Nats fail to sign first-round pick from 2008 MLB draft
The Nationals and representatives for first-round draft pick Aaron Crow failed to agree to terms on a contract Friday night as the Major League Baseball deadline for signing draft picks expired.
That means the Nats lose the rights to Crow, a 21-year-old right-handed pitcher from the University of Missouri who was the ninth overall pick in the June draft. Crow has already signed a contract with the Fort Worth Cats, an independent minor-league team in Texas, and is ineligible to return to Missouri for his senior season. He is eligible again for the 2009 draft.
“Our intention the entire time was to sign the player,” said Nats general manager Jim Bowden. “We weren’t able to get an agreement at the deadline. We worked very hard for it. We went above and beyond our budget. We went above and beyond the market.”
Crow was one of only two first-round picks not to sign before Friday night’s deadline – the other was New York Yankees draft pick Gerrit Cole, a right-handed pitcher chosen 28th overall – and his loss is a blow to an organization that has made development through the draft it’s top priority.
The Nats will receive a compensation pick — No. 10 overall — in next year’s draft for losing Crow. At 44-79 after Friday night’s 4-3 loss to Colorado, the Nats currently hold the sport’s worst record. If that continues over the season’s final 39 games they will also own the No. 1 pick in the 2009 draft.
Both sides attempted to lay blame. Crow’s advisors — brothers Randy and Alan Hendricks — have stated in recent days that the Nats knew when they selected Crow his demands would be high. The first pitcher taken in the draft – Baltimore’s Brian Matusz – was picked fourth and signed a major-league contract with a $3.2 million bonus. Justin Smoak, chosen No. 11 by Texas, two picks after Crow, signed a minor-league contract for $3.5 million, according to the Dallas Morning-News.
“We offered $4 [million] and they told us no,” Randy Hendricks wrote in an e-mail after the deadline had passed early Saturday morning. “[The Nats’] best offer was $3.3 [million] so they hitched their future to the Matusz deal. Well, Smoak [at No. 11] got a better deal than Matusz.”
Bowden begged to differ. He claimed the Hendricks brothers’ first concrete offer did not arrive until Aug. 12 and was for a $9 million bonus – far more than No. 1 draft pick Tim Beckham ($6.15 million) received from Tampa Bay and almost quadruple Major League Baseball’s recommended slot number for the ninth pick ($2.15 million).
Bowden also claimed the Nats’ final offer was actually for $3.5 million and that Crow’s representatives would not budge from $4.4 million. Both sides did agree that a major-league contract was offered, something the Nats have not done for any draft pick since moving to D.C. in 2005, including star third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. In the end, the two sides were either $700,000 or $900,000 apart.
“We wish Aaron nothing but success and good luck,” Bowden said. “That being said, from our perspective, we’ll have two picks in the top 10 and we’ll just have to wait 10 more months. Obviously, we’re disappointed though.”
About the only good news on the day for Washington was the signing of 11th-round pick Marcus Jones, an outfielder, and 15th-round selection J.P. Ramirez. A Landon School graduate, Jones could have returned to North Carolina State for his senior season. Ramirez is a high-school outfielder from Texas.
