As we mentioned on Wednesday, this year’s MLB Amateur Player Draft has shaped up to be extremely significant for the Nats. For the first time, the club could put its full organizational muster toward its primary stated goal to rebuild the system with young talent, starting with the draft. Better and more thorough scouting, stockpiled picks and an open wallet promised a draft unlike the Nats/Expos franchise had seen for some time.

Brian Oliver, also known as the Nationals Farm Authority, has been following the strategy leading up to Draft Day for weeks, and he liveblogged yesterday’s action. We caught up with him this morning…

We know that trying to grade a draft (especially just the first few rounds) is a fool’s errand, but what’s your general impression of the organization’s performance? Anything surprise you?

NFA Brian: I really like the early part of the Nationals draft. There were three hitters I hoped would be available (Mike Moustakas, Josh Vitters, and Matt Wieters) but all were gone by the time #6 rolled around. Their choice of Detwiler is really good. I saw him as the second best college arm in the draft and a top 5 overall pitcher. Having Smoker and Burgess slide as they did was amazing. I figured the Nationals had Burgess lined up as their #31 but when they saw Smoker, they couldn’t pass him up. He is a ways away from being a National but his upside is great. He is among the second tier of the prep arms, but you can’t go wrong with a lefty. Then, having Burgess slide down to #49 was icing on the cake. He’s likely a corner OF but if he could be a CF, that would be great for the Nationals.

Jordan Zimmerman seems like a Mike Rizzo pick. Solid college arm who if developed well turns into a back of the rotation guy. And their last pick of Meyers (who screams Rizzo as well) is a potential bullpen arm.

I’m not so sure on the other three prep guys (Smolinski, Souza, and Norris). They seem like reaches at the point at which they were drafted. If nothing else, they will go a long ways towards proving how good their scouting and player development are.