Nationals beat the clock, sign Harper
Negotiating with the agent of Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper has had the Washington Nationals flirting with disaster the past couple of years. Both number one overall picks are represented by Scott Boras, who negotiated huge deals for both young stars and waited until the last possible minute to get them signed.
Harper, a 17-year old slugger, signed a five-year deal with the Nationals worth $9.9 million just before the deadline of midnight on 17 August. Both sides likely reached a last minute compromise in order to both prevent the team from losing Harper’s rights and Harper having to re-enter the draft next year.
"Suffice it to say, both sides gave up ground at the last second to get the deal done," Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said. “I believe it was only 26 seconds before the deadline.”
Strasburg landed a record deal of four years worth $15.1 million last year, the most for any player out of a draft.
Harper is 6ft 3in and 205 pounds but has tremendous power. He has the ability to hit 500 foot home runs and is a great catcher, although the Nationals are planning to convert him to an outfielder.
"It gives us another impact player in the system," Rizzo said. "He's a guy who could possibly be a cornerstone in our line-up in the very near future."
Harper hit .443 with 31 home runs and 98 RBIs in his first season at junior college. He has so much talent that he skipped the final two years of high school and passed his General Education Development test, making him eligible for the 2010 draft. At the age of 16 years old, he was already on the cover of Sports Illustrated being dubbed as baseball’s chosen one and the Lebron James of baseball, as like James, Harper is a sensation just out of high school.
“Essentially, it was discussion of a lot of variables because of the power of the player, the age of the player, what position players have been historically paid in the draft," Boras said. With a player of this level of skill and talent, there's not really any comparables.”
The Nationals want Harper to visit Washington as soon as possible and want Harper and want him to report to the team’s rookie team in Florida as well.
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