Washington Nationals Among Biggest Winners of MLB Winter Meetings

The Washington Nationals had a solid couple of days in Dallas and walk away from the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings as big winners.

Ethan Holliday throws to first during the Class 6A State Baseball Tournament as Choctaw plays Stillwater on May 9, 2024; Norman, OK, [USA]; at Norman North HS. / Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Washington Nationals had a great trip to Dallas, Texas, for the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings and are walking out as one of the biggest winners in the league.

As Mike Axisa of CBS Sports did a recap of who walked away from the meetings as either a winner and a loser.

The Nationals were named winners mostly because of the fact that they won the draft lottery despite having the fourth-best odds. They did well in the Rule 5 draft, as well.

Winning the lottery is massive for a team that is already in the midst of a youth movement at the MLB level.

This will be their third time that Washington is picking first overall and first time since selecting Bryce Harper back in 2010.

The consensus first overall selection has been set for a couple of years now. It is the continuation of the Holliday family, with Ethan Holliday entering the draft.

Ethan could be even better than his brother, Jackson, who was the first overall selection by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2021 MLB draft.

The new Holliday holds more power than his brother, but is a bit more limited defensively. If he follows the same trajectory, though, he could be in the MLB by 2028. That would have him coming in when Dylan Crews and James Wood are 26, making a perfect young core.

They didn't lose any prospects in the major league phase, but did walk away with an intriguing reliever.

Washington opted to take right-handed Tampa Bay Rays pitching prospect Evan Reifert with the No. 5 overall selection in the draft.

Reifert is already in their top-30 prospects list, but must survive the entire season on their MLB roster. He had a fantastic 2024 with a 1.96 ERA and 14.2 K/9. It is easy to see the upside they are banking on.

During the minor league phase, they gained one prospect and lost another.

They took Los Angeles Dodgers pitching prospect Hyun-il Choi with the sixth overall selection in that phase.

Choi is a solid pitcher that could potential eat some innings, but the hype has died down over the years. His fastball-changeup combo is good enough to get the job done for the most part. He has a ceiling of a backend starter.

All the way down in the fourth round of the minor league phase, the Seattle Mariners selected southpaw prospect Matt Cronin.

Cronin was a fourth round selection that has actually shown some great potential. He had a 1.42 ERA over 44.1 innings of work with 0.880 WHIPP and 11 K/9.