After months of speculation, the obvious choice has finally been made. Now the contract negotiations begin.
The Nationals selected San Diego State right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg with the No. 1 overall pick in Tuesday’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
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The pick gives Washington a dominant college pitcher who many scouts believe can start his career in the big leagues immediately. But Strasburg, who has powerful agent Scott Boras as an advisor, must sign a contract with the team by Aug. 15 or the Nats lose his rights. That’s exactly what happened last season with Washington’s first-round pick Aaron Crow, who chose to play independent ball instead and re-entered this year’s draft. He was chosen 12th overall by the Kansas City Royals.
There is no timetable for Strasburg’s first appearance with the Nats. If — as expected — he does not sign quickly, it will be difficult to build his arm strength back fast enough to make a meaningful contribution in the majors in 2009.
“It’s a process you can’t rush. Some players develop quicker than others and there’s always a learning curve,” said Nats acting general manager Mike Rizzo. “The process of just being a professional player is probably the most daunting task for a young, amateur player.”
The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Strasburg led the Aztecs to the NCAA tournament. He finished 13-1 with a 1.32 ERA in 15 starts and struck out an NCAA-high 195 batters.
“Nobody is major-league ready right now,” said Tony Gwynn, the Hall-of-Fame outfielder who coached Strasburg at San Diego State. “If they put him out there he’ll be able to compete because he’s got that baseball savvy … [But] I still think there’s lessons you have to learn. You have to go through some adversity and, quite frankly, he hasn’t had a whole lot here in the last couple years.”
Losing Crow meant the Nats were granted the No. 10 pick this year as compensations. There were questions about whether Washington would lean toward a lesser first-round talent who would sign quickly. But Rizzo insisted that the organization’s choice at No. 10 — Stanford closer Drew Storen — was always at the top of their draft board. Storen was 7-1 with seven saves and a 3.80 ERA in 28 appearances for the Cardinal. He is a reliever, but has enough pitches to start if Washington wants to go in that direction.
