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With the MLB draft coming next week (June 9 – June 11) it’s time we discuss the elephant in the room. Stephen Strasburgh. Stephen plays at San Diego State and is coached by Tony Gwynn (who knows a thing about hitting or two / and who’s hard to hit.) Tony as well as virtually every MLB team in baseball has Stephen graded as the best pitching prospect in the history of grading prospects.
Coming out of High School Strasburg went undrafted. He was a 250 pound soft bodied kid throwing 90mph. But what’s happened in college is mind boggling. He’s now regularly hitting 100, and late into games. Last week in a workout front of National’s scouts he hit 101. He was then asked if he could turn it up any more and on the very next pitch, on demand hit 103! "Honestly, this kid is a freak. This kind of thing just doesn't happen." – Tony Gwynn
The Washington Nationals have the 1st pick in the draft and have already stated that if they take him, he will be a fixture in their rotation by July 1st. He would be a desperately needed drawing card and would receive publicity unlike anything we’ve seen to date. There is a problem though. Strasburgh is a Scott Boras client and Boras is reportedly asking the Nationals for a 25 million dollar guaranteed signing bonus.
The player that graded closest to Strasburgh coming out of college in the MLB grade scouting system was Mark Prior (and it’s not even close really – but he was the closest.) Try asking the Cubs how they feel about the investment they made in Prior and how that turned out. Then imagine the pain on the organization if they had to give him a guaranteed 25 million dollar signing bonus. And that’s the Cubs, a large market team. Think about the pain it would cause the Nationals!
If the Nationals can’t sign him, next up is the Mariners, followed by the Padres. There is no conceivable way the Padres could be seen not taking him base on the Tony Gwynn ties so I’m not going to go any further.
My bet, the Nationals pass as he will be too rich for their blood and Seattle takes him as their Tom Seaver, "The Franchise".
I have seen him pitch in person, and he as as good as advertised.
Dr. Roto will be back on the weekend. We’ll see what he thinks of him and what he thinks it will cost you to obtain him in your league FAAB process. No matter who takes him, expect him to be on a MLB roster this year. - Blake Kearny
Blake Kearny is a retired baseball scout from Los Angeles, California. He currently runs a baseball school for children in Los Angeles.
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