Well, as most of you probably know, The Nationals have done it. They’ve signed their number one draft pick and supposed phenom Stephen Strasburg for a record 15+ million dollars. There were celebrations heard all across NatsTown last night and this morning as many fans believe that having Strasburg on this team can only lead to good things.
Out of love for the team, I’ll say that I am that happy the Nationals were able to get him, assuming this amateur pitcher is as good as he is touted to be. However, I must qualify that by saying it sickens me to my core that they had to agree to those terms in order to get him and right now, I cannot consider myself a big fan. Even without Strasburg, I have a hard time understanding the ‘worth’ of proven players, but then to see this much money thrown at (and demanded by) a kid who has never played professionally or proven himself at that level, it is very hard for me. I am hearing that this amount seems ‘fair’, but I personally cannot make any sense of that, and while it is a great day for Nationals baseball, I hope it does not turn out to be a not-so-great day for baseball in general. But I’ll get over it. In the end, it doesn’t affect me, so what should I care? I’ve got my own life to worry about.
From what I can tell (at least from what I read and hear from my friends and fellow bloggers), fans are happy for his arrival. They have great hope that this guy can single handedly bring good things to this team. And while I may not be thrilled with the money part of this deal, I can still hold out some hope for that as well and truly want all the hype to be fulfilled.
And since we are busy hoping, here are a few of my other hopes…I hope that he is every bit as good as his bonus implies he is. I hope that he works his way up to the majors soon, but that he is not rushed and brought up before he is ready. I hope that he wins every game he starts and scares the pants off of every batter he faces. I hope early fame does not go to his head. I hope that he takes care of that arm of his. I hope that the stress of being the savior of the team does not wear him out, and that fans of this team have patience with him. I hope that his greed is not an indication of his arrogance. I hope that he appreciates what he’s been given and that he is accommodating and friendly to his new-found fans. I hope that he realizes that $15 million is not a shortcut to respect, and that some people think that he still must earn that on the field.
So with that I say Welcome to the Team Stephen Strasburg!! Good luck to you and your (hopefully) long career in DC (whenever you actually make it up here). Try not to spend all that money in one place, OK?
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August 18th, 2009 at 8:35 am
You’re right on target here. Getting the payday is one thing, but earning respect from players and fans is another. I hope for the Nats’ sake that the kid earns both and proves to be worth the investment.
August 18th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Hey Carolyn - I totally agree with you. MLB’s draft and these salaries are ludicrous. I wish I could load Scott Boras into a rocket and fire him into the sun. Most of these top picks never pan out and I don’t get why teams should be held hostage like this. I know Mark Prior’s contract was the jumping off point for Boras with Strasburg, but look how that turned out. For every Clemens that does make it big, you have a Ben McDonald or Brien Taylor, or Todd Van Poppel that doesn’t do anything. The Nats had to sign him for PR purposes, due to not signing Aaron Crow last year and I’m looking forward to seeing him pitch, but MLB needs to put a cap on these amateur salaries. Let them make a capped amount to sign, then they get additional incentive money based on performance.
With this kind of money, this kid is going to have so much pressure on him it will be ridiculous. If he doesn’t throw shutouts every time out and strike out double digits, he’s going to get it. The good thing is he got picked by Washington who seem to have patient fans. But have fun pitching against the Phillies or the Mets. Those fans are going to ride him like Zorro.
Oh and sorry about Zimmermann, I was looking forward to seeing him put it all together next year. Hopefully he comes bck from surgery and can resume his career in 2011.
August 20th, 2009 at 11:27 am
I wholeheartedly disagree.
I’d like to throw out a few facts here: The oweners of the team made a profit (after salaries and other expenses) of about $42 mil last year-as estimated by Forbes magazine. Austin Kearns will make $16 million in ‘08 and ‘09 combined.
Perhaps you are sickened by both those facts as well as the fact that Strasburg will make $15.1 over 4 years. Scott Boras for all his faults makes a somewhat valid argument: if the owners of the the worst team in baseball for almost two years running (based on record) can make that large a profit, they need to pay the player(s) who draw the fans a portion of that money.
In terms of past performance predicting future performance - I point to austin kearns who has both suffered from injuries, and otherwise poor performance at the plate that has lead to him contributing very little production in the major leagues. Strasburg may not live up to the hype, but all signs point to him having much more potential upside than Kearns.
So I don’t sound like I’m throwing kearns under the bus entirely, every indication is that Kearns is still a quality personin the clubhouse with the respect of all his teammates. The lerners met with Strasburg to try to guage this aspect of the man and seem to have found this to be true. I don’t think Strasburg demanded the money. I think he knows he has a big potential and told Boras to get as much as he could but to take whatever was on the table at the deadline - I also think the lerners and in particular Mike Rizzo knew this and were able to keep the figure below what many thought it would go up to.
August 20th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Dave, thanks for you comments. You wrote “…they need to pay the player(s) who draw the fans a portion of that money…”
Let’s say that I agree with that statement. Let’s pay lots of money to the players who bring in the fans and help the Lerners make lots of money themselves. Seems fair to me. But, who knows for sure that Strasburg will indeed draw the fans and thus deserve that portion of that money? Just because people say that they are excited about him now does not mean that they will necessarily come out and see games when the time comes. Maybe they will. Maybe even more fans than those who are talking will come out more often. But maybe not - we’ll still be in a crappy neighborhood with nothing to do in the neighborhood pre- and post-games, with possibly still a losing record (let’s hope not on that last bit!!), and that may change those people’s mind once the time comes. Who knows? I don’t. No one knows for sure. I would have less problem paying Stasburg his 15 million for four years after we’ve seen him for a year or so and see what he does for the team and in the big leagues to earn that money. But to assume that we can see the future and that he **will** draw the crowd and that he **will** do well in the majors, I don’t like that. I’m not saying I am right; it’s just how I feel. Prove your worth first, then get paid for it later. That’s all I am saying.
And I know you are right when I can’t really blame Strasburg for going after the big bucks, but I do anyway. Can’t help myself.
If you are going to bring up Kearns, then you are going to get me on my soap box about entertainment industry in general and how overpaid everyone is blah blah blah. You don’t want to hear me say all that! Maybe players who are paid enormous sums of money can give it back if they fail. Or maybe they pay for everyone’s season tickets if they do poorly.
Appreciate your opinion and thanks for reading.
-Carolyn