Washington Nationals General Manger Will Not Focus Solely on Ethan Holliday

The Washington Nationals entered the Winter Meetings with a lot of needs to fill, but they recently got some excellent news. 

While they still have a lot of holes on their roster, they recently wont the MLB Draft Lottery, securing the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft. 

This is a big deal for the team looking to break out of their rebuild to once again become a contender.

The last two times the Nationals had the No.1 overall pick, it worked out quite well, as they were able to select Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg. 

With the draft coming up in the summer, general manager Mike Rizzo and his staff will have plenty of time between now and then. 

Rizzo has been with the organization for both of those picks, so he knows what an elite prospect can do for the franchise. While the draft is still months away, it is looking like Ethan Holliday will be the early favorite to be selected first overall.

However, Rizzo isn’t just focusing on him. 

“What I’ve learned from those (previous No. 1) picks is: Don’t get too ultra-focused on one player in one draft season,” Rizzo told MLB Network on Tuesday evening with text via Mark Zuckerman of MASN. “Have a wide scope, and really scour the country. Especially with the draft pools being so large, and allocating money differently, you can really do some interesting things and impact your draft throughout the entirety.”

There is certainly a lot to like about Holliday as a prospect, with his brother Jackson Holliday being a former first overall pick of the Baltimore Orioles and his father being former multi-time All-Star Matt Holliday.

At 17 years old, Ethan is still very raw as a prospect, but his ceiling is very high, as his brother Jackson said Ethan is further along than him at the same stage.

While the younger Holliday might be the top choice, there are some other strong options. 

Rizzo will certainly be looking at Holliday closely, but outfielder Jace LaViolette and pitcher Jamie Arnold will also get some looks.

The Nationals getting the first pick is really exciting for the franchise, as this is a team that already has a ton of young talent. Adding another player who could be better than James Woods or Dylan Crews at some point in his career will only help improve a team that already has a very bright future.

Washington has done a good job with their previous two first overall picks, and they will be hoping to strike gold again.