We've reached the final week of the year, so it's time to look back at the Nationals' most significant stories of 2025. We continue the series today with the selection of Eli Willits as the No. 1 pick in the MLB Draft ...

There’s an inherent pressure that comes with the No. 1 pick in any draft, especially when there’s no clear consensus choice. Under normal circumstances, the Nationals would’ve felt that pressure as mid-July approached and they had to decide which amateur player to snag from a pool of several viable candidate.

And then the situation became anything but normal when ownership fired longtime general manager Mike Rizzo seven days before 2025 MLB Draft.

Though the club’s scouting department – led at the time by Danny Haas, Brad Ciolek and Reed Dunn – remained intact, the man who had the final say on the pick – interim GM Mike DeBartolo – suddenly changed.

And when the Nats proceeded to take 17-year-old shortstop Eli Willits over the more-often-touted Ethan Holliday and Kade Anderson, there was immediate speculation wondering if the club’s choice had changed during that dramatic week. The club’s decision makers immediately shot down that theory, insisting the decision was “unanimous.”

“He was the guy we wanted all along,” DeBartolo said that night. “And we’re really excited it worked out so well.”

That sentiment has been echoed ever since, and officials from other clubs have also suggested they would’ve selected Willits had they held the top pick. That also appears to be true among the new members of the Nationals’ front office, who were hired months after the draft but were still involved in draft prep with their former teams and scouted Willits themselves.

Willits certainly checked a lot of the boxes you’d look for in a No. 1 pick. He’s a switch-hitting shortstop who dominated the Oklahoma high school circuit despite graduating a year early so he could become draft-eligible at 17. Scouts believe he has the defensive skills to remain at the prime infield position for many years to come. His father, Reggie, is a former MLB player and coach.

“Very rarely do you get a chance to get what we think is the best hitter in the draft and the best defensive shortstop in the draft,” said Haas, who has since left the Nats to work for the Orioles. “Up the middle offensive and defense value is so rare. And he already has a lot of things going for him in that direction.”

The youngest No. 1 pick since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1987, Willits didn’t arrive in D.C. with nearly as much hype as the franchise’s two previous No. 1 picks: Stephen Strasburg (2009) and Bryce Harper (2010). Unlike those two Scott Boras clients, he chose to sign his first professional contract within a week, agreeing to an $8.2 million signing bonus that fell well below MLB’s designated slot value around $11 million.

Taking advantage of the savings they realized on Willits’ contract, the Nationals proceeded to go over-slot to sign several later round picks, leaving them with a deep draft class they hope will pay dividends in the long run.

At his introductory press conference, a confident Willits explained why he didn’t want to drag out negotiations.

“I’m just ready to get out there and play,” he said. “I set a goal to be in the big leagues by the time I’m 20. That’s something I’m really excited to do, and hopefully I get there and start playing well, and that can be something I accomplish in the next few years.”

The Nationals sent Willits to Palm Beach to begin his professional career on the back fields of their spring training complex. By mid-August, he was promoted to Single-A Fredericksburg, where he was easily the youngest player in the Carolina League yet more than held his own, batting .300 with a .397 on-base percentage and .757 OPS in 15 games. He was charged with only one error at shortstop.

Even if he realizes his goal and reaches the majors at 20, Willits won’t play on South Capitol Street until sometime during the 2028 season. He’s the ultimate long term project. And it remains to be seen how quickly the new front office chooses to elevate him through the minors.

But given the turmoil that engulfed the organization in the week that led up to the draft, Willits’ first taste of pro ball went as well as anyone could have hoped. And if he does somebody make it big in D.C., he’ll do so as the last big draft pick of the Nationals’ prior baseball operations department.