2. Washington Nationals
Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Amidst the first baseball season back in the nations capital since 1971, the Washington Nationals’ scouts assembled a pretty solid draft class with a number of their 2005 picks.
Beginning with Ryan Zimmerman, who was taken fourth overall out of the University of Virginia. He is still with the club and arguably their most productive offensive commodity when healthy. Even more impressive, he reached the big league level in the same year he was drafted and became a mainstay by 2006, finishing second in NL ROY balloting. An All-Star in 2009, “The Z Man” has a .286/.352/.476 career slash line in Washington D.C. and has averaged 18 HRs and 71 RBI over that stretch.
In the second round the Nats took OF Justin Maxwell. He’s bounced around some, but is still in the league today and now plays for the Kansas City Royals. His best season as a pro came in 2012 when he had 18 long balls and 53 RBI for the Astros.
In the sixth round the club selected RHP Marco Estrada. He had a few decent seasons in Milwaukee before landing with the Blue Jays for 2015.
Southpaw John Lannan was taken 324th overall, as well. The Nats got good use out of him in their rotation from 2008-12. Lannan started at least 25 games for them in four seasons, tallying 40 wins and a 4.00 ERA over that same five year window.