Nationals Sign Top Selection Eli Willits to Record Contract for Prep Player

The Washington Nationals made the expected official on Saturday with their No. 1 overall draft selection.

The Nationals announced that they signed their first-round pick, prep shortstop Eli Wlllits, to his bonus contract and will send him to their Florida facility to being his pro career next week.

Being the top pick, Willits — the youngest prospect in the entire draft — owned a slot value of $11,075,900. However reports ahead of the draft from MLB.com indicated he may have been seeking a discounted deal in order to go highly in the draft.

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That is what he ended up with. Per MLB.com's Jim Callis, Willits signed a deal worth $8.2 million. While well below his slot value, it is still the highest deal given to a prep player, breaking the record set by Jackson Holliday, who was the No. 1 overall pick of the Baltimore Orioles in 2022.

Willits is the third-youngest top pick in draft history and though he will take years to reach the big leagues, he has a chance to come into the Nationals organization and establish himself as a force to be reckoned with in the farm system.

The Fort Cobb-Broxton High School product out of Oklahoma helped lead his powerhouse high school program to multiple OSSAA Class B state titles and was one of several prominent prospects from the state to go that highly.

Joining Stillwater High School shortstop Ethan Holliday (No. 4 overall, Colorado Rockies), Willits is just the latest in a long line of baseball talent from the state of Oklahoma.

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Though he was committed to play for his home state Oklahoma Sooners, Willits was expected to begin his professional career already as a first-round prospect, and Washington locked that up when they made him the surprising pick.

Now that things are locked up contract wise, Willits can focus on getting his career started and becoming the best player he can be as Nationals fans eagerly await his arrival to the big leagues.

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