stephen-strasburg1

Washington Post - “When it comes down to it, Strasburg has to think about, ‘Can I go to bed if I turn down $15, 16 million dollars—whatever it is—to pass up the opportunity to play for these guys?’ That’s a lot of money. I don’t understand what he thinks will be better next year. If we don’t take him, who’s gonna take him next year? Pittsburgh? San Diego? San Diego is not gonna pay him more. Absolutely his leverage will never be higher. Everybody wants to play where they want to play; everybody wants the ideal situation, but that’s not the point of the draft. You can’t tell people where you want to play. At some point, do it like everybody else has already done it. I agree, he’s one of the better college pitchers ever to pitch, but he hasn’t proven anything yet.” ~ Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals 3B

Hey Ryan Zimmerman, here’s a idea – shut your fucking mouth.  This notion that Stephen Strasburg, the most highly touted college pitcher maybe of all time, should just settle for less money because “everyone else does” is ridiculous.  Bottom line is, he’s not “everyone else” and if he were on the open market he’d go for at least 4 times what the Nationals are offering.  So the idea that he should be confined to the restrictions of previous drafts, when there has never been anyone like him previously, is ludicrous.  Not to mention, international players or Cuban defectors would never be subject to the same circumstances.

Sure, he should probably just ask the Nats to bump their offer up to $20 Million and be happy hes set without ever throwing a pitch in the Majors.  But for people to sit around and tell him he should just deal with the fact that he’s being short changed by about $25-30 Million is pretty fuckin obnoxious