Club has until midnight to ink No. 1 overall pick
Time is running short in the negotiations between the Nationals and No. 1 overall draft pick Bryce Harper, with Major League Baseball’s signing deadline looming Monday at midnight.
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That’s no surprise. It was the same way with pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg last summer and first-round pick Aaron Crow the year before. Strasburg signed and is already pitching in the big leagues. Crow’s representatives couldn’t come to an agreement with the Nats, and the team lost his rights — a public-relations disaster for a struggling franchise.
No one knows better than Strasburg the pressure Harper faces. Take millions of dollars and start your pro career now or go back to school seeking more money in the 2011 draft — risking injury and poor performance.
“I don’t have any advice for him. It’s his decision,” said Strasburg, whose agent, Scott Boras, also is Harper’s adviser. “If he wants to play here, he’s going to play here. He doesn’t need advice from anybody. … If he doesn’t want to play here, then we don’t want him here, bottom line.”
Trade publication Baseball America reported Sunday that Washington has signed second-round pick Sammy Solis, fourth-round pick A.J. Cole and 12th-round pick Robbie Ray. The Nats would not confirm those deals. But if true, the organization will have signed 24 of its top 26 draft picks with Harper the lone holdout among the first 13.
“There’s always a deadline for a reason, and most of the higher [picks] are taken to the deadline,” Nats general manager Mike Rizzo said Saturday. “So until we change it you’re always going to work up until that deadline. This year is no different.”
