Washington Nationals news & notes: Eddie Longosz promoted + more Nats stuff…

Notes and quotes to get you through an offseason Tuesday…

Eddie Longosz, 37, is a native of Washington, D.C. who attended St. Albans School, went to the University of Richmond, and, after he graduated in 2009, stayed in D.C., and joined the Washington Nationals’ organization in 2010.

Longosz, as the club noted in a press release last Friday announcing he’d been promoted, has spent 14 years with the Nationals, the last eight as Director of Scouting Operations.

He’s now the new Vice President and Assistant General Manager of Player Development and Administration.

“Eddie Longosz has been integral to our organization’s success over the past 14 years,” Mike Rizzo, the President of Baseball Operations and General Manager in D.C., said in the release.

Longosz became a full-time scouting assistant for the Nationals in 2011, “a role he held for four seasons before being promoted to Assistant Director of Scouting Operations in 2015.”

The new VP and Asst. GM of Player Development and Administration makes just one fairly brief appearance in the archives here at Federal Baseball, from a 2020 Draft Zoom call in which he talked about Second Round comp pick Sammy Infante, discussed taking two of the University of Oklahoma’s players (pitcher Cade Cavalli (1st Round) and catcher Brad Lindsly (4th Round)) in the abbreviated five-round draft, and previewed how the Nationals planned to approach the second phase which gave teams the opportunity to sign eligible, undrafted players for $20,000 after the five rounds.

Infante, now 22, was described by now-former Assistant GM and VP of Scouting Ops Kris Kline as having a, “… lean, athletic, defined body.”

“Twitchy,” Kline added. “He’s got a high motor. High energy guy. Loves to play, you can tell.

“He’s always smiling. Just so much energy on the field, it was fun watching him. He has a good chance to stay at shortstop.”

Longosz offered some comps for the young shortstop, who’s played at A-ball (both Class-A Fredericksburg and High-A Wilmington) in the Nats’ system in his first three seasons of pro ball.

“He’s a phenomenal athlete,” Longosz added. “This is going to be great to add with our mix.”

“It’s another phenomenal addition for our minor league system to work with,” he continued.

“He’s got strength in his swing. Body is amazing, but he’s got raw power right now too.”

Asked about taking two players (in five rounds) out of the U of Oklahoma, both Kline and Longosz talked about their relationships with Head Coach Skip Johnson helping them to make selections knowing they were getting quality players and people.

“You’ve got a guy over there in Skip Johnson who’s now the head coach,” Kline explained.

“It’s a tremendous program, and he does a great job. He’s awesome with pitchers.”

Longosz talked about the relationship one of the club’s scouts formed with Johnson and how it helped them have confidence taking both Cavalli and Lindsly.

“Our Midwest crosschecker Jimmy Gonzales has known Skip [Johnson] for a really long time,” Longosz said.

“So we have a great confidence-level — when Skip calls us on players, we’re very confident that we know what he’s talking about and that he’s not going to steer us in the wrong direction either. It’s a great relationship we’ve had for a long time, even when Skip was at Texas beforehand.”

Longosz also discussed the club’s confidence going into the post-draft signing period and how they would approach the signings.

“I think it’s still going to be a really good playing field for us. I mean, it’s going to be tricky, and it’s going to be really competitive,” he said. “But we’re really prepared too, I mean, all our area scouts have done a phenomenal job over the last couple weeks getting to know these players.

“They’ve done Zoom meetings, FaceTimes, we’ve take advantage of everything we have technology-wise, so we have a confidence-level with a lot of these players even at the bigger schools too.”

Rizzo discussed Longosz’s history with the organization, the relationships he’s built in his different roles over the years, and his comfort with technology and statistical analysis as significant positives in the new VP and Asst. GM.

“[Longosz] is a tireless worker with extensive knowledge of our Minor League players, coaches and system as a whole,” Rizzo said in announcing the promotion last week.

“He developed strong relationships with many of our current players during the draft process and has earned not only their trust, but the trust of those around them. Beyond his support of our draft operations, his expertise in emerging technology and analytics will enhance our process and make us more efficient. Eddie is very well respected around the league, and I could not be happier to have him leading our player development system.”

That’s all we have for now as far as getting to know Eddie Longosz… we’ll surely learn more over the next months and years…

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