Strasburg Signing Brings Both Hope and Hype to The Washington Nationals

Stephen Strasburg is now a Washington National.

The kid from San Diego—the city and the school—agreed to his deal in typical Scott Boras fashion, with just seconds remaining before the midnight deadline.

It’s a major league contract, it’s worth $15.6 million, and it’s for four years.

At first blush, you wouldn’t think that giving Strasburg a major league contract is a big deal, but it is. He must be immediately placed on the team’s 40-man roster, which means he has to be optioned to the minor leagues to begin his career.

Options are a finite thing, so it’s conceivable—but not likely—that if Strasburg doesn’t succeed at the major league level quickly, he could run out of options and that is a place none of us wants to go.

But I wouldn't worry about that. Much.

My first impression is one of surprise. I never believed the $50 million whisper campaign this spring, but neither did I think that the Nationals would sign him for such a realistic amount.

Many believed that Boras was trying to double Mark Prior’s all-time bonus amount, which would have garnered the San Diego native more than $22 million.

And that seemed reasonable, considering Major League revenues have doubled since 2001.

That said, I would have guessed that the Nationals’ top figure was $18 million, perhaps $20 million with incentives.

Knowing how Scott Boras operates, if the team paid almost $16 million, then their top figure was probably $15 million. That’s just the way that Boras operates, with his hands in the owners pockets while he’s picking up loose change off the floor.

A few thoughts on Scott Boras and Stephen Strasburg and “the signing:”

First, all of this has the feel of being just too easy. Boras, who normally attacks the team he is negotiating with through his media minions was strangely silent this summer.

Barely a peep was heard.

It was almost—dare I say it—as if Boras felt comfortable with the situation and wanted to get the deal done without all the histrionics.

Perhaps the Mark Teixeira negotiations this past winter weren't all about signing the free agent first baseman but was more about creating an amicable working relation with Boras.

Maybe it worked.

Perhaps Boras understood that the Nationals’ very public offer increased the value of the other offer’s Teixeira ultimately received and felt he needed to be “fair” with the Lerner family.

Scott Boras fair? That's just not right.

Second, Strasburg showed me a lot last night. Though I have no inside knowledge, I suspect that the young pitcher told Boras to get all he could, but at the end of the day he wanted to get the deal done.

Perhaps this young man is not Aaron Crow after all. Perhaps he has coursing through his veins the blood of pitching royalty with just a little bit of bulldog DNA. I can almost see him throwing his old Aztec hat into the trash, donning his new “Curly W” and saying, “It’s time to grow up.”

Oh, and by the way, Aaron Crow, drafted 12th by the Royals this year, has yet to sign. The kid just doesn't want to play baseball.

In the end, Strasburg’s actions spoke directly to the fans of Washington. He told us that he wasn’t about the money, or the fame, or the glamour of being the richest draft choice in baseball history.

He just wants to play baseball.

So the pomp and circumstance of the draft-day two-step is over, and it’s a great day to be a fan of the Washington Nationals.

But you know what? Yesterday was a great day to be a fan of the Washington Nationals too.

We love the franchise and the players on the team, good or bad.

Sure, Strasburg might make us old timers forget about Nolan Ryan, but then again, he might not.

The Nationals didn’t just sign a pitcher who is going to immediately turn things around for a moribund franchise. No, what the Nationals did tonight was even better, and far more realistic.

They threw another fish into their pitching pond. They continue to restock in the hopes that out of their 20 or 30 pitching prospects, five or six will mature into major league pitchers.

Some will be lost to injury like Jordan Zimmermann. Some, like Matt Chico, will come back from injury and—hopefully—regain his spot in the starting rotation.

Some, like former first-rounder’s Colten Willems and Josh Smoker, will have a difficult time emerging from the low minor leagues, and perhaps they never will.

Others, like J.D. Martin, are castoffs from other organizations, deemed to be damaged goods with broken dreams.

Sometimes, can’t miss prospects do, and former prospects find their fortune with another organization.

Where will Strasburg fall? It’s hard to say. History says that he’ll be a good-but-not-great pitcher, and if that’s what he becomes, he will still help the Washington Nationals become a better team.

But history also told us that a black man could never become president of the United States.

Two men, living in the same city, and both on a collision course with history. One stared history down and won.

What will the other do?

My guess is he’ll throw a 102 mph fastball and strike history out.

Said Strasburg late Monday night, “It feels awesome. I got a little nervous there for a while that it might not happen, but I feel very blessed.”

You go, kid. You are blessed.

And so are we.