The Nationals Select UTL Seaver King with the 10th Pick in the MLB Draft

The Nationals have been in full rebuild mode for a couple of years now, and still might for another year or two, but their path back to contention hit an important checkpoint today with yet another top 10 pick. That top 10 pick was spent on UTL Seaver King out of Wake Forest University.

On the surface, this pick was slightly surprising given the names still available on the board, such as Braden Montgomery (Texas A&M) and Bryce Rainer (Top Prep Bat). However, the pick makes more sense when you realize that after yesterday's trade of Hunter Harvey, the Nationals acquired the 39th overall pick in the draft, which coupled with their own 44th pick, gave the team more flexibility to divvy up their draft pool money and spread it out to get three quality players as opposed to dumping it all into their top pick. So ultimately, Danny Haas stayed true to his Baltimore roots and went underslot at pick 10. So what are the Nationals getting with Seaver King?

The quick rundown is Seaver King possesses immense defensive versatility and elite bat speed. He has a tendency to chase and hit a lot of ground balls (which I am sure the Nationals and Darnell Coles like...), but he hits the ball extremely hard and registered an exit velocity of 117 mph this past season. He has power, but the Nationals will need to help him pull the ball in the air more in order for King to reach that 20+ homer potential.

In regards to the defensive versatility, King says his heart is at shortstop. But for the Nationals, they could realistically play King anywhere in the Infield (minus first base) or even in the Outfield and would get a plus defender at that position. When the pick was announced, he was announced as a Shortstop whereas the Nationals announced him as a 3B/OF. It will likely be in the team's best interest to find a consistent home on defense for King as he develops through the Minor Leagues.

Food for thought, but given CJ Abrams defensive struggles as a pro, it is worth floating out the idea that King could play Shortstop and move Abrams to Second Base at some point. That would be an ultra-athletic middle infield combination.

Ultimately it seems as though the Nationals opted for a player that fits their current team mold: tough, puts the ball in play and has above-average speed. King may not have the ceiling some of the other prospects possessed, but his floor is higher than others, which makes him a reasonable underslot selection.