It’s that time of year again. The Nationals front office is working hard to sign No. 1 overall draft pick Bryce Harper and three other key players before the Major League Baseball signing deadline expires at midnight Tuesday morning. They went through this last summer with top pick Stephen Strasburg and didn’t conclude that deal with agent Scott Boras until the final minute before the deadline. So is it any easier a second time around? Rizzo could only laugh at that notion.
“No. It’s not easier, it’s not less anxious.” Rizzo said. “Speaking specifically of 1/1 it’s a player that we really want in the organization and the talks and negotiations are always difficult and they’re always unique. This is a unique situation just like Stephen was a unique situation, just like when I signed [Diamondbacks outfielder] Justin Upton it was a unique situation. So we’re battling through it. We don’t make a big public display of it. But suffice it to say we’re working hard at it.”
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Interesting that he didn’t mention Harper by name. Just “1/1”. The star outfielder is obviously the guy Washington has to get done. But the Nats don’t want to let second-round pick Sammy Solis or fourth-round pick A.J. Cole slip away, either. The team is working on deals with both of those players. The only other unsigned players among the top 26 drafted players are No. 12 pick Robbie Ray, a left-handed high-school pitcher from Tennessee, and No. 14 pick Tim Smalling, a shortstop from Virginia Tech.
Ray is an interesting case. He’s highly regarded and has a scholarship offer to play baseball at Arkansas. The 18-year-old was at Nationals Park on Saturday afternoon for a workout in front of team officials. But they already know all about him. This was really just another recruiting visit.
“Instead of just letting [Ray] go to school and blowing it off we’re making [a last] ditch effort to impress him with our organization and show him what professional baseball can mean to him down the road,” Rizzo said.
It will be a busy, stressful two days as the clock ticks down. Will provide any updates if Solis, Cole or Ray sign. Harper is almost certainly going down to the wire.
Here are the lineups for tonight’s game against Arizona. The Nats took the opener, 4-2, on Friday night. Jason Marquis (0-4, 15.32 ERA) makes his second start back after missing most of the season (elbow surgery). The right-hander gave up two earned runs – and five overall – in a loss to the Dodgers last weekend. Ian Kennedy (6-9, 4.47 ERA) takes the mound for the Diamondbacks. Game time, as always, is 7:05 p.m.
Diamondbacks:
Young – CF
Johnson – 2B
Upton – RF
LaRoche – 1B
Montero – C
Reynolds – 3B
Drew – SS
Parra – LF
Kennedy – P
Nationals:
Bernadina – CF
Desmond – SS
Dunn – 1B
Zimmerman – 3B
Willingham – LF
Kennedy – 2B
Rodriguez – C
Harris – RF
Marquis – P
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