The Orioles got their last look at Anthony Santander in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series as he stood in their clubhouse and soaked in another painful scene. A quick playoff ouster, similar to the previous October’s sweep in Texas. The consoling hugs, the realization that many teammates wouldn’t be back.

He stood at his locker, motionless, and scanned the room, as if taking mental snapshots.

Santander will get to experience a reunion with who’s left in a couple of months.

The Blue Jays reportedly have reached agreement with Santander on a five-year deal for more than $90 million. The contract includes a club option.

Update: The New York Post's Jon Heyman says the deal is worth $92.5 million.

The Nationals envision three of their recent first-round picks playing a significant role on their major league roster next season, with Dylan Crews leading the way, Cade Cavalli poised to make his long-awaited return from Tommy John surgery and Brady House on track to get called up from Triple-A Rochester at some point.

They need major contributions from top draft picks like that after a string of disappointments, something that was underscored this week when two prior first-rounders left the organization for good.

Carter Kieboom and Mason Denaburg were among a host of minor league players who became free agents, joining a list that also included former prospects Israel Pineda and Tim Cate, plus a pair of prospects acquired at the frantic 2021 trade deadline: Aldo Ramirez and Richard Guasch.

Kieboom, the 28th overall pick in the 2016 draft, was supposed to help provide a bridge from the Nationals’ 2019 championship roster to the future, tabbed as Anthony Rendon’s heir apparent at third base. But he never did produce at the big league level, finishing with a .199 batting average, .297 on-base percentage and .301 slugging percentage from 2019-23. He never mastered the third base position, either, after shifting from shortstop, with minus-5 career Defensive Runs Saved and 11 errors in 117 games at the hot corner.

Tommy John surgery also threw a wrench into Kieboom’s career, knocking him out the entire 2022 season. He made it back to the majors late in 2023 and got one final chance to play regularly but did little with that opportunity. He was outrighted off the 40-man roster in March and spent his entire season at Triple-A, batting .265 with seven homers, 42 RBIs and a .751 OPS while ultimately giving way to House at third base.

Sir Jamison Jones walked into the Nationals clubhouse yesterday like many draft picks before him. While still very young in the face, his 6-foot-2, 225-pound frame looked like it already belonged in a major league clubhouse.

While standing next to the 5-foot-11, 197-pound Luke Dickerson, the Nats’ second-round pick who also officially signed yesterday to a record bonus for a non-first-rounder, Jones looked like he was years older than his fellow high school selection.

Jones was the Nats’ 15th-round pick out of St. Rita High School in Illinois. Although he was picked in the later rounds, the 18-year-old had an idea the Nationals were interested in him after a workout with the team a month before the draft.

“I had a workout here in early June and I felt nothing but great about it,” Jones said during a joint introductory press conference with Dickerson yesterday. “I had a really strong feeling that this is a team that really, really liked me. And my agent, he ended up calling me that morning and he was like, 'Well, they have an offer and they're really interested. So this is the offer.' And I was like, you know what, yeah. That's the right opportunity. So I got the opportunity and I'm extremely happy to take it.”

Jones’ signing bonus is reportedly $500,000, which is more than the $150,000 assigned to picks taken after the 10th round. So $350,000 of his bonus counts against the Nationals’ $13,895,100 bonus pool in order to sign him away from his commitment to play at Oklahoma State University.

The Nationals introduced two more draft signings this morning after announcing two of their top four picks last week in Seaver King and Kevin Bazzell and their second pick in Caleb Lomavita yesterday. And the two were the Nats’ only selections out of high school in this year’s draft.

Second-round pick Luke Dickerson out of Morris Knolls High School in New Jersey and 15th-round pick Sir Jamison Jones out of St. Rita High School in Illinois both officially signed their first professional contracts with the Nationals.

“It's been an honor getting drafted and everything,” Dickerson said during an introductory press conference with both draft picks. “Just being able to celebrate those times with my family and everything. And just getting to work, I'm super excited.”

“First off, I just want to thank God for putting me in this situation,” Jones said. “I've been extremely happy over the past couple of weeks and just glad that I'm here and I can show what I have. I'm ready to get the work and just start on a long career hopefully, Lord willing.”

Dickerson, a shortstop with a commitment to play at the University of Virginia, signed for $3.8 million, which is a record number for a non-first-rounder since Major League Baseball’s Draft pool system began, per a source familiar with the terms. That is more than $1.5 million more than the $2.122 million slot value for the 44th overall pick.

The Nationals signed another one of their top draft picks today, coming to terms with Caleb Lomavita and giving the former Cal catcher a tour of the ballpark and a chance to take batting practice with big leaguers.

Lomavita, the 39th overall pick in this month’s draft, received a signing bonus of $2.325 million, according to a source familiar with the terms. That’s slightly below Major League Baseball’s recommended slot value of $2.4 million for that particular pick.

That the Nationals even found themselves holding the 39th pick was a last-minute surprise, with general manager Mike Rizzo acquiring it along with third base prospect Cayden Wallace from the Royals for reliever Hunter Harvey about 24 hours before the start of the July 14 draft. It was one of only a handful of draft picks eligible to be traded, officially a “Competitive Balance A” pick awarded to Kansas City because it is considered a low-revenue club.

Inside the Nats’ draft war room, scouts were ecstatic to suddenly have a third selection on the event’s opening night to go along with the previously assigned No. 10 and No. 44 overall picks.

Lomavita, 21, is considered a top offensive prospect whose catching skills developed significantly over the last few years in Berkeley. In 158 games across three seasons at Cal, the Hawaii native hit 38 homers with 141 RBIs and a .302/.369/.534 slash line while seeing his caught-stealing percentage improve from 19 percent as a sophomore to 23 percent as a junior.

ARLINGTON, Texas – They sat next to each other in their new Orioles uniforms, with freshly signed contracts to remain teammates beyond college.

Infielder Griff O’Ferrall and catcher Ethan Anderson were shoulder-to-shoulder during this morning’s video call with media and quick to smile at the opportunity to go from the University of Virginia to first-day picks in the 2024 draft.

“It’s pretty crazy,” O’Ferrall said. “Especially, we were roommates for the past two years, so definitely are very close. We were definitely in shock when we found out we were going to the same team. But we went from living together and now we’re going to be spending more time together, so it doesn’t change much for us. But it’s definitely exciting.”

“Griff has been one of the closest teammates for me the last three years,” Anderson said. “I don’t know if it’s like I haven’t left UVA or this is just like the next chapter and we’re still together.”

The Orioles chose O’Ferrall with the 32^nd-overall selection, a prospect performance incentive compensation reward after Gunnar Henderson was named American League Rookie of the Year. Anderson arrived in the second round, the 61^st-overall selection and the first of four catchers grabbed by the organization.

The MLB Draft is special for any young player selected. This week, 615 players from the high school and college ranks were drafted by the 30 major league teams to start their professional careers. Dreams came true this week.

It is especially special when a player is drafted by a local team, meaning he can stay close to home near friends and family.

Luke Johnson is a 6-foot-1, 195-pound right-hander out of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County who the Nationals selected with their 10th-round pick, No. 290 overall.

The 22-year-old is native of Lewes, Del., and went to Cape Henlopen High School, just a couple of hours east of Washington, D.C. He then played three years of college ball at UMBC, just 45 minutes up the road from Nationals Park.

Johnson started his college career as a two-way player at UMBC. He slashed .250/.313/.386 with a .699 OPS, seven doubles, one triple, three home runs and 24 RBIs in 97 games over his first three seasons while playing all over the field. And although he did take three at-bats, he made the transformation as a full-time pitcher for his senior season.

The latest MLB Draft has come and gone. The Orioles, since Mike Elias and his staff took over, are known for scoring well in the draft.

Once again this year they showed they tap into the college ranks much more than the high school ranks, getting 17 of 21 drafted players from college.

But that is actually twice the number of high school players the club drafted in the last two years, when they took just two high school players among 22 selections in 2022 (including Jackson Holliday) and two last year. Their first high school pick last year came in round 15 and they did not sign Qrey Lott.

This year they selected prep players in rounds six, 12, 16 and 19. They seem quite high on sixth rounder, DJ Layton, the shortstop from Charlotte. He hit .449 and also is said to have a big arm.

From 2019 to 2023, the O’s selected just nine high school players among 91 draft picks in the first 20 rounds. But a few of those nine were high picks and are premium prospects with the likes of Holliday, Gunnar Henderson and Coby Mayo. No one is putting this kid in that class, but he sounds promising. Catcher Creed Willems was another high school pick and he is a top 30 O’s prospect.

The Baltimore Orioles made 10 selections on Day Three of the 2024 First-Year Player Draft, completing Rounds 11-20. This year, the Orioles selected 21 players overall: 11 pitchers and 10 position players, with 17 of the selections being college athletes and four from the high school ranks. The Orioles selected eight right-handed pitchers, three left-handed pitchers, four outfielders, two infielders, and four catchers.

RD             PICK             PLAYER               POS          B/T         HT         WT           DOB                     SCHOOL                           SCOUT

1                 22           Vance Honeycutt        CF            R/R         6-3       205         5/17/2003    University of North Carolina           Boyd

PPI              32            Griff O'Ferrall            INF           R/R        6-1       195        2/2/2003          University of Virginia                 O'Dowd

2                 61           Ethan Anderson          C              S/R        6-2       215        9/21/2003        University of Virginia                 O'Dowd

The Washington Nationals selected 10 players on the third and final day of Major League Baseball’s 2024 First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday. President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Vice President, Amateur Scouting Danny Haas, Senior Director, Amateur Scouting Brad Ciolek, and Assistant Director and National Crosschecker, Amateur Scouting Reed Dunn made the announcements.

The Nationals opened Day 3 with the selection of left-handed pitcher Merritt Beeker from Ball State (Ind.) University in the 11^th round. The 2024 Mid-Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Year, Beeker ranked tied for seventh in all of NCAA Division I with 128 strikeouts in 81.0 innings pitched. He went 9-3 with a 4.11 ERA in 15 starts during his junior season. Beeker spent two seasons at East Carolina University before transferring to Ball State.

In the 12^th round, Washington selected right-handed pitcher Alexander Meckley from Coastal Carolina (S.C.) University. Meckley opened the season 3-0 with a 2.60 ERA in his first five starts and recorded a total 57 strikeouts in 52.2 innings on the season. He pitched in 21 games and made nine starts in 2024.

 In the 13^th round, the Nationals selected left-handed pitcher Bryant Olson from Mercer (Ga.) University. As a junior in 2024, he led the Southern Conference with eight saves while striking out 39 batters in 26.2 innings. Olson transferred from Gordon State (Ga.) College where he recorded 97 strikeouts in 70.2 innings pitched as a sophomore in 2023.

Washington selected right-handed pitcher Yoel Tejeda Jr. in the 14^th round. Tejeda Jr. pitched one season for Florida State and went 1-2 with a 5.03 ERA in 12 games, making one start. He struck out 15 in 19.2 innings of work.

The 2024 MLB Draft resumed today shortly after 2 p.m. as the clubs began making selections in round 11. Today the three-day draft will conclude with selections in rounds 11 through 20.

The Orioles will have one pick in each round today and they selected a lefty college pitcher in round 11.

Round 11 (No. 339) - O's took Louisville senior lefty Sebastian Gongora. This season over 15 starts he went 5-4 with a 6.14 ERA. Over 77 2/3 innings he allowed 86 hits with 29 walks and 89 strikeouts. He produced a 1.481 WHIP with a 3.4 walk rate and 10.3 strikeout rate.

He had a better season in 2023 at Wright State with a 3.17 ERA in 93 2/3 innings and a 22.4 strikeout rate. He was the Horizon League Pitcher of the Year.

Gongora is ranked as this draft's No. 353 prospect on the Baseball America Top 500.

The Nationals conclude the 2024 MLB Draft today with 10 selections.

Through their first 11 picks, the Nats have selected three shortstops, two catchers, an outfielder, a third baseman and four pitchers (three righties and one lefty). Shortstop Luke Dickerson, the second-round pick, is the only high school player so far.

Just like yesterday, this post will be updated throughout the afternoon, so be sure to check back in to read up on the Nats’ 2024 draft class.

Update: With their 11th-round pick (No. 320 overall), the Nats selected left-hander Merritt Beeker from Ball State.

Beeker, 22, transferred from East Carolina before his junior year at Ball State. This season he went 9-3 with a 4.11 ERA, 1.222 WHIP, nine home runs, 32 walks and 128 strikeouts (4:1 K/BB ratio) over 15 starts. His 128 strikeouts over 81 innings were good enough to rank seventh in Division I baseball and for a 14.2 strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate.

There was a lot for the Orioles to like about their second day of draft picks. They saw third rounder, USC outfielder Austin Overn, move up some draft boards when he produced a .947 OPS in the Cape Cod League.

They saw Auburn pitcher right-hander Chase Allsup, their fourth rounder, sit mid 90s with his fastball in the SEC and touch 100 mph.

They like the three catchers they selected but did not set out to draft three, it just worked out that way. They had some high school players they liked on their board but have only selected one thus far.

But the O’s sure do like that young man, DJ Layton, a sixth round pick shortstop from Charlotte Christian High School. Layton, who has a college commitment to Southern Miss, turns 18 in a few days.

“DJ is a young, very athletic, switch-hitting shortstop from Charlotte, North Carolina,” said O’s vice president of player development and domestic scouting Matt Blood. “He’s a great kid with a lot of tools and we feel like there is upside to his game when it comes to coming into our organization and helping him get stronger and helping him offensively while continuing to build his defensive skill set. Where we got him, we felt like this was a really good bet for us. I’ll give credit to our scouting department and people put a lot of work in on this kid to get to know him and his family and the coaches at his high school. The whole room was ecstatic when we were able to get him in that round.”

Eleven people have caught at least 100 games for the Nationals during their 20 seasons of existence in D.C., and that list includes a wide range of names and track records. There have been offensive-minded guys (Wilson Ramos, Kurt Suzuki). There have been defense-first guys (Jose Lobaton, Wil Nieves). There have been seasoned veterans who came here late in their careers (Ivan Rodriguez, Yan Gomes, Matt Wieters). There have been promising young players who came into their own here (Keibert Ruiz, Riley Adams, Jesus Flores).

What there have not been, however, are any true homegrown catchers. Of those 11 players who caught at least 100 games for the Nationals, only Brian Schneider was homegrown, and he was drafted by the Expos way back in 1995, a decade before the franchise relocated.

The most games caught by someone who was initially signed by the Nats: 80, by Pedro Severino, signed as a teenager out of the Dominican Republic in 2010. The most games caught by someone who was drafted by the Nats: 47, by Tres Barrera, their sixth round pick in 2016.

It’s not necessarily because the Nationals have done a bad job developing homegrown catchers. It’s because they’ve barely acquired any homegrown catchers in the first place. From 2005-23, they never used a first or second round pick on a catcher. They used only one third round pick (Jakson Reetz, 2014), two fourth round picks (Brady Lindsly, 2020; Derek Norris, 2007) and two fifth round picks (Spencer Kieboom, 2012; Adrian Nieto, 2008).

(Yes, technically speaking, Bryce Harper was a catcher when the Nats made him the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft. But they immediately turned him into an outfielder and never once let him don the tools of ignorance during his eight seasons in the organization.)

The MLB Draft resumed this afternoon as the clubs will make selections in rounds three through 10 on the second of three days of drafting. The Orioles today added another college hitter to begin their day.

In round three: With pick No. 97 overall, the O's selected University of Southern California outfielder Austin Overn. A lefty hitter and righty thrower, he is 21 and just completed his second season at USC.

Over 59 games, he hit .270/.349/.461/.810 with 12 doubles, five triples, eight homers, 57 runs, 17 steals and 32 RBIs. He was honorable mention all-Pac 12.

Overn's best tool, per MLB.com is a 75 grade run tool. The site ranks him as its No. 131 prospect.

On the streaming of the draft today, analyst Jonathan Mayo said, "he might be the fastest guy in the draft class. Not a lot of power. We are talking speed from the left side. Maybe the best defensive outfielder in the entire class."

After a busy and exciting first day, the Nationals continue the 2024 MLB Draft with Rounds 3-10 this afternoon.

The Nats made three picks over the first two rounds last night: Shortstop Seaver King out of Wake Forest at No. 10 overall, catcher Caleb Lomavita out of Cal at No. 39 overall (the pick they received from the Royals as part of the Hunter Harvey trade) and shortstop Luke Dickerson from Morris Knolls (N.J.) High School at No. 44 overall.

“We were able to meet with all three guys at the Combine,” said new assistant director and national crosschecker of amateur scouting Reed Dunn over Zoom last night. “We were able to speak with all three during the year. And we really felt that we weren’t just getting three really good players, we were getting three really good people.”

The search for more good players and people continues today. The Nats will make eight picks Tuesday, starting with No. 79 overall in the third round. After the new draft lottery rules meant they couldn’t pick in the top 10 in the first round, all subsequent rounds are back to the traditional order of worst-to-first. So the Nats will pick fifth in each round for the remainder of the Draft.

This post will be updated throughout the day with the Nationals’ selections, so be sure to check back in!

On the first night of the 2024 MLB Draft, the Orioles seemed to play into the strength of this draft in adding three college position players, all three from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

For the sixth straight draft since Mike Elias took over in his role with the club, the O’s did not take a pitcher in the first round. Or any among the three selections Sunday.

With their first round pick, No. 22 overall, they added center fielder Vance Honeycutt from North Carolina. The righty batter hit .318 with an OPS of 1.124 and hit 28 homers, a UNC single-season record. He also was named the ACC’s Defensive Player of the Year two straight years, a first in the conference.

He was ranked the No. 13 prospect for this draft by Baseball America and No. 22 by MLB.com.

A player with some loud tools, the one area to clean up for him on the stat sheet is strikeouts. He had a 30 percent K rate as a freshman and 28 percent last season.

Watch the video of Seaver King watching commissioner Rob Manfred announce him as the No. 10 pick in the MLB Draft, and you quickly understand how meaningful this moment was for the 21-year-old.

King, who only received an offer coming out Athens Christian High School in Georgia from Division II Wingate, then parlayed two dominant seasons there into one season at powerhouse Wake Forest, was now considered the 10th best player in the country, drafted by the Nationals on Sunday night.

Surrounded by friends and family cheering him on, King hugged his parents, then broke down for a moment and had to compose himself, perhaps not yet truly believing what happened.

“If you asked me three years ago if I would’ve been in the draft, period, I would’ve said probably not, let alone be a top-10 pick and be in an organization that values development as much as they do,” he said in a Zoom session with reporters a little while later. “I think it’s just surreal. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m glad I didn’t know it was going to happen, because it’s just kind of better that way.”

King wasn’t a name associated with the Nationals in the days leading up to the draft. He expected to be taken several spots lower in the first round. In the end, it shouldn’t have come as that much surprise, because he’s been defying the odds on the baseball field for some time now.

For the fifth time in six years since his first draft in 2019, O's executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias took a college bat with his first draft selection.

With the No. 22 overall pick in round one, the Orioles selected University of North Carolina outfielder Vance Honeycutt, a right-handed batter and thrower from Salisbury, N.C.

In 62 games this season for the Tarheels in his junior season, Honeycutt hit .318/.410/.714/1.124 with 13 doubles, two triples, 28 homers, 88 runs, 28 steals and 70 RBIs. His 28 homers is a UNC single-season record. 

He was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 13 player in this draft and was rated No. 22 by MLBPipeline.com.

In three seasons at UNC, over 176 games, he hit .293/.412/.638/1.050 with 65 homers and 170 RBIs. He hit 25 homers and stole 29 bases as a freshman. He had four multi-homer games this season.

MILWAUKEE – Given the choice between drafting one of the best high school players in the country or a more experienced player from a top college program, the Nationals tonight went with experience, not to mention versatility.

The Nats selected Wake Forest’s Seaver King with the 10th overall pick in the MLB Draft, choosing a talented player who spent time at four different positions this season for the Demon Deacons after previously dominating at the Division II level.

They then used the pick they got Saturday night from the Royals in the Hunter Harvey trade on Cal catcher Caleb Lomavita before using their second-round pick on New Jersey high school shortstop Luke Dickerson.

In announcing the first-round pick live from the MLB All-Star Game in Texas, commissioner Rob Manfred called King a shortstop. The Nationals then announced him through their social media feeds as a third baseman/outfielder. Wherever he winds up playing in the field, he could find himself on a fast track to D.C.

King, 21, hit .308 with 16 homers, 64 RBIs, 11 stolen bases, a .377 on-base percentage and .954 OPS in 60 games at Wake Forest. A right-handed batter and thrower, he played 36 games at third base, 21 in center field, 10 at shortstop and two at second base.