ESPN insider says Nationals may have changed thoughts for top MLB Draft pick

With the Washington Nationals making some big internal moves ahead of the 2025 MLB Draft, ESPN draft insider Kiley McDaniel believes the Nationals may now switch what they do with the top overall pick.

On Sunday, the Nationals fired manager Dave Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo, moves that raised eyebrows with the MLB Draft just days away, beginning on July 13 in Atlanta as part of MLB's All-Star Game festivities.

With Rizzo no longer calling the shots on the future direction of the franchise, McDaniel says that the Nationals may pass on high school shortstop Ethan Holliday with the top overall pick as has been forecast in previous mock drafts, going instead with LSU starting pitcher Kade Anderson.

"The perception around the league is that they are likely to go a little more safer," McDaniel said as part of a predraft call on Tuesday. "I'll say that I saw it as a virtual coin flip, maybe 60-40, maybe 50-50 between Holliday and Anderson before the news. I think after the news, it's now a little more likely that it goes to Anderson, but that might be from 50-50 to 60-40."

McDaniel believes the change in the view at the top of the Nationals organization may be more inclined to go after Anderson, a 21-year-old left-hander who has zoomed to the top of many mock drafts after throwing a complete-game shutout in Game 1 of the 2025 Men's College World Series against Coastal Carolina on his way to being named as the Most Outstanding Player. 

"I think Anderson is a bit more likely because there was a perception that Rizzo was one of the voices that was behind Holliday because that is the kind of player he has taken in the past when he picks high," McDaniel said. "Obviously, he's now not part of the process, and it is sort of unknown what the scouting groups wanted."

McDaniel added that if Anderson is indeed taken first overall, that could push Holliday to the fourth overall pick, belonging to the Colorado Rockies. Holliday's father, Matt, was drafted by the Rockies in the seventh round of the 1998 MLB Draft and played for Colorado for five seasons before being traded to the Oakland A's.

"I think Anderson is a little more likely now, which then makes Holliday a little more likely at four," McDaniel said. "It's not perfectly sourced at this point. No one's going to tell us something that can be correctly sourced, so it's more reading the tea leaves and trying to see the direction things are moving slightly as opposed to big swings."

All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.