The last couple of weeks have not been kind to the Nationals. But the last month has been great for the organization’s farm system.

A lot was asked of Mike DeBartolo when he was given the interim general manager tag on July 6, exactly one week away from making the No. 1 overall selection in the MLB Draft. Two and half weeks later, he had to navigate a hectic trade deadline.

By all accounts, DeBartolo did a really good job for the Nationals’ future.

With No. 1 pick Eli Willits signing under slot value at $8.2 million, the Nats saved almost $3 million toward their bonus pool to draft and sign other high-potential players with their top five picks. Outfielder Ethan Petry (University of South Carolina), prep right-handers Landon Harmon and Miguel Sime Jr., and high school shortstop Coy James all signed well above their respective designated slot values.

And then just last week, DeBartolo was able to trade six major league players (five on expiring contracts and one that was not going to be a part of the young outfield's future) for 10 new prospects.

Interim general manager Mike DeBartolo has already conceded the Nationals will be sellers at next week’s trade deadline. And he also mentioned he’s not looking to trade the team’s top young players, such as MacKenzie Gore, though he said he would answer the phone if another team called to ask.

That likely just leaves veterans on expiring contracts to be traded as two-month rentals. The price tags for such players are usually low, but teams may become desperate as they look to reload their rosters ahead of playoff runs.

Luckily, the Nats have a handful of such players. And even more fortunately, those players are trending in the right direction at the right time.

Perhaps the most positive development has been Josh Bell’s recent surge.

After slashing just .151/.254/.289 through his first 45 games this season, the switch-hitter is now slashing .298/.374/.497 with an .871 OPS, nine doubles, seven home runs, 23 RBIs and 17 walks to 19 strikeouts over his last 43 games. Even better, he’s slashing .309/.389/.491 with an .880 OPS over his last 32 and has homered in back-to-back games.

The No. 1 pick was always going to dominate the conversation about the Nationals’ 2025 draft class, no matter who they selected. And a front office that experienced major change just one week ago desperately wants and needs Eli Willits to become everything they believe he can be, putting to rest any doubts about their somewhat-surprising decision to draft him.

But the Nats also know this draft can’t be considered a success if only their first round pick pans out. Among the reasons ownership decided to make a change of general managers was the organization’s lack of development of later round picks over the last decade.

There have been some strides made in that area more recently, with the likes of Cole Henry (second round, 2020), Daylen Lile (second round, 2021), Jake Irvin (fourth round, 2018), Mitchell Parker (fifth round, 2020), Jacob Young (seventh round, 2021) and Brad Lord (18th round, 2022) all reaching the big leagues and becoming contributors of varying degrees. But it’s still not enough. The Nationals know they need to develop more quality players out of picks beyond the first round.

It will be some time before we know if they were successful in that regard this year, but it’s clear they took a different approach with several of their down-ballot draft picks over the last two days: They went for more high-upside high schoolers than has typically been the case.

“They’re such talented guys,” vice president of amateur scouting Danny Haas said. “Big arms. Big power. Athletes. Just the value of where you get them with every round, we were very excited about that.”