Nationals "comfortable" Romero's maturity won't be an issue

In making Seth Romero their first-round draft pick this year, the Nationals know they're getting one of the most talented amateur left-handers out there, with an arm they believe is big league-ready right now.

They also know they're getting perhaps the first-rounder with the biggest question mark attached to his name.

In the end, general manager Mike Rizzo, vice president of scouting operations Kris Kline and the rest of the Nationals front office believe the immense talent Romero brings to the table outweighs what they believe is a less-worrisome question mark.

"We felt comfortable in the fact that we knew his history," Rizzo said. "Our area scouts are guys who know him. And we expect him to conduct himself with maturity and be professional and be accountable for his actions, and to immerse him within our organization. We feel ... our player development guys do a really good job of teaching him the Nationals way, how to conduct themselves on the field, in the clubhouse and in the community. And we expect nothing less from Seth in that vein."

Like all draftees, Romero will need to prove that his pitching prowess - highly successful in college - will also be successful in the minors and then the majors. Unlike most draftees, the 21-year-old additionally will need to prove that the actions that got him kicked off the University of Houston baseball team last month don't jeopardize his future with the Nationals.

What led to his two suspension and eventual expulsion by the Cougars? The history, as reported by the Houston Chronicle's Joseph Duarte...

* Romero was suspended two starts in 2016, his sophomore season, for "a lack of effort regarding conditioning." He proceeded to drop 40 pounds before reporting for his junior season and was selected a preseason All-American by several publications, rated a likely top 10 pick in the draft.

* Romero was suspended for a month in April for a violation of university and athletic department policy, which according to the Chronicle included a failed drug test, breaking curfew on a road trip and "appearing in uniform in a photograph holding a bong."

* Only 10 days after he was reinstated, Romero was expelled off the team entirely after - again, according to the Chronicle - getting into a fight with another player before the team's departure for a game against Rice.

In their evaluation of Romero, the Nationals deemed these actions as evidence of the immaturity of a college kid, not evidence of a larger character problem.

"Look, we've all made mistakes in life," Kline said. "I have. It's not like this kid committed a big crime or anything like that. Kids out there do it. I think this kid's learned his lesson, and he's going to go out there and be a very productive big leaguer."

"He turned 21 in April," Rizzo said. "He certainly needs to be accountable for his actions. We are going to demand that he conduct himself like all our players do. 'Be proud of the name on the front of the jersey' is something that we harp on here once we sign the player. And we feel that with our development system, he's going to conduct himself as a professional and adhere to the rules and regulations we set forth for all of our minor league players."

It's worth noting that while players on a club's 40-man roster are subject only to testing and punishment for performance enhancing drugs, all other minor leaguers are tested for drugs of abuse (including marijuana) and subject to punishment if caught.

Romero, of course, still needs to sign with the Nationals before next month's deadline for all draft picks. In dropping all the way down to the 25th pick, the Scott Boras client stands to lose several million dollars.

The Nationals' total draft bonus pool, as assigned by Major League Baseball, is $5,503,500 (fourth-lowest in the sport). The slot amount assigned to the 25th pick is $2,530,400.

This much is certain: Romero's arsenal, including a mid-90s fastball, is worth a significant amount of money.

"The stuff plays in the big leagues right now," Kline said. "Big fastball, wipeout breaking ball, good feel for his changeup, a very competitive kid. I don't see an issue with this kid."

The combination of Romero's stuff and advanced age certainly make you wonder whether he might follow in the footsteps of a handful of other pitchers drafted out of college who reached the big leagues that year and even pitched in the postseason (most notably the Royals' Brandon Finnegan).

Rizzo suggested that isn't the Nationals' plan for Romero, though he didn't explicitly rule out the possibility.

"Well, it's never happened to me," he said, adding that Romero will be groomed for now as a starter. "I've never done anything like that, where a drafted player gets to the big leagues the year you draft him. I don't expect that in this scenario. We're going to develop him at his own pace and utilize our strong player development system. And hopefully he's a guy for us down the road."

The only Nationals ever to reach the majors the same year they were drafted were Ryan Zimmerman (2005) and Ross Detwiler (2007), both selected when Jim Bowden was GM.

With their second-round pick (65th overall) this evening, the Nationals drafted another college pitcher: South Carolina's Wil Crowe. The 6-foot-2 right-hander had a 3.41 ERA in 15 starts for the Gamecocks this season as a junior, striking out 90 batters, prompting MLB.com to rate him the 36th-best prospect in the draft.

Crowe, who Kline projected as a "mid-rotation starter with secondary stuff," had Tommy John surgery in April 2015, making him the latest pitcher drafted by the Nationals to be associated with elbow reconstruction.

"The fact that he got to us where we picked, I'm extremely elated," Kline said. "This has always been the guy there. He's an ultra-competitive kid. Good track record."