As I was falling asleep last night flipping between Baseball Tonight, ESPNews, and Hannity the ESPN ticket caught my eye...
Wait, what? I thought this was to be assumed, but then there was more...
"There are a lot of things that are happening behind the scenes that nobody is going to know about because we're not going to talk about it," Nationals interim general manager Mike Rizzo said, according to the Washington Post.
Ok, to me this means one of a few things. The first is that the Nats are just playing the game, communicating through the media with Boras, and by August 17th a deal will be in place. The second though that crossed my mind was that the Nats are just not interested in signing Strasburg. The third thought was that Boras said "$50 Million or we walk". Those are the three options which I will now comment on.
Option 1: The Nats are playing the game: I think this is entirely plausible. Here is the deal, while Strasburg may hold all the cards, the Nats hold not only the checkbook, but they also hold the only opportunity to play at the highest level that Strasburg will see this year. The Dodgers and Red Sox figured out what to do with Boras. Give him a number that is fair, say this number is not going down, but it is not going up, and see what happens. There will be jawing back and forth, but at the end of the day it is all one big game for these two parties to partake in. No one expected this deal to get done before midnight on August 17th which leads me to believe that this is not all that unlikely.
Option 2: The Nats are just not interested in playing the game: I also believe this. Remember, Rizzo is an INTERIM GM. That interim tag sticks out to me because this team cannot even settle on a new GM or just give the guy a contract. I would not be surprised if the Nationals are in such disarray that they cannot put together a package for Strasburg and Boras to look at. This is most unlikely of options because I am confident that, unless there is some sort of collusion or conspiracy going on in MLB, the Nationals have every intention of signing him.
Option 3: Boras and Strasburg are greedy: I find this to be the most likely reason for this report. It is very possible that Boras has said "I do not care what you want to offer, it is $50 million or we walk." Of course, Strasburg would have to be ok with this, making him the King of All Morons. As a 21 year old male I can tell you one thing, IF SOMEONE OFFERED ME 25 MILLION DOLLARS TO THROW A FUCKING BALL I WOULD TAKE IT AND RUN. Hell, if they even low ball Strasburg and offer him $15 Million he would be an idiot not to take it. Why? Because his value will never be greater than it is now. Imagine if he goes and plays Independent ball for a year and gets lit up a few times which could happen, he now loses millions of dollars because he has stepped up a level and was exposed. I also think that, under this scenario, this displays a major character flaw. An overconfident jackass kid who thinks he should be treated like the second coming of Jesus Christ. I understand he wants what he thinks is "fair value" for his services, but I cannot help but believe if Strasburg refuses a record breaking deal that he is a "Do You Know Who I Am" type. I hope this is not the case because if it is, I might find myself wishing bad on someone else, which is an unacceptable thing to do.
Just a note on that last paragraph, from everything I have read and heard about Strasburg he seems like a very down to earth kid who works his ass off. He was a fat kid Freshman year who got into shape and worked everyday to make his dreams come true. I have a feeling he will sign because his dream is to play pro ball.
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