Posey signs with SF; Crow signs with Indy league

[Crazysilver03]

I feel bad for the Nats actually. The only thing you have to wonder was did they do their homeword on Corw. Did they know he and his agent were going to be so out of whack? I really don't know the answer, but I do know that I always root against these kind of players whether they stiffed the Orioles (Townsend) or someone else. I kinda hope the guy ends up being terrible in Indy ball and his value just keeps going down and down.

I hope he ends up a cautionary tale to future draft picks to pick your agent wisely and stop thinking you are so special.

You would think Matt Harrington and Wade Townsend would serve as such examples. Apparently not!

[sportsfan14]

I feel bad for the Nats actually. The only thing you have to wonder was did they do their homeword on Corw. Did they know he and his agent were going to be so out of whack? I really don't know the answer, but I do know that I always root against these kind of players whether they stiffed the Orioles (Townsend) or someone else. I kinda hope the guy ends up being terrible in Indy ball and his value just keeps going down and down.

I hope he ends up a cautionary tale to future draft picks to pick your agent wisely and stop thinking you are so special.

Jim Bowden sat down for an incredibly candid interview with WaPo Nats beat writer Chico Harlan. Fantastic read in terms of how the negotiating process works, and this particular negotiation as well.

Tony, as for your question, here is what Bowden said:

The only thing we were told on the day of the draft was that they wanted a major-league contract and they wanted a "out-of-the-box" deal. Later, they used the word "premium." We want a major-league contract and a premium deal. Well, you can define premium deal. I don't know how you define it. They never put a number to premium.

The Nats offered a major-league contract, and 1.4MM over slot seems "premium" to me.

----

The interview also revealed that the money not used on Crow was put toward 11th round pick Marcus Jones and 15th round pick J.P Ramirez (who the Nats viewed as a first-round talent).

From the Nats POV, the question is whether or not...

2009 Pick 9B + Ramirez + Jones > Crow

I think it is likely that the answer to that is yes.

[ejf1025]

sounds to me like Crow flat out didnt want to play in DC...

[Ruzious]

Jim Bowden sat down for an incredibly candid interview with WaPo Nats beat writer Chico Harlan. Fantastic read in terms of how the negotiating process works, and this particular negotiation as well.

Bowden may not be a good GM, but he is entertaining. That was a great read. Very interesting that he said he would have had Crow up with the Nationals this season. I wonder if he really meant that. Let's just say that Bowden would be a great used car salesman.

[Ruzious]

sounds to me like Crow flat out didnt want to play in DC...

I didn't get that impression at all. I think his agent was just trying to get an outrageous deal and over-estimated his bargaining power.

[hoosiers]

What a great interview with Bowden. It's only one side of the story, but it seems pretty clear that Crow received poor advice, that Crow's agents handled the negotiation poorly even after the Nats caved at most price points.

I'd like to hear from the Crow family. How they justify having advisors that turn down $3.5M to get their son's baseball career going?

[Mackus]

What a great interview with Bowden. It's only one side of the story, but it seems pretty clear that Crow received poor advice, that Crow's agents handled the negotiation poorly even after the Nats caved at most price points.

I'd like to hear from the Crow family. How they justify having advisors that turn down $3.5M to get their son's baseball career going?

That really was a pretty great interview. I'd love to hear something like that from MacPhail, or any GM really, regarding their negotiations. I understand that its probably not totally kosher to comment that detalied about a negotiation that ended with the player being signed, but it would be something cool to hear. For example, hearing the details of the Wieters negotiation would've been great.

[McLovin]

2009 Pick 9B + Ramirez + Jones > Crow

Yep, I could live with that if I were a Nationals fan. Not the end of the world by any means.