Wow.

It's an exciting time over here in Nationals Land.

Last years #1 Draft Pick Stephen Strasburg has his major league debut tonight against the Pirates.

Last night we picked up Bryce Harper the 2010 #1 draft pick.

Good times I tell ya, good times. We might even finish above 50%..... Hey it could happen, a guy can dream!




(And no Kevy, I'm not thinking about how bad we were to earn back-to-back #1 picks....)

I hope him well, but I'd have thunk the baseball punditocracy would have learned to stop over-hyping 21 year old pitchers.

I assume that at some point the Nats will have to let him pitch more than 5 innings at a go.

I was thumbing through a slideshow of the last 25 #1 draft picks. The most recent handful remain to be seen, but I was surprised to see that I recognize most of the names. They're of course not all franchise superstars, but the great majority seem to have gone on to have productive careers.

Then there's Danny Goodwin who was the #1 pick twice and still only played in 250 games over 7 seasons.

Of course the Nat's front office is hyping the hell out it this. They have the first sell out since the stadium opener so that's be be expected but I do share you concern about the pundits.

The last time they were this jacked up about anything was when the Capitols were headed into the first round the the Stanley Cup playoff's as the #1 seed only to be eliminated in the first round by the 499th seed.

I can't decide if it is impressive that in 45 years only 3 of the #1 picks never made it to the bigs (2 more are still active in the minors and probably will) or scary that three times the best eyes in baseball failed to pick as the best prospect someone who wasn't even good enough for a bench seat in the bigs.

Poor Steve Chilcott who toiled in the minors for 6 years before retiring. Yes, apparently the Mets thought he was better than the #2 pick, Reggie Jackson.

Matt Bush is still in A ball after 7 years of trying.

I'll give the scouts a pass on Brien Taylor since he was blowing through the minors before tearing his shoulder to pieces in a fistfight.

Makes me wonder how that record compares to other sports'.

Probably unfavorably. Do any other leagues have the same minor league system where you're owned by the majors even as you toil in a development league?

For football or basketball anyway, you're pretty much guaranteed a roster spot once drafted #1 unless you refuse to sign or hurt yourself immediately.

Yeah, it's harder to quantify since there isn't that easy, "Made it to the bigs" hurdle that's a convenient at-a-glance measure of success. One would have to delve into stats/playing time/games started, etc. to make a decent comparison.

But in terms of career production I wonder how they all compare.