When it came time to negotiate his first professional contract, Eli Willits felt no need to waste any time. He wanted to get the deal done and get to work. He does have a goal, of course, of reaching the big leagues at an extremely young age.

“I’m just ready to get out there and play,” the Nationals’ top draft pick said this afternoon. “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.”

So it was that Willits found himself at Nationals Park, only six days after he was selected No. 1 overall in the Major League Baseball Draft, signing his first professional contract, donning City Connect gear and working out at shortstop and in the batting cage alongside big leaguers prior to tonight’s game against the Padres.

Of course, Willits wasn’t legally allowed to sign that contract by himself. Because he won’t turn 18 until December, his parents also had to sign the $8.2 million deal offered to him by the Nats.

That dollar amount, while a record for a player drafted out of high school, still came in well below MLB’s designated slot value for this year’s No. 1 pick ($11,075,900). The Nationals already were enamored enough with Willits on his playing merits and long-term potential to select him over fellow Oklahoma high school shortstop Ethan Holliday and LSU left-hander Kade Anderson. But the fact they could spend less on his signing bonus and apply those savings to later-round picks was an added bonus for a recently reshaped front office that entered this draft hoping to do something along those lines.

“Just to get as much talent as we possibly could,” interim general manager Mike DeBartolo said. “When you get the No. 1 player that you want, and you still have the opportunity to add additional talent later in the draft, it’s just a way to bolster what we have in the organization and put future Nationals teams in a good position.”

The Nats already used some of the savings on Willits to give fourth-round pick Miguel Sime Jr. a $2 million bonus and keep the highly touted right-hander from New York from attending LSU this fall. (The designated slot value for the 111th pick was a mere $687,800.) They’re hoping to pull off similar deals with third-round pick Landon Harmon (a right-hander from Mississippi) and fifth-round pick Coy James (a shortstop from North Carolina).

“It’s just a function of how much money you have to work with, who’s available, what they’re looking for,” DeBartolo said. “That’s where the opportunities were, quite honestly, with some of these upside high school players where you do have to pay them above slot. And we just executed the strategy to get as much talent as we could.”

It also helped that Willits is represented by Bryan Minniti, who served as an assistant GM for the Nationals from 2011-14 before leaving for a job with the Phillies and eventually becoming an agent three years ago. Minniti’s longstanding relationship with the Nats front office helped make the Willits negotiation comfortable for the club’s suddenly new head of baseball operations.

“Eli was the player we wanted as the No. 1 pick. Eli wanted to be the Ni. 1 pick. And in the process of talking through with him and with Bryan, it was a very transparent and smooth process,” DeBartolo said. “I think that just allows to move things as quickly as we can. And we wanted to get Eli on the field as soon as we possibly could. I’m glad that happened.”

After his whirlwind day in D.C., Willits will fly to West Palm Beach on Sunday and officially begin his career working out with and eventually playing for the Nationals’ rookie-level Florida Complex League team.

If things go well, and if club officials believe he’s ready, Willits could be bumped up to low Single-A Fredericksburg before season’s end, though nobody’s committing to that plan yet.

For now, Willits just wants to “get to know new teammates and build relationships with new coaches” in West Palm Beach. He knows the spotlight will shine brightly on him. He’s not only going to be youngest player on his first team. He’s also going to be the highest-paid player.

Such is the pressure that comes with the honor of being the No. 1 draft pick in the country.

“I’ve heard this quote a lot: It says pressure is a privilege,” Willits said, echoing the same message Dylan Crews stated two years ago when he was the No. 2 overall pick. “To have the privilege of being the first overall pick and just soak it all in and set an example for kids younger than me, I’m just grateful.”