team prepares the all-important draft board.
“It’s a little bit different draft for us – most is importantly because we have multiple first-round picks,” Rizzo told ESPN 980 and Washington Examiner columnist Thom Loverro on Wednesday. “We pick this year, fortunately enough in a terrifically deep draft , 6th 23 and 34 in the first round. So we’re extremely excited about that. Our guys have been beating the bushes and the highways all year preparing for this thing. We just had our vice president of player personnel, Roy Clark, our scouting director, Kris Kline, all of our cross checkers into Washington for the last three days along with our area scouts to start chipping away, mapping out and preparing the draft board for the big day of June 6. It’s Christmas Day for baseball guys like myself. It’s one of my favorite days of the whole year. We’re battling hard and grinding it out.”
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