17-year-old Eli Willits, No. 1 overall pick in MLB Draft, signs with Nationals
Washington Nationals first overall draft pick shortstop Eli Willits left and Washington Nationals general manager Mike DeBartolo are introduced during a news conference Saturday July in Washington AP Photo Daniel Kucin Jr AP Daniel Kucin Jr Washington Nationals first overall draft pick shortstop Eli Willits left and Washington Nationals general manager Mike DeBartolo are introduced during a news conference Saturday July in Washington AP Photo Daniel Kucin Jr AP Daniel Kucin Jr WASHINGTON AP Eli Willits didn t want to waste time before signing his first pro contract The -year-old shortstop is on a tight schedule Willits agreed to terms with the Washington Nationals on Saturday only six days after the club selected him No overall in Major League Baseball s amateur draft I ve set a goal to be in the big leagues by the time I m and that s something I m really excited to do Willits mentioned during an introductory news conference at Nationals Park Hopefully I get out there and start playing well and that can be something I can accomplish in the next scarce years A switch-hitter from Fort Cobb-Broxton High School in Oklahoma Willits is the son of Reggie Willits who played six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels and also coached with the New York Yankees Willits the youngest player picked No overall since Seattle chose Ken Griffey Jr in will fly to Washington s spring training complex in West Palm Beach Florida on Sunday and begin to get workouts with the organization s participant maturation staff Nationals interim general manager Mike DeBartolo who was elevated to his current role when Washington fired general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez on July noted the club will see how things unfold in the next couple weeks before making any further decisions One of the things that attracted us to Eli was how motivated he is his work ethic how focused he is DeBartolo commented I love that about him Certainly I m not going to put any timelines on anybody He hasn t stepped on a pro field yet but I love that that s his outlook and we re certainly going to do everything we can to make that practicable Willits recalled how he would make sure he was in the stands whenever Aaron Judge took batting practice during his father s stint with the Yankees Another member of the New York organization at the time was Miguel Cairo who is now the Nationals interim manager and was familiar with the new No pick almost a decade ago That made me feel really old Cairo revealed Willits joined Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper as the only players selected No overall by the Nationals I m grateful for the opportunity that the Nationals gave me Willits disclosed Not multiple people get to come up here and be the No overall pick AP MLB https apnews com hub MLB Source
