The Washington Nationals are entrenched in a rebuild. They recently fired manager Dave Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo, as the results were not coming fast enough. Interim GM Mike DeBartolo has been immediately tasked with a tough decision. The Nationals have the number one overall pick in Sunday's MLB Draft, and ESPN's Kiley McDaniel thinks they will take LSU pitcher Kade Anderson.

“The industry feeling is that what has changed is 1) Anderson is a little more likely to be the pick mostly because [Ethan] Holliday is now a little less likely to be the pick, and 2) taking a bigger cut is a real option, with Eli Willits the main cut-rate possibility, though Aiva Arquette has also been mentioned,” McDaniel wrote.

McDaniel says that this is far from a guarantee. “For context, a scouting director for a team picking in the top 10 said I shouldn't feel confident about anything happening in the top three picks specifically, adding, ‘I'm hearing there's wars happening in all of those rooms right now' (as of Friday night). I ran that by another director picking up high: ‘Yeah, we're hearing the same thing.'”

The Nationals could take Ethan Holliday, a high-school infielder from Oklahoma. He is the son of Matt Holliday and brother of Jackson, who was taken first overall by the Orioles 0ut of high school. Anderson is one of a few pitchers who could go early, and Eli Willitts is a shortstop.

Anderson jumped onto baseball fans' radar during the College World Series. He threw a 130-pitch shutout for LSU in Game 1 against Coastal Carolina. That was the first of two victories the Tigers needed to win the National Championship. Now, their ace could be going first overall for the second time in three years. The Nationals hope Anderson has an ounce of the impact Paul Skenes has in Pittsburgh.

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