According to MLB.com and SI.com, Scott Boras is seeking a $50 million dollar deal for the potential number one pick in this years Amateur Draft, Stephen Strasburg.
Jon Heyman writes,
“Baseball people who have spoken to Strasburg’s adviser, Scott Boras, say they believe that’s the figure Boras has in mind for Strasburg, the San Diego State pitcher some are calling a once-in-a-decade talent.”
The huge sum of money, which would more than quadruple Mark Prior’s $10.5 million haul from the Cubs in 2001, would come in the form of a six-year contract, according to SI.com, making it a similar deal to that of Boston’s Daisuke Matsuzaka, who signed for six years and $52 million after the Red Sox had paid a $51 million posting fee for Dice-K to leave Japan.
Heyman talked to Washington Nationals president Stan Kasten, whose club has the No. 1 pick in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, and Kasten wouldn’t name names when asked whom the team plans to pick.
“We intend to take the best player; we know what No. 1s get and we intend to sign that player,” Kasten said before adding, “No one’s situation is going to change the industry.”
Strasburg plays for San Diego State and is 5-0 this season. He has produced double-digit strikeouts in all six starts and now has 88 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings. His fastball has been clocked regularly at 99-102 mph, and he throws a plus slider and a wicked plus change-up.
Once he latches onto a Major League team, he is so polished that most scouts expect him to make the jump to the majors in very short order.
