On Day 1 of the Major League Baseball draft, the Washington Nationals took advantage of some unexpected picks in front of them and took three very highly rated prospects to add to their farm system, Rice 3B Anthony Rendon, Kentucky RHP Alex Meyer, and Miami-Dade CC CF Brian Goodwin.  All three are college players represented by super-agent Scott Boras, and will be difficult to sign but were three elite talents firmly rated as first round selections.  I have expounded on each player below:

Anthony Rendon 3B Rice University

While the rumors have been swirling that the Nationals had their heart set on Bubba Starling, this is like being dumped by your girlfriend the day before prom only to find out Selena Gomez finally dumped the Bieber Fever and wants to date you!  Unlikely to happen you say, yes to Gomez, but not to the Nationals and Rendon.  Rendon is the most complete college bat in this draft, and likely the top collegiate hitting prospect in the past three years (let that sink in).  Rendon has power to all fields with a level, line drive swing, and has an advanced batting eye that allows him to take walks.  He also shows above average to plus skills at third base, with a plus arm and average speed.  Talents like these are rare and almost never available past pick #2.  Do not forget, many wise analysts debated whether they would take Rendon or Bryce Harper last year at #1, and there were opinions on both sides.

Rendon has battled some ankle injuries last year, and a strained shoulder this season, which likely caused him to slip to the Nationals last evening, but the Nationals got the best player in this draft if he is healthy.  Rendon’s negotiations will likely go right up to the deadline in August, but I think the time off will be good for Anthony, as it will allow his shoulder and body to rest and heal up.  But National’s fans, be excited, because the Nationals just selected a player with Evan Longoria and David Wright type talent and skills, and he could arrive late in 2012, or more likely, Opening Day 2013.

Alex Meyer RHP University of Kentucky

As beneficial as the time off should be for Rendon, I think it negatively effects Meyer, a collegiate pitcher just scratching the surface of his talent.  Meyer, an imposing figure on the mound at 6-9 and 230 pounds, has perhaps the best fastball/slider combination in this draft, but will need plenty of innings in the minor leagues.  Meyer is relatively unpolished as he still needs to work on his command of the strike zone, the consistency of his motion especially out of the stretch, and he needs experience with his changeup, a decent pitch he throws for strikes but had little need for at the collegiate level.  Meyer has as much upside as any pitcher in this draft, but he will be a major example of how good the player development staff for the Nationals is.  Meyer will likely need 3-4 years to move through the minor leagues, but he could develop into a front of the rotation type pitcher in time, and was an excellent pick at #23.

Brian Goodwin CF Miami-Dade CC

Goodwin has been on the prospect radar for years, as he was picked in the 16^th round out of a North Carolina high school but declined to sign and attended North Carolina where he started and posted a .291/.409/.511 batting line as a freshman.  Following his season, he went to the Cape Cod league and was extremely impressive, ranking as the 6^th best prospect overall (and my 3^rd best prospect in the 2011 Cape season).  Unfortunately, Goodwin ran into some academic problems and was forced to transfer last summer, finally ending up at Miami-Dade CC and making himself eligible for the 2011 draft rather than his natural 2012 draft season.  Goodwin started off slowly, and has just begun to scratch the surface of his potential.

Goodwin has solid average to plus tools across the board, with some rating his speed and his bat as plus tools.  He needs experience and at-bats, but Goodwin is a potential leadoff hitting center fielder the Nationals have been searching for since they have returned to Washington.  I firmly believe that if Goodwin had stayed at UNC, he would have been a top 10 pick next year, so the Nationals did quite well for themselves grabbing him at #34.  Great pick Nats!

Winners and Losers, MLB Draft Day 1

Winners

San Diego Padres: Cory Spangenberg SS Indian River CC, Joe Ross RHP HS, Michael Kelly RHP HS, Brett Austin Catcher HS, and Jace Peterson SS McNeese St.

While I was not a big fan of their last pick, I give the Padres credit for not taking the easy (and perhaps foolish) route and drafting only players that will sign for the recommended slot bonus.  However, San Diego took four high school players, including two difficult to sign but talented pitchers in Ross and Kelly (really like Kelly).  Spangenberg and Austin both felt a little rich for me but are solid, emerging talents.  Give credit to San Diego, they did a nice job of restocking its farm system last night.

Boston Red Sox: Matt Barnes RHP UConn, Blake Swihart Catcher HS, Henry Owens LHP HS, and Jackie Bradley Jr. OF South Carolina.
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A tremendous haul for the Red Sox, who perhaps received the steal of the draft at #19 with Matt Barnes, an elite collegiate arm with some potential left to improve.  Barnes could prove a nice #2/#3 in a couple years.  Swihart and Owens were two college players known to want rich bonuses, but they are elite high school talents and will be assets for Boston in time.  Finally, Jackie Bradley was a great pick as well, as he was projected to be drafted in the 10-20 range prior to his disappointing junior year.  Bradley struggled out of the blocks this season then injured his wrist just as he was beginning to heat up but he was a star as a sophomore in the College World Series and on Cape Cod last summer and has the chance to be a bargain this late in the 1^st round.  An excellent effort from Boston on Day 1.

Washington Nationals: Anthony Rendon 3B Rice University, Alex Meyer RHP University of Kentucky, and Brian Goodwin CF Miami-Dade CC. I covered each of these players more extensively earlier, but I think the Nationals did a tremendous job taking the best player available at each pick and maximizing their value.  A “Tip of the Fedora” goes out to GM Mike Rizzo and the scouting department for a job well done last night.

Losers…

San Francisco Giants: Joe Panik SS St. John’s and Kyle Crick RHP HS.  For Panik to be selected before Levi Michael makes little to no sense.  I watched Panik a few weeks ago when they played Georgetown in Bethesda, and while Panik has skills, he certainly did not stick out like a 1^st round pick in the Big East should (i.e. like Matt Barnes and George Springer).  Panik is a pro, but I thought he would be a utility guy than a starter, either way, lousy pick.  Crick was not a bad pick where he was selected but the mistake at #29 makes the Giants losers for me in Round 1.

Los Angeles Dodgers: Chris Reed LHP Stanford.  Reed is a nice pitcher and was moving up draft boards, but the Dodgers are strapped for cash and went cheap with this pick.  Reed would have been better in the 30s, but at #16, to pass on Sonny Gray and Matt Barnes is unacceptable.  Plead poverty but you will be deemed a loser by me.

Anaheim Angels: CJ Cron 1B Utah. Cron is not a terrible pick but he is stiff in the field, and I do not like to take first baseman in round 1 unless they are elite with the bat and provide some value with the glove, otherwise I will always pass on a 1B.  With Gray, Barnes, and Meyer available along with some college arms, they should have gone in a different direction.  Also, I swear I do not have a west coast bias.

Texas Rangers: Kevin Matthews LHP HS, Zach Cone OF Georgia.  The Rangers have built a reputation in recent years for being very successful in the draft and for spending money to bring in quality prospects; unfortunately yesterday’s effort falls a bit short.  Matthews is a nice but raw high school arm, and will need plenty of development time while there were more polished high school arms available, so I question picking him at #33.  The world may not find a bigger Zach Cone besides his Mom than I am (have loved him since Cotuit in Cape Cod two summers ago) but even I would not have popped Cone in the 1^st Round.  Cone has elite skills and tools, and just looks the part in the uniform, but ever since his freshman year, his talents and skills have yet to lead to production on the field.  I would have taken him in the 3^rd round and hoped his talents finally shone through, but in the mid-first round, that is a big unnecessary reach.  Not impressed from the efforts of the Rangers yesterday.

I will be Live Blogging Day 2 of the MLB Draft most of today, please join me with your questions and your comments.  Thanks for reading and please continue to tell your friends about NatsGM.

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