Anthony Rendon was one of the top bats in the 2011 draft, and he successfully signed with a $6 million signing bonus, and $7.2 million guaranteed over 4 years. He'll quickly find a spot within the organization, but not at 3rd base. That position is already spoken for.
Alex Meyer, the right handed star pitcher from the University of Kentucky, announced to the world over his Twitter account (@AlexMeyer17) that he was indeed a Nats player. He's set to earn $2 million from the Lerners.
Brian Goodwin is a bit of a different story. He was dismissed from the University of North Carolina because of academic violations and moved to Miami Dade College before being drafted by the Nats as a compensation pick for not re-signing Adam Dunn. He's due $3 million in guaranteed dollars. Considering Adam Dunn's disastrous season in Chicago, we don't think many Nats fans will hate this signing.
The biggest wildcard coming into the deadline was Matt Purke, who the Nats drafted in the 3rd round. Purke was selected 14th overall in the 2009 draft by the Texas Rangers and declined to attend TCU. He thought he was increasing his stock for a later draft, but a little shoulder trouble in his throwing arm plummeted his draft stock. We think his family will get by, though.
According to Baseball America's Jim Callis, Purke will earn around $4.4 million over 4 years, which includes a big league deal. The big league deal is huge, because it immediately puts him on the 40-man roster. If his shoulder issues get resolved quickly, he could be a game changer fairly quickly.
This draft was huge for Nats GM Mike Rizzo. There's no way to overstate that. It's possible that the Nats had the best draft of any team in baseball. What do you think, CapBallers and NatsTown? How'd the front office do?
I agree, this was definitely a great draft for Rizzo and could have the largest impact on any organization in baseball. This is especially true when you consider all of the prospects we got right before the trade deadline.
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