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MINNEAPOLIS – The Nationals signed second-round pick Ethan Petry today and in the process went over their total slot pool for this year’s draft.
Petry, an outfielder from South Carolina who hit 54 homers over the last three seasons, signed for $2.09 million, a source familiar with the deal confirmed. That’s slightly above Major League Baseball’s recommended slot value for the 49th overall pick in the draft ($1,984,200).
Petry was the last of the Nats’ top 10 selections to sign, so they’ve now locked up everyone who was subject to the draft pool. He joins third-round pick Landon Harmon ($2.5 million), fourth-round pick Miguel Sime Jr. ($2 million) and fifth-round pick Coy James ($2.5 million) in receiving above-slot bonuses. Petry is the lone college player from that group.
No. 1 overall pick Eli Willits officially signed last weekend for $8.2 million, a record amount for a high school player but nearly $3 million below slow value for the top choice in the draft this year. The Nationals managed to apply those savings, plus money saved with below-slot bonuses for their sixth through 10th round picks, to lure the three other high school draftees to sign instead of honoring their college commitments.
All told, the Nationals spent $17,365,000 on their top 10 picks, exceeding their MLB-designated draft pool of $16,597,800 by $767,200. That makes them subject to a league-imposed 75 percent tax on their overages, which equates to an extra $575,400 spent this year on draft picks.
Teams have until Monday to sign all picks. The only players the Nats have yet to work out deals with of their 20 total selections are 17th-rounder Bryce Molinaro and 19th-rounder Mason Pike of Puyallup, Wash. Neither is expected to sign before the deadline.
* Dylan Crews joined the team for this weekend’s series at Target Field and continues to participate in all baseball activities, the club electing not to send him on a minor league rehab assignment yet.
Crews, who has been out since straining his left oblique muscle May 20, began taking simulated at-bats in the cage over the last few days. He also continues to take BP and defensive drills with his teammates, reporting no issues along the way.
The Nationals believe this is the proper course for Crews at this point, holding off on the rehab assignment for at least a few more days.
“I think it’s more to see how he reacts the next day, or when he takes a little time off between at-bats,” interim manager Miguel Cairo said. “It’s just like a simulation of getting at-bats, sitting down, to see how his back and his oblique react to it. But it’s coming close to where we’re going to send him to play in some real games.”
Crews is now nine weeks removed from suffering the injury, putting him on the high end of a rehab timeline for an oblique strain, though it’s not unprecedented. Teammate Andrés Chaparro began his rehab assignment 10 weeks after suffering his oblique strain earlier this year.
* Derek Law’s surgery to repair a flexor tendon tear is scheduled for Monday in Dallas. Law, who finally was diagnosed with the tear during the All-Star break after spending three months trying to make his way back from the injury, will miss the remainder of the season. The veteran reliever is set to become a free agent this winter.
