It's the lockdown podcast network, your team every day. The Nats do the unthinkable and cut a deal at number 10 and take shortstop/third baseman/outfield or receiver king from Wake Forest. One thing is for sure, this Nats front office, it's different. And thank you all for making lockdown nationals your first list in every single day as we are free and available wherever you get your podcasts. And of course, I'm your host Ryan Clary. You can catch me over on Twitter @RionClary11 and as well as our show page @ello on our score nationals. For all your latest nationals, news and notes, make sure to check us out over on Twitter. And of course, search up lockdown nationals wherever you get your podcasts, including over YouTube. Again, just search locked on nationals. So we get started here with discussing, it's going to be a short show today, it's a Sunday, but we are reacting to the nationals, tenth overall pick taking Wake Forest, they announced him as a shortstop, but he's also a third baseman, he's a second baseman, and he's also an outfielder, receiver king out of Wake Forest. So let's get into it, just the reaction. This is something that Mike Rizzo has never done, never, not once as him as the principal decision maker for the Washington Nationals, he has never cut a deal. So obviously yesterday, the nationals, they acquired pick number 39 in today's draft, which there are some intriguing high school guys where you could, you know, hand out a little bit more money. But here's the difference maker, I'm more intrigued by the way that the nationals are kind of conducting this year's draft, considering what they have done in years past, the nationals and Mike Rizzo, we have always said, he takes the big swing, he is pointing 450 dead center and he is hoping to God that that thing lands 450 dead center. That's not really what this pick is, Seaver King is a good player, but don't get it wrong, they just cut a deal with someone at number 10 overall, that's not cheap by the way, that's pretty smart, that's what good organizations do. And I think if I had to guess who may be behind this, it's probably Brad Syolik coming over from the Baltimore Orioles, someone who has really helped them and also Danny Haas, who is the scouting director from the Diamondbacks, who came on this last offseason. He was the, so Brad Syolik was the Orioles director of draft operations and he was with them since 2013, Brad Syolik, in my opinion, was probably the brains behind this selection. And again, the reason why I say that is just because of what Mike Rizzo has always done. He has never done this. So this is an intriguing pick, but nonetheless, we'll have more of this as the week goes on, but the nationals, Seaver King, that is your pick. You may be asking, who is Seaver King? He was a top 20 prospect on me.com, 45 raw grade power, 55 hit tool, he can play really solid defense, if you are looking for a comparison off the bat. This is kind of the guy who I came up with. And again, he's right here in Washington, DC right now. He kind of reminds me of a much more polished version of Trey Lipscomb. Trey Lipscomb is an interesting prospect. Seaver King right now is the number 17 prospect in this year's draft class. Again, 55 grade hit tool, 45 grade power, 65 runner. So good there. 55 grade arm, 55 in the field, overall a 55 prospect. You may be asking, though, Brian, you never talked about Seaver King. You're right. I did not. I did not see this coming whatsoever. I thought the nationals are gonna be your best player available. Connor Griffin, in my opinion, was going to be the nationals pick. He went number nine in the Pittsburgh Pirates, why I think could be a superstar someday. But Seaver King, again, this is an intriguing pick. This is someone who has a ton of raw talent. I was watching over on ESPN and they were talking about his raw talent over his last two seasons. This last year he played a Wake Forest two years prior to that, he played a division two wing gate. You don't know. You don't watch wing gate. We don't watch wing gate. None of us do. He transferred a Wake Forest and again, they had out of three top 10 players in this year's draft. Seaver King was the third of those guys. He batted 308, a 377 OBP, a 577 slug and a 954 OBS. All while doing that, he stole 11 bases, only got caught stealing one time, only got caught stealing twice in his collegiate career, but only swelled 31 bags in total. One of the more impressive features though, only 34 strikeouts in 60 games, right then in there, that's something you can work with. But I think what Seaver King is going to be kind of touted more so as is maybe someone who can kind of just fit wherever is left. He was announced as a shortstop, but he's not going to be a shortstop. CJ Abrams will likely be a shortstop moving forward. But look at his kind of where he has played throughout his career. In 2022 at wing gate, he played 29 games at second base. He played 12 games over at third base, then in 2023 with wing gate, he played four games at second base, 28 games at third base and 20 games at shortstop. And then this last year at wake force, this one gets all wacky. Second two games at second base, he had 36 games over at third base, 21 games in center field, 21 games in total in the outfield, all which were center field and also 10 games over at shortstop. This guy's got defensive metrics and defensive DNA all over the diamond. That is a good fit for where the nationals are. And even then considering this, he's 21 years old. He's coming out of college. This guy isn't going to take forever to develop to get to the major leagues. This is someone who may be next season by the time of August, he'll be up helping the Washington Nationals, hopefully making a postseason push. Now the big question with Seaver King is going to come in the offensive side of things. Again, if you're a first round pick, you got the job done wherever you went. If you're in high school, you hit the crap out of the baseball. If you're in college, you hit the crap out of the baseball. But can that translate into major league baseball? I don't know at this point in time, but here's the thing. Brad Siolik, again, who I believe is probably the brains behind this pick, the nationals, they traded a hunter Harvey yesterday, getting that number 39 pick in today's draft, which is coming up in the next hour and a half maybe at this point. They're going to give someone a lot more money than what they were expecting. The reason why that is they're going to get some high school player who maybe was thinking, "Yeah, I'm going to go to college." Well, the national is going to come in and say, "Well, here's a little bit more money than what you expect. You want to come to Washington DC and be a Washington national?" That's probably what they're looking for right now. Even then, there's one guy on the board who I don't know if the nationals could pull this off at this point, but there are a couple different guys like a right-handed pitcher, William Schmidt, who just announced today. He's the number 16 overall prospect that he's going to LSU and that he has made his pick. That is someone that I would look at at number 39 for the nationals and say, "They might be giving him a little bit more money," because, again, this is the first kind of surprising pick that has gone on through the MLB draft. This is the first kind of deal, obviously, that the team has cut with any whatsoever prospect at this point. This is a very intriguing pick, in my opinion. Beaver King, he's got the ceiling. This is a raw talent. Is he going to hit for power up on the bigs? I think that's probably the biggest question about Beaver King at this point in time. He's got the name. I can tell you that much. But doing quick research on him, he's got good hit abilities, I guess you could say. Not all the best power in the world. Where does he probably play mostly? In my opinion, if I were to guess right now, he'll probably be a second baseman. The nationals will probably bring him up as a shortstop through the minor leagues at this point, because you don't really have too many guys that are going to be blocking him at this point. And then you move him over to second base once he reaches the major leagues. It's not going to be the defense that holds Beaver King back at this point. The big overwhelming question will be, how can the nationals develop this game? How can they bring the bat out of them? How can they actually find a way to develop power? Because again, this is the first draft with Brad Syolik and Danny Haas, new guys in this front office who do have an impact on the draft, who do have a track record of success in the draft, specifically with Brad Syolik with the Baltimore Orioles. I'm interested in what the nationals saw here with this pick, because again, this is not a Mike Rizzo pick. This was a Mike Rizzo pick, pick, it'd be Treya Savage, right in a picture out of East Carolina. It would be, I don't know, Braden Montgomery, outfielder from LSC or from Texas A&M rather, or maybe Bryce Rayner from Harvard Westlake in California High School, pretty high ceiling, kind of prospect, 19 years old. This is a very intriguing pick at this point in time. But my main concern is, what will the nationals do? How will they bring the best foot forward in developing Seaver King? Because this is going to be a project. And now the better question is, how do you trust this player development process? And can you put your trust and all your resources in the Seaver King and want to turn out a very good offensive side hitter here at this point? He's got the defense under control, in my opinion. The big question is, what can he do at the plate? He's going to make a quick rise, hopefully, but even then, you'll just have to see because this kid's got talent, he's six foot, he's 195 pounds, he's got raw ability. We'll see what the nationals can do at this point in time, but what an interesting pick for the Washington Nationals. Man, oh man, I did not expect Seaver King to be selected 10th overall, but we'll have much more on tomorrow's lockdown nationals. You can find that right here on YouTube, just search lockdown nationals. And wherever you get your podcasts, just search lockdown nationals, we'll have that for you in tomorrow's show. What will the nationals do with Seaver King? Well, we'll see about that, but welcome to the Sea, Seaver King. Sounds pretty good. We'll catch you on the flip side. Have a good one. Go Nats. A prime member. You can listen to this lockdown podcast ad free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. (upbeat music)
