ESPN.com's Jayson Stark determines how much Stephen Strasburg would be worth on the trade market if the Nats were allowed to deal him. Stark has an assortment of other rumors that will come soon in another post, but for now, some thoughts on Strasburg:
- One NL exec wouldn't want to trade centerpiece players for Strasburg even if it was allowed, because pitchers aren't as reliable as position players.
- Another executive said it would be hard to know how much to give for Strasburg when you don't know how much he's going to earn.
- One official said he'd give up "three or four very good prospects" for Strasburg.
- A fourth exec said there's no way he'd give up an "everyday, impact, big-league player" like Adam Jones.
- He reasons that Jones would have been the first overall pick in the draft this year if he'd somehow been eligible.
- Trading picks would enable the Nationals to avoid difficult negotiations with Scott Boras and allow them to get something immediately for giving up the rights to Strasburg.
