Anthony Rendon in Washington? Who Knew?

Early in the day there had to have been excitement about the prospect that Bubba Starling would fall to the Nationals with the sixth pick in the amateur draft. Finding a center fielder has been a vexing problem for the team and Starling playing alongside Bryce Harper was a vision of joy for the DC front office.

Then there were the other possibilities that either Trevor Bauer or Dylan Bundy might fall. It looked possible that there could be another star pitcher to go with a healthy Strasburg and the emerging Jordan Zimmermann.

What no one–not a single mock draft–anticipated was Anthony Rendon lasting past the first two or three picks. Rendon himself seemed primed for one of the top spots. But as the names were called the obvious questions was what had happened to the best bat in the draft?

Pitching was the certainly the name of the game for the 2011 first year player draft. Some opined that the new “engineered” college bats are making the pitchers play up and perhaps muting the performance of college hitters. But fifteen minutes and five picks in and suddenly Rice third baseman Rendon was the center of discussion because he was still un-selected. “His medicals must have come back negative,” opined the analysts at MLB, Inc. as everyone began to anticipate a possible long slide down the draft listings.

Pitchers Gerrit Cole, Danny Hultzen, Trevor Bauer and Dylan Bundy were the first four picks and then the player that many thought would slip to Washington, Bubba Starling, went home to Kansas City.

Jim Callis at Baseball America said that the Nationals would just wait and see which of the “Super Six” fell to them.  There he was, the best player left on the board and despite Ryan Zimmerman’s presence at third base, the Nationals made Jim Callis look good by jumping all over Anthony Rendon. A sigh of relief was breathed by everyone who lives by reading the draft tea leaves.

Groucho Marx said that he wouldn’t want to join any club that would have him as a member. There has to be some of that feeling among the Washington brain trust as they wonder how they ended up with Rendon. If he was number one or number two, why did we get him at number six? What is wrong with him? There must be something wrong with him.

The obvious problem, acknowledged by Rendon in the interview shortly after his selection, is Ryan Zimmerman. The face plate of the Nationals organization blocks the way for Rice’s flashy fielding third baseman. Regardless the problems with his health, he has always been a flashy glove man although he has been a DH this season because of his ankle problems.

Asked about the issue Rendon said he was open to playing, “anywhere on the field.” It was surprising to see the normally cocky young man stressing his small physique as something that may play well at second base, or some place, anywhere on the diamond.

Bubba Starling was the Scott Boras agent that many felt was a natural fit for the Nationals who have been deft in negotiating with the uber agent. But it falls to Kansas City to convince Starling that patrolling center field in Kaufmann Stadium is better than suiting up next fall for college football with the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

But not to worry, Rendon is also represented by Boras and he will not come cheap. It will be the Nationals job to make him feel good about going number six instead of number one or two and he may wait to see if he can get number one or two money late in the evening on August 15th.

After the drama of Rendon, the rest of the night for Washington belonged to Adam Dunn. It was his free agency that handed the Nationals the 23rd and 34th picks in the evening. Yes, Arizona got two of the first seven, Tampa got ten overall. But Washington had more picks than most courtesy of the free agent first baseman that every pundit in DC was moaning about as Rizzo let him walk.

It will fall to Alex Meyer, a college righthander, and Brian Goodwin, a 20-year old college outfielder to determine whether it was worth it. They and much of Jayson Werth’s salary are what is left of the big first baseman.

For that matter, Meyer is bigger than even Dunn. Meyer stands 6′ – 9,” and it is that height that has made harnessing his plus stuff so difficult. But he has started to do so in this his junior year at the University of Kentucky. His draft stock shot up down the stretch as he beat two of the best college teams in the country, out-pitching Sonny Gray and Vanderbilt one weekend and then turning around and beating the Florida Gators in Gainseville. Shortly after Meyer’s win against Florida, the Nationals were rumored to be willing to use their 6th pick on Meyer, but they realized late he would be available for their second pick of the evening.

Many scouts believe that Meyer’s stuff is the equal of anyone in the draft if he can learn to do more than just throw hard. He can hit 100 mph with his fastball, but he has shown in 2011 that he is learning to keep the ball in the strike zone. He is learning to pitch and to compete effectively. Some believe he will ultimately be a reliever. His presence on the mound throwing extreme hard stuff would certainly strike fear into hearts of batters the way Randy Johnson once did.

Brian Goodwin, the Nationals pick at number 34, is a five tool player who had problems as a freshman at North Carolina and went to Miami-Dade Junior College. He has plus skills across the board including surprising power that should improve as he matures. For now he is a prototypical top of the order hitter who gets on base and has the speed to score runs in front of the big bats. He is projected as a center fielder, but it is uncertain whether he gets reads off the bat to make that work.

In the end the Nationals picked three college players as they have done in recent years. There will be no Bubba Starling roaming center field next to Bryce Harper. For now the team has two gold glove third basemen, but also a minor league organization that continues to deepen in talent.

I asked Jim Callis of Baseball America when he appeared on our podcast, Outta the Parkway, whether the improved ranking for the Nationals by BA–13th overall–was a function of Bryce Harper alone or better talent overall.  He said that the successful signing of Harper was a huge lift for the team–answer: “Harper.”

But in truth the team is developing more talent than it has since the golden days when the Expos were the envy of every development team. A.J. Cole and Bobby Ray are pitching as well at Hagerstown as Harper is hitting. Tyler Moore, Steve Lombardozzi, and Brad Peacock are leading a very good Harrisburg Senators team. There is pitching help in Syracuse in the Brad Meyer and Tom Milone along with a rebounding Matt Antonelli in the middle infield.

Where does Anthony Rendon fit in that system? It’s baseball. You take it one day at a time, one game at a time. For now Mr. Rendon has to be happy that Washington kept his status as one of the “super six” in tact. After all, it is also a business and that status will translate to a lot of “business” for the young man.