As the Nationals prepare for life without Mike Rizzo, some of the remnants of the old regime are leaving. A few weeks after Danny Haas left his post as Scouting Director, there will be another shakeup in the draft room. According to reports, the Nats Director of Amateur Scouting Brad Ciolek is leaving the club to join the Tigers.
This is a big move in the front office because Ciolek had a lot of power in the draft process. Ciolek and Danny Haas were brought in after the 2023 season to fix the Nationals drafting woes. Coming from the Orioles, Ciolek came in with big expectations.
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Many fans viewed the fresh faced Ciolek as a modernizer who could help Mike Rizzo nail the draft. In the end, Ciolek and Haas only had two drafts, where the results were mixed. The early returns on the 2024 Draft have not been good.
Ciolek and Haas decided to cut a deal with Seaver King at 10th overall to save money and get more talent down the board. So far, King has been very disappointing and the Nats passed on players who have turned into big time prospects such as Trey Yesavage, Bryce Rainer and Cam Smith.
The picks down the board have not made up for things either. Luke Dickerson and Caleb Lomavita were high upside picks, but neither have taken off yet. The Nats made Dickerson the most expensive second round pick ever, but he struggled in his first pro season.
The early returns on the 2025 class have been stronger. While Eli Willits needs to add more strength, he looks like a strong pick at number 1 in what was a weaker class. Ethan Petry also hit well in Low-A. It will take more time to evaluate the 2025 class because it was so high school heavy. However, it looks better than Haas and Ciolek’s first class.
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With this news, the next Nationals GM will have to overhaul the draft room. The two top guys are now gone. However, there are some folks staying around. There was another report that said Reed Dunn, the Assistant Director of Scouting is staying, at least for now.
The next GM might want to keep him around. Dunn knows the organization well and has a long track record. Since he is a hold over guy, he is unlikely to be staying for the long haul, but it would not hurt to keep him around for another year or two.
When Haas and Ciolek were brought in, the idea was to give them major power in the draft room, while letting Mike Rizzo play to his strengths. In the end, the plan did not work. Two years after they were hired, both Haas and Ciolek are gone. Rizzo is also gone, following regression on the field and stagnation on the farm.
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It is time for a new GM to come in with his own ideas and reshape the front office. Half measures are not good enough. A major break from the old regime is needed to get things back on track. Hopefully this news means the team will be hiring a GM from outside the organization.