The Washington Nationals fell to the San Diego Padres on Friday night with a brutal 7-2 loss to drop their record to an abysmal 38-59 mark. While many fans are already counting down the days until this terrible year comes to an end, there was some good news that emerged concerning the team before the game on Friday.
More specifically, the newest No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft, Eli Willits, announced in a conversation with Wolf Blitzer on CNN that he will be signing his contract with the Nationals on Saturday, and will begin his journey to become a big leaguer. This is exciting news for the team, as they have been able to move quickly to get their future star up and running.
Willits and his entire family were flown out to the Nation's Capital to get a tour of the city and do some tourist activities on Friday, and they will be at Nationals Park on Saturday to introduce the 17-year-old to Nationals fans around the world. As of the time of writing, we still do not know what the terms of his contract will be, but it can be assumed that it will be for significantly below slot value, especially with the announced signing of 4th round pick Miguel Sime Jr., who signed for over slot value by almost $1.5 million. Fellow high schoolers Coy James and Landon Harmon remain unsigned, but it is assumed that they will be able to reach a deal as well.
As for Willits beginning his journey of playing pro ball, he told Blitzer that him and his family are looking to soak up every bit of this final weekend together as a full family, as Eli will be going to Florida to join the Florida Complex League (FCL) Nationals. It is here that we will likely get to see how he fares in rookie ball, and fans like myself will be closely monitoring the games down there to see how he does against professional competition.
One interesting thing to note about Willits and his ability to sign his contact is that since he is still a minor and won't turn 18-years-old until December, his father Reggie will have to sign the contract along with Eli to make it legally binding. This was pointed out by TalkNats on X, and while we don't know for certain how it will all play out, it is pretty funny that the future of the franchise is not even legally old enough to vote, but was just taken with the top selection in the draft. Man, I wish I was doing things that cool at his age...
Are you excited for Eli Willits' introduction to Nationals fans? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.