Time For Strasburg Story to Just Go Away

I am tired of hearing about Stephen Strasburg, and I want it to all be over.

Fortunately, come Monday night, it will be.

And, while I don’t mean to be contrary, I don’t much care what becomes of him.

If he becomes a National, that’s great; he’s worth the money. And if he doesn’t become a National, that’s great too; the team can use all those saved Benjamin’s to buy a major league pitcher this winter.

I’ve read every story and heard every viewpoint. For a while, I thought the Nationals needed to sign him at all costs. Then, I believed that they shouldn’t sign Strasburg at any cost.

And now? Like I said, who cares?

A few months ago, I saw a photo of Strasburg and saw a savior. Not the savior, you understand, but a savior, someone who would lead the team into the playoff promised land.

But after two months of playing “show me the money,” I see a picture of Strasburg and I see Aaron Crow, someone who is willing to sit out a year for the privilege of power and mountains of money.

Crow, a 2008 first-round selection, was offered $3.5 million, the highest offer for a pitcher in the draft (though other pitchers were drafted higher). He turned it down, laid out a year, and was drafted three spots lower by the Royals in 2009.

On Friday, Crow, a hometown boy, turned down a $3 million offer from Kansas City.

Strasburg, knowing the track record of previous holdouts (like Crow) is nonetheless prepared to walk away from more than $15 million.

Next year, he’ll have less leverage, no more experience, and will likely be taken by the Royals, who are freefalling so fast that they'll likely overtake the Nationals as worst-of-the-worst sometime next week.

Does he think he’ll get more money from the Kansas City Royals?

But here’s why I don’t care; since the dismissal of Jim Bowden, acting GM Mike Rizzo has been pruning the leaves from the Nationals’ tree, removing players who are clubhouse cancers or who simply don’t want to play for the Nationals.

They need players who want to play.

The team’s initial first-round selection, Ryan Zimmerman, signed on the day he was drafted. In 2006, Chris Marrero, the team’s top pick, took ten days to sign his major league contract.

2007’s No. 1 choice, Ross Detwiler, was playing baseball within three weeks of being selected.

This year, Drew Storen, the Nationals compensation pick for Aaron Crow (10th overall), signed the day after he was drafted. He’s already been promoted twice and has pitched so well that the Nationals are going to send him to the Arizona Fall League, a haven for soon-to-be stars.

These players were eager to sign and show what they could do. They wanted to play for the Nationals.

The Nationals don’t need Stephen Strasburg. They need a pool of good pitchers from which one or two will become solid major leaguers.

Jordan Zimmermann showed us all too clearly that you can’t hitch your future to a single player. You never know what might happen.

Zimmermann is gone for at least a-year-and-a-half, but, luckily, the team has enough young pitching to make up for his loss.

J.D. Martin might fill the void, or it could be Garrett Mock.

Or it will be someone who is not even on the team’s radar screen.

Stephen Strasburg would simply add to the volume in the Nationals’ pitcher’s pool.

Maybe he would become that once-in-a-lifetime pitcher, or maybe he’ll join Matt Chico and Zimmermann as pitchers who might—or might not—return from reconstructive surgery.

Stephen Strasburg is causing me to channel Aaron Crow, making it a double-dreader-header.

We need to forget Crow, and if necessary, forget Strasburg. We need to look to the future.

Like Satchel Paige said, “Don’t look back; something might be gaining on you.”