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Heyman On Strasburg, Harper, Piniella

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Jon Heyman of SI.com says the Nationals made the "acquisition of the year" when they signed Stephen Strasburg 77 seconds before Monday night's deadline to sign draft picks. Nats president Stan Kasten says he's proud to have signed Strasburg even if he's not proud to have agreed to a record-setting deal. Like many others, Scott Boras believes the agreement was good for both sides. Here are the rest of Heyman's rumors:

  • Bryce Harper shouldn't come close to Strasburg's $15MM-plus if he signs next year.
  • The Rays offered first rounder LeVon Washington $1.1MM. It wasn't enough and Scott Boras was very disappointed not to reach a deal.
  • Heyman says there's no way the Cubs fire Lou Piniella after picking up his $4MM option for next year.
  • Jerry Manuel shouldn't have picked on Ryan Church, Heyman says.

Odds And Ends: Astros, Halladay, Phillies

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More links for Wednesday morning…

  • Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle says it's insincere for Astros owner Drayton McLane to act like his team's still in contention.
  • As Alex Speier notes, Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi said on WEEI in Boston that it's too soon to tell whether Roy Halladay will hit the trade market again this winter. Once the team has a permanent president and a firm payroll, it will be easier to tell.
  • Phil Wood of MASN.com says Mike Rizzo has earned a shot at the permanent Nats GM job.
  • Scott Miller of CBS Sports wouldn't be surprised if Lou Piniella decided not to manage the Cubs next year. His contract, which runs through 2010, will surely be his last, Miller says.
  • Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. tells MLB.com's Todd Zolecki that he doesn't expect to make a waiver trade, though the Phils have claimed players.

Draft Spending Roundup: Nats Set Record

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Some details on the millions of dollars that teams committed to the next wave of talent:

  • The Nationals spent more on this draft than any team has ever spent on a single draft, according to Jim Callis of Baseball America.
  • Callis ranks the top deals by present value and, not surprisingly, Stephen Strasburg comes out on top.
  • So how much did teams spend in total? They spent over $160MM on bonuses for players drafted in the first ten rounds, according to Callis. That's about $1MM more than teams spent on the same group of players last year, but Aaron Crow and Tanner Scheppers could stll sign late. As Callis notes, MLB doesn't have much to show for its efforts to slash bonuses. 
  • It's possible that this will be a record year for total draft bonuses awarded by MLB teams.

More Draft Pick Signings

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Some more signings came in late last night. Here they are, from Baseball America's Jim Callis:

  • The Yankees signed 44th rounder Evan DeLuca for $500k.
  • The Rangers signed 17th rounder Paul Strong for $300k. 
  • The Nationals signed 12th rounder Nathan Karns for $225k.  
  • The Padres signed 17th rounder Jorge Reyes for $200k. 
  • The Mets signed ninth rounder Jeff Glenn for $150k.  

Stephen Strasburg Reactions

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There's general agreement that the Nationals and Stephen Strasburg both did well last night. Here are some reactions from around the league:

Boras On Strasburg

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Scott Boras tells USA Today's Bob Nightengale that he was never seeking a deal worth $50MM for Stephen Strasburg. Instead, they were originally hoping to see an offer in the low 20s. Via Twitter, Nightengale adds that Strasburg won't make his MLB debut this year. In fact, there's a chance he won't debut with the Nats until 2011.

"Strasburg may or may not pitch in the major leagues next year," Boras told Nightengale. "We really hope they take their time developing him."

If Strasburg pitches again this year, Boras says it will be in the instructional league or the Arizona Fall League.

Nationals Sign Stephen Strasburg

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11:39pm: BA's Jim Callis has the contract breakdown.  Bill Shaikin and Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times have even further detail.

11:06pm: Baseball America's Aaron Fitt says Strasburg signed a Major League deal worth $15.67MM over four years.  Despite all the fears of absurd demands from Boras, the Nationals did well here.  Here's MLB.com's scouting report on the San Diego State righty.

11:04pm: This deal is close for $15MM, according to Yahoo's Tim Brown.  Of course, the deadline has technically already passed so we're still awaiting word.

10:14pm: Time for a fresh post chronicling the Nationals' attempt to sign first overall pick and Scott Boras client Stephen Strasburg.  The latest: SI's Jon Heyman says via Twitter that the Nats are upping their bid from $12.5MM.

Odds & Ends: Strasburg, Magglio, Marlins, Yanks

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It's going to be a busy night, so I hope you've got a comfy chair…

  • ESPN's Peter Gammons writes that the Nationals and Stephen Strasburg need each other. I have to agree with that.
  • MLB.com's Jason Beck notes that the Tigers still have to make a roster move to get the newly acquired Aubrey Huff on the 25-man roster, but GM Dave Dombrowski confirmed it would not involve Magglio Ordonez.
  • The Marlins signed second rounder Bryan Berglund for $572,500 according to Baseball America's Jim Callis, a touch over slot. We first learned of this signing over the weekend, but now we have a dollar figure.
  • Callis also reports that the Yankees have signed 16th rounder Bryan Mitchell to a deal worth $800,000. Obviously, that's way over slot.
  • Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus tweets that 10 of top 15 picks were still unsigned when we woke up this morning, and that that's still the case with less than six hours until the deadline. Should be a fun night.
  • Kiley McDaniel of BP says he was told that another club fired an international scout last week for bonus skimming.

Stephen Strasburg Rumors: Monday

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2:01pm: Heyman hears that the Nats offered Strasburg $12.5MM.

12:35pm: Heyman hears that the Nats offered Strasburg more than $12MM. Scott Boras believes Strasburg's worth several times as much, but it's Strasburg's call in the end and it would be hard to turn down an eight-figure offer, even an "unfair" one. Still, Heyman says there's a good chance the two sides won't agree on a deal.

9:01am: With just 14 hours left before the deadline to sign draft picks, Stephen Strasburg is the one player everyone's watching most closely. Here's what everyone's saying about this year's first overall pick:

  • Jon Heyman of SI.com will be surprised if Strasburg signs with the Nationals today.
  • Yahoo's Jeff Passan expects the Nationals to sign Strasburg for about $20MM, but says the baseball world really revolves around Strasburg's agent, Scott Boras, this time of year.
  • Boras tells Yahoo's Tim Brown that Strasburg is the best college pitcher he's even seen.
  • But Chico Harlan of the Washington Post has some advice: Don't assume anything, no matter what you hear, until the deadline passes. Until then, "there's just no freakin' way to know what will happen." 
  • Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post shows that the Nationals and Scott Boras both have significant leverage in the negotiations.  
  • Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says it makes no sense for Strasburg to turn down a record-setting offer.
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