The Washington Nationals and Stephen Strasburg and the MLB Draft.

As the MLB world watched, the Washington Nationals did what was expected of them as they drafted young phenom Stephen Strasburg with the first pick in the 2009 MLB first year player draft. The team has been targeting pitching the past few years, but have been unable to sign their first round draft picks over the years. The Nationals also hold the 10^th pick in the draft and will probably use it to take yet another pitcher. However, no matter what they do they still have to be impressed with getting the top pitching prospect that the league has seen in some time.

It was somewhat of a tough decision for the Nationals, with their history of being unable to sign high profile players and the rumors stating that Strasburg is asking for a $50 million plus contract. However the team felt it would be a big mistake either way to pass up on such an exciting young talent that the team could build around if all goes well. It remains to be seen whether he is the best player to come out of the draft, but he certainly has had the most hype surrounding him of anyone that has been drafted in years. He pitched for team USA in the most recent Olympics and has been absolutely lights out this year for San Diego State. He holds a record of 13 and 1, an ERA of 1.32 and leads the entire nation in strikeouts with 195. In three years total at the school Strasburg has a record of 22-7, an ERA of 1.59 and 375 strikeouts, with as few as 50 walks.

Among some other accomplishments, Strasburg won the player of the year, was a an All-American and is a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, which goes to the best amateur player in the USA. Strasburg himself seemed to emerge out of nowhere and there was not much hype surrounding him at all coming out of high school. Yet, he found a way to harness his talent and brought his raw power to the forefront. His fastball commonly comes in at just over 100 mph. and he has an incredible curveball that dips and dives towards the plate at just over 80 mph. His slider is his weakest pitch, but it is still quite impressive, as it swerves in at the batter around the mid 80's.

The real downside for the Nationals is the fact that Strasburg is represented by renowned super agent Scott Boras who is known for milking the most money out of teams for his stars. He himself has already stated that his client will get the biggest and best contract handed out to any first year player before. Boras is going so far as to threaten that Strasburg will play in Japan if his financial requirements are not met immediately. Mark Prior is known for receiving the biggest contract for guaranteed money which was around $10.5 million. Little known Buster Posey was given the biggest signing bonus in 2008 when he received $6.2 million from the San Francisco Giants. It remains to be seen what kind of contract the Nationals will come up, but it will have to be impressive if they have any hope of adding this young gun to their roster.