Monday, May 04, 2009

Nationals Unfazed by Strasburg's Purported Price Tag

From Jon Heyman at SI.com:

The Washington Nationals are primed to select San Diego State star pitcher Stephen Strasburg with the No. 1 overall pick in next month's draft, sources said.

The Nationals will not be scared off by the high price tag expected to be set by the rightander Strasburg, which is believed to be $50 million-plus, a Nationals source said. Asked whether there was any chance they'd take someone else, a team official answered, "No chance I know of."

In a sport where hype is as routine as disappointment, the buzz surrounding Strasburg is palpable. If the chatter is to be believed, this guy will make Tim Lincecum look like Tim Russert. I guess the only suspense left is how close Boras gets to the magical $50M mark.

Earlier: $50 Million?!?!?!? (SoSG)

11 comments:

Chappy said...

$50 million for a prospect who has yet to play a game in the Majors at any level?

What is this the NFL all of a sudden?

QuadSevens said...

Makes me want to drive back down to my alma mater and check out a few games.

Neeebs (The Original) said...

I'm with Chappy. I'd venture to guess that 7 of 10 can't miss pitching prospects never pan out.

There should be entry level contracts set based on the rounds chosen.

Orel said...

Isn't that what "slot money" basically is? But agents are always trying to get teams to ignore those guidelines, i.e., break the bank.

Unknown said...

This is Boras puffing. He is gunning for $10-$15 million (still astounding) and a MLB contract that has Strasburg a FA in 6 years, but has to push the position to make his real demand look cheap.

"There should be entry level contracts set based on the rounds chosen."

The problem is that the value is so difficult to quantify. Plus, baseball is already paying an low percentage of revenues to plaers as compared to other sports, so the owners don't really have an argument.

Additionally, you have the problem of the undrafted free agents who will get bigger deals. You will get kids leaving the States and Canada to establish residency in Mexico or the like in order to get around a mandatory slotting.

Neeebs (The Original) said...

I love the stories where a real low rounder becomes a star player, ie: Piazza

gCHOW said...

@Neeebs:

how about tom brady?

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

Boras is human now. Andruw Jones blew up in his face. He failed to generate any interest in Manny. Matt Holiday will get nothing if he keeps up his ways with the A's.

Unknown said...

Neeebs and gCHOW - How about Russell Martin, Nate McLouth, Jason Bay, Adam LaRoche, etc.?

"Boras is human now. Andruw Jones blew up in his face."

Actually, I think Jones paid off handsomely. Andruw got a huge deal and was so lousy, the Dodgers paid him to go away and rebuild his value somewhere else.

"He failed to generate any interest in Manny."

Manny was a unique situation.

"Matt Holiday will get nothing if he keeps up his ways with the A's."

That's mostly because Holliday has been exposed as a Coors product ;-)

Unknown said...

Not to get all gushy about this guy, but how does Washington not pay this in an instant. I mean mediocre pitchers get free agent contracts about this size and umm, well Strasburg has a 147/15 K/BB in under 75 innings! He averages over two strike outs an inning. I sign this guy and have him in the majors immediately!

patm14 said...

Being a current San Diego State student I have had the pleasure to watch him pitch in person and believe me he lives up to the hype. He is by far the best pitcher I've EVER seen in person but the rare thing about this guy is not the speed but it's the accuracy. He has thrown almost 80 innings and has walked only around 15 batters. He deserves to break the bank and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets around $25 million over 6 or 7 years.