Strasburg Watch

[Mackus]

Roch reported that the Nats offered $17.

Anonymous sources tell the Post it's not enough.

That's not enough for him to sign 10 hours before the deadline.

If that's the highest offer at 11:55pm, then its definitely enough. If he waits until then he might get a couple more million in signing bonus, but he won't get an MLB deal. That would have to be done in time for a physical to be taken and completed before midnight. So if we don't hear of him signing in the next 4 or so hours, his deal will almost certainly have to be a minor league deal.

[Hank Scorpio]

Roch reported that the Nats offered $17.

Anonymous sources tell the Post it's not enough.

Strasburg is out of his friggin' coconut.

[clarence]

If he doesn't take that deal he is getting some really bad advice. I'm surprised the Nats went that high and I will be disgusted with this process if they don't get him.

[zff4]

Strasburg is out of his friggin' coconut.

Well hell, I think Givens is out of his coconut.

But I also see the real value in not deferring one's arb years and your FA date by a full year but these guys obviously have a different perspective.

[alexei606]

If he doesn't take that deal he is getting some really bad advice. I'm surprised the Nats went that high and I will be disgusted with this process if they don't get him.

Not surprised at all that the Nats are up (except the Lerners are not known for their largess). Strasburg is a top tier TOR now and can fit in the rotation now. If he was an international player - think Matuzusaka money and no problem getting that. The draft unfairly keeps bonuses down for Canadian, American, and Puerto Rican players - Boras is right about this.

Young players are artificially cheap for a long time - if I were an established ML player and not a super star, I think that I would be worried about job security and pay due to this cheapness. That means, once you are no longer cheap, you are expendable. That doesn't mean that the product will be better just because the players are younger.

[geschinger]

He'll sign in the last few minutes... The Nats are essentially throwing money away everytime they raise their offer. When it's the moment of truth Boras would not turn down 7m let alone 10m or 15m or 20m. We may be seeing a poorly run franchise being taken to the cleaners in Tom Hicksesque fashion this evening.

[Mackus]

He'll sign in the last few minutes... The Nats are essentially throwing money away everytime they raise their offer. When it's the moment of truth Boras would not turn down 7m let alone 10m or 15m or 20m. We may be seeing a poorly run franchise being taken to the cleaners in Tom Hicksesque fashion this evening.

I think he'd turn down $7-10M, but he isn't turning down anything over $12-15M, IMO.

I think he definitely takes the $17M being offered, it'll be interesting to see if the Nats up their ante though. I agree they are just buying earlier peace of mind (at a very high dollar per minute rate) if they up their offer at this point.

[Shopay]

He'll sign in the last few minutes... The Nats are essentially throwing money away everytime they raise their offer. When it's the moment of truth Boras would not turn down 7m let alone 10m or 15m or 20m. We may be seeing a poorly run franchise being taken to the cleaners in Tom Hicksesque fashion this evening.

I completely agree, if Roch is correct. If I'm the Nats I tell Boras he has our best offer and let's us know if SS wants to sign. I wouldn't put one more penny on the table.

[geschinger]

I think he'd turn down $7-10M, but he isn't turning down anything over $12-15M, IMO.

I don't simply because $7m-$10m sets him up nicely and is not a lowball offer by any definition. Not to mention that turning 7-10m down is really turning down somewhere in the neighborhood of $15m-$30m if he ends up being anywhere near as good as advertised (arbitration and FA years a year later).

I think he definitely takes the $17M being offered, it'll be interesting to see if the Nats up their ante though. I agree they are just buying earlier peace of mind (at a very high dollar per minute rate) if they up their offer at this point.

I don't think they'll be buying piece of mind though... Unless they cave and just meet the asking price Boras will keep saying not good enough until the last minute.

[LookinUp]

In a deadline situation, I can't imagine any good negotiator would put their final offer on the table until just before the actual deadline. All that does is invite a game of cat and mouse, at which point you're then tempted to up the offer just a little bit more.

If they already have $17 million on the table, I bet he'll sign for $18 million plus.