Will the Nationals sign Strasburg?

...And can they afford not to?

Affirmative.

The Nationals can not botch two drafts in a row or they lose all leverage in future drafts as well. Boras will use Japan and the upcoming Chapman deal as leverage, but at 11:59 pm something gets done.

I actually do not think so. They cannot afford to do it, but I think they will because this kid wants 50 mil. He may be the best, but so was Bryan Bullington. :?

soccerman034 said:

...And can they afford not to?

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They can't afford not to. First, take into consideration just the state of the franchise, lots of losing, scandal, gm gone. Ok, so then ofcourse they didn't sign Crow last year. So this year they get arguably the top college prospect ever and don't sign him, they then get the top two picks next draft(one of which isn't protected). Now any other year this might not be as big of a deal, but here's what complicates the situation. Who is the clear, far and away #1 prospect next year? Bryce Harper. Who represents him? Scott Boras, the same guy that reps Strasburg. Well, obviously the Nats wouldn't redraft Strasburg, they'd have to get permission from him to do so anyway. Well if they're not willing to pony up for Strasburg, what makes anybody think they'll pony up for Harper, who has even more leverage? So here is what would likely be the situation next draft, the Nats would have not signed Crow, then put themselves in a spot where they have to pass on two of the best prospects ever despite having the top two picks in the draft. Yeah, good luck with that.

Edit - Add one more thing to the nightmare scenario above. The would have been the first team ever to have two top 10 picks and come out of it with only Drew Storen, a signability pick who was supposed to ease the burden of signing Strasburg.

I thought Harper can't enter the draft for two more years? Isn't he a junior in HS this year?

But the Nationals' need the money to sign Strasburg, or he's going to get away.

darocker80 said:

I thought Harper can't enter the draft for two more years? Isn't he a junior in HS this year?

But the Nationals' need the money to sign Strasburg, or he's going to get away.

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It's been a fairly big story, Harper is skipping his last two years of high school, taking his GED and enrolling at a JUCO so he can be eligible for the 2010 draft.

the nats need to sign the dude. they have the money to sign him so the nats need to give him almost waht he wants. with scott borass as his agent it will take till the last possible second. if the nats dont sign him i might have to stop going to there games.

I do not think they will sign him unless his contractual demands come down. If he thinks he is going to sniff $50 million, he minus well be sniffing coke.

jeff550 said:

the nats need to sign the dude. they have the money to sign him so the nats need to give him almost waht he wants. with scott borass as his agent it will take till the last possible second. if the nats dont sign him i might have to stop going to there games.

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I usually do not care about grammar on a public message board, but my head hurts after reading that. Do not take offense, as I am not insulting you, but that was awful.

darocker80 said:

I thought Harper can't enter the draft for two more years? Isn't he a junior in HS this year?

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JUCO dude.....even I knew that! :lol:

For the record, the $50M is a number completely made up by the media. You will never find an actual quote from Boras or Strasburg anywhere in which he claims that to be the price to sign him.

They can't afford not to sign him.

Jaypers said:

For the record, the $50M is a number completely made up by the media. You will never find an actual quote from Boras or Strasburg anywhere in which he claims that to be the price to sign him.

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I realize this to be true, but I have heard reports of him wanting to double the highest bonus ever given out (Prior, I believe).

Jaypers said:

For the record, the $50M is a number completely made up by the media. You will never find an actual quote from Boras or Strasburg anywhere in which he claims that to be the price to sign him.

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Even if this is the case, it must be so crazy that it is taking this long. It won't be 7 mil that is for sure. It has to be double digits and change dude. :|

jbone17 said:

Jaypers said:

For the record, the $50M is a number completely made up by the media. You will never find an actual quote from Boras or Strasburg anywhere in which he claims that to be the price to sign him.

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Even if this is the case, it must be so crazy that it is taking this long. It won't be 7 mil that is for sure. It has to be double digits and change dude. :|

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Taking this long? It takes longer than this for most of the top guys or well over slot guys every year, it takes till the deadline.

Brett Keith said:

jbone17 said:

Jaypers said:

For the record, the $50M is a number completely made up by the media. You will never find an actual quote from Boras or Strasburg anywhere in which he claims that to be the price to sign him.

Click to expand...

Even if this is the case, it must be so crazy that it is taking this long. It won't be 7 mil that is for sure. It has to be double digits and change dude. :|

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Taking this long? It takes longer than this for most of the top guys or well over slot guys every year, it takes till the deadline.

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It is Strasburg though. It will take long, but money is the biggest thing here. Why would the Nats pay 50 mil for instance if this is the case, when they could wait it out and nab him for a lot cheaper. This is the point I was trying to make.

Boras opens bidding high year-after-year. Jaypers is correct, you will probably never find $50 million in quotes from Boras, but he gets his price tags floated out there to GM's so they know where the negotiations open from. Last year he suggested it would take $10 million to get Alvarez signed, and while he received over 6, on a percentage basis that is quite a come down on the initial price. Boras will try to leverage out to $50 because Chapman stands to receive in the 25-40 range, and it will be argued that Strasburg is worth more on the open market if he goes to Japan for a year and comes back a free agent. There are a lot of hoops to jump through for Boras though to do this (including involving an arbiter) and while he has leverage he doesn't have it exponentially. When all is said and done the Nats will lay $20-30 million on the table and it will be too much to risk turning down.

He'll sign. The Nats will offer him more money than he can afford to turn down.

Strasburg is a.......PLAYA!!!!!!!!!!!!!