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Stephen Strasburg

Odds & Ends: Sano, Jones, Draft, Fukumori

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A bevy of links for your Saturday morning…

  • Dennis Manoloff reports that the Indians intend to make an offer to uberprospect Miguel Angel Sano.
  • ESPN's Jorge Arangure tweets that the "Yankees have made it very clear that catcher Gary Sanchez is their top choice" on the international market. Last night we noted that the Yanks were going to work Sano out at their Dominican academy next week.
  • Andruw Jones says he asked out of Dodger Blue because of the way owner Frank McCourt treated him, according to Dylan Hernandez.
  • Frank Seravalli reports that Phillies are set to sign second round pick Kyle Dugan today. Dugan was Philadelphia's first selection in the draft after they forfeited their first rounder to sign Raul Ibanez.
  • Kevin Goldstein wonders why Stephen Strasburg's impending megadeal is such a big deal. Meanwhile Michael Wilbon says "No way in the world I'd have taken Stephen Strasburg with the No. 1 pick in the draft," citing the risk. Show me a draft pick without risk, and I'll show you the three bridges in New York I have for sale.
  • Patrick at NPB Tracker notes that the recently released Kazuo Fukumori is set to audition for his former team, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Japanese Pacific League.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Strasburg, Pedro, McLouth

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On this date 70 years ago, Lou Gehrig played his last game with the Yankees. Gehrig would retire with a career batting average of .340, 493 home runs and a 179 OPS+. For comparison, Albert Pujols has a career batting average of .334, 337 home runs and a 171 OPS+. More than a third of the way through the '09 season, let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

  • Josh Q. Public takes a look at what Stephen Strasburg would have to accomplish statistically to justify a 6-year, $50MM contract.
  • Federal Baseball spoke with Lee Jenkins about Strasburg and Jenkins' research of dominant amateur pitchers.
  • Nationals Park wonders if the Nats can sign Strasburg.
  • Ladies… say that Strasburg is destined to break down.
  • Bareknucks makes the case that Strasburg will be the next Mark Prior and baseball's version of Tony Mandarich.
  • Fanhouse has a pool going on how much Strasburg will ultimately sign for.
  • MLB Notebook argues that Pedro Martinez makes sense for the Rays. 
  • Operation Shutdown makes a case that the Pirates did well in the Nate McLouth trade.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.

Draft Roundup: Late Picks, Strasburg, Purke

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Time to pass along some more links, including some noteworthy selections late in the draft…

Stark: What If The Nats Could Deal Strasburg?

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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.  

Odds And Ends: Indians, Ryan, Red Sox

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More links for the afternoon…

Discussion: Do The Nats Have To Sign Strasburg?

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Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports suggests the Nationals have "absolutely nothing to lose with this draft," and says they win whether they sign Stephen Strasburg or get the second pick in next year's draft for failing to do so. They've already agreed to sign Drew Storen, the 10th overall selection, and they're early favorites for next year's first overall pick, with an MLB-worst 15-42 record. They could have the first two picks in next year's draft if they don't sign Strasburg.

However, SI.com's Jon Heyman argued yesterday that the Nationals can't afford not to come to an agreement with their pick. Strasburg is a unique talent and Heyman doesn't think the Nats can keep putting things off, even if they could potentially pick first and second in the 2010 draft.

So do you agree with Ringolsby and the San Francisco Chronicle's John Shea that the Nats win whether they sign Strasburg or not? Or do you agree with Heyman that the Nationals should take advantage of an opporunity to acquire a special talent now instead of delaying for a year?

Pirates Draft Roundup

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Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette asked GM Neal Huntington if Tony Sanchez had more upside and talent than the other players available when the Pirates picked fourth. Here are a couple of points Huntington made in his reply to Kovacevic:

  • "We did not take the player we felt had the highest upside on the board with the Sanchez selection, but we did select the player who was at the top of our board at the time."
  • Huntington says upside isn't everything, pointing out that it's risky to draft high school pitchers.
  • "If Stephen Strasburg or Dustin Ackley had slipped, we would have likely altered our approach to the draft and committed greater resources to either of them."

Instead, the Pirates plan to commit to a group of talented players, according to Pat Mitsch of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Huntington and his staff drafted 21 players who are demanding bonuses of $100k or more, and he expects to sign many by recruiting well and being "very aggressive."

The Pirates were criticized for taking Sanchez when they did, but, as MLB.com's Jen Langosch reports, draft expert Jonathan Mayo praised the Pirates' approach on day two.

Draft Updates: Strasburg, Braves, Sierra Jr.

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Some more updates and thoughts on the draft as day two continues…

  • MLB.com's Mark Bowman notes that the Braves have taken a different approach this year, selecting seven college players with their first eight picks.
  • Via Byron Kerr of MASN.com we hear that Jim Callis of Baseball America expects Stephen Strasburg to sign for about $17.5MM.
  • ESPN.com's Buster Olney says GMs want the draft to give the worst teams the chance to sign the best players, or the chance to trade the rights to them away. Teams don't always spend early picks on the best players, so Olney says the issue will surface when it's time for the next collective bargaining agreement.
  • Baseball America reports that the Rangers took a familiar name in Ruben Sierra Jr., a high school outfielder. His father showed flashes of brilliance for the Rangers, before falling off in the mid-1990s.  
  • The Pirates have impressed MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo today. They chose Tony Sanchez earlier than expected with the fourth pick, but have since been aggressive.

Boras And Strasburg On Negotiations

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Chico Harlan of the Washington Post says Scott Boras was armed with stats proving Stephen Strasburg is a safe investment during this morning's conference call between the Nats' number one pick, his agent and the media. ESPN.com reports that Boras called Strasburg "a different breed of cat," who's worth more than other players.

Boras criticized the draft system for being "unilaterally imposed, not collectively bargained," and said his strong relationship with the Lerner family will help negotiations with the Nationals organization.

Strasburg, who said all the right things, will take a vacation, rest his arm and then resume training. He said he doesn't know whether he could go straight to the major leagues.

Draft Updates: Deadline, D’Backs, Rangers

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Some more links in anticipation of this evening's draft…

  • Jon Heyman of SI.com says the signing deadline has been pushed back to August 17th because the 15th is a Saturday. The Nats' negotiations with Scott Boras will probably go down to the wire regardless, so it barely matters. If anything it's bad news for the Nats, as they'll have less time to prepare their probable selection, Stephen Strasburg, for a late-season cameo.
  • Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic says the D'Backs could choose two hitters with their 16th and 17th picks. They like Bobby Borchering, but he may not be available to them.
  • Nolan Ryan expects the Rangers to select a pitcher when they pick 14th, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.
  • MLB.com's Doug Miller rounds up major leaguers' responses to this question: Has any prospect ever received more hype than Strasburg?
  • And here's the final projection MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo will make. He has Dustin Ackley going to Seattle, Donavan Tate going to San Diego, Tony Sanchez going to Pittsburgh and Zack Wheeler going to Baltimore.
  • ESPN.com's Keith Law has the same five players going in the same order. Interestingly, Law has Aaron Crow and Tanner Scheppers out of the first round, in large part because they're expected to demand lots of money.
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