While the Stephen Strasburg negotiations could be long and nasty, the Nats apparently aren’t going to have any trouble with their second first round pick:
The Nationals, who took San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg with the No. 1 overall selection, couldn’t resist taking another pitcher early. [Drew] Storen was 7-1 with a 3.80 ERA and seven saves with 66 strikeouts in 42.2 innings this season . . . Storen, a draft-eligible sophomore who could return to school, made it clear he won’t.
“It’s a done deal,” he said. “I can’t get a better situation than this. It’s a perfect situation for me.”
Note to the Nats’ players: don’t make Storen your union rep once he makes the big club, because tough negotiations aren’t exactly his forte
I kid Storen. He may not have been the best player available when the Nats’ picked him, but based on everything I’ve read, he’s a “finished product,” as they say, who, as Matthew notes, could very well be in the Nats’ bullpen very, very soon. If I was him I’d (a) thank the Nats’ profusely for taking me where they did; and (b) sign on the dotted line and get my butt throwing live pitches for money ASAP. If he does that, he could get a nice political boost within an organization that will no doubt be in Strasburg-related agony for the next two months. Indeed, the Nats are going to have every incentive in the world to showcase Storen, both to placate fans and to tease Strasburg with all that he’s missing.
So good for the kid from Indianapolis, who will very likely benefit from the Boras-inflicted ugliness to come.
