Time has run out on the Nationals and No. 1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg. By midnight Monday, the two sides must agree on a contract or the team loses the rights to one of the most hyped prospects in Major League Baseball history.
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Negotiations continued Sunday between Washington’s front office, its owners, the Lerner Family, and Strasburg’s advisor, Scott Boras. But while the Nats are willing to give Strasburg, a 21-year-old right-handed pitcher, a deal far above Mark Prior’s record $10.5 million bonus in 2001, they are not — at least according to team president Stan Kasten — willing to upend the entire draft process with a deal three or four times that eight-year-old record.
Industry sources have told The Examiner‘s Jim Williams that Washington had a deal on the table for at least $17 million as of Sunday and that number could rise above $20 million thanks to incentives. Washington failed to sign last year’s first-round pick, pitcher Aaron Crow, who instead chose to play independent ball and re-enter the draft. Losing Strasburg as well would be a blow to the organization’s credibility. The Nats finished with baseball’s worst record in 2008 and also hold that distinction so far this season.