Stephen Strasburg Joins the Fun in D.C.

Stephen Strasburg, his superagent Boras and the Washington Nationals literally waited until the last minute to negotiate a contract before their midnight deadline, making D.C. hold their collective breaths until 11:58:43 last night.

As was everyone's prediction, the 21-year-old righty from San Diego State inked the richest deal in MLB amateur draft history, nabbing $15.1 million over four years.

This passes up the $10.8 million contract the Texas Rangers handed Mark Teixeira back in 2001, but it's not quite in the $50 million ballpark Boras was yakking about pre-draft. Still, it's a lot of dough.

Congratulations to both sides! This is a win/win for sure. By the way, the Nats are offering $1 tickets to his intro.

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Stan Kasten's Coach Turns to a Pumpkin at Midnight

The Washington Nationals have until the stroke of twelve to ink youngster Stephen Strasburg before losing rights to him altogether.

Sadly, the team can't seem to do anything right this season, so losing one of baseball's most highly-touted prospects isn't completely out of the question. Even club president Stan Kasten is skeptical. He told to Associated Press over the weekend that the deal might not get done in time, even though the Nats offered the 21-year-old righty the biggest amateur draft contract ever.

Strasburg went 13-1 this season for the San Diego State Aztecs, leading all Division I pitchers with a 1.32 ERA and 195 strikeouts just before receiving the Golden Spikes Award as the top amateur player in the country.

Good luck dealing with Scott Boras on this one, Washington.

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