More photos » by Evan Vucci - AP

6 months ago: Washington Nationals' Adam Dunn, left, talks with Nick Johnson after striking out with two men in scoring position to end the seventh inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a baseball game Monday, May 18, 2009, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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Trade Talk - 

Buster Olney: How Nick Johnson could fit in Boston - ESPN

(ed. note - "ESPN.com's Buster Olney is explicitly talking Nick Johnson to Boston in a recent post entitled, "How Nick Johnson could fit in Boston". (ed. note - "Apparently Mr. Olney hasn't been briefed about partaking in this kind of talk. OLNEY!!!") Mr. Olney writes that in exchange for the Nationals' two-spot lefty, "Washington is asking for pitching, but Boston is reluctant to part with any of its better pitchers." The continued deterioration of David Ortiz's skills have the Sox in search of hitting and Mr. Olney quotes "two scouts" who say that Nick Johnson's Rick Eckstein-approved swing, "...would be absolutely tailor-made for Fenway Park." And for the first time, someone gets around to saying that if the Red Sox refuse to include their top prospects in any deal, "...they could always expand the deal and take on some money from the Washington roster, such as right fielder Austin Kearns.")

What would you expect in return for Austin Kearns and Nick Johnson?

Jayson Stark: Time to fix the Major League Baseball draft - ESPN - Mr. Stark:The signing of Stephen Strasburg to whatever preposterous bonus he gets as the No. 1 pick should drive baseball toward making changes to the draft.

(ed. note - "At the beginning of Mr. Stark's article on the baseball draft and super agent Scott "Maximum" Boras' intention to crash the slotting system, Mr. Stark calls Boras' early demands for a $50 million dollar deal from Washington for his client, SDSU starter Stephen Strasburg, "insane". Mr. Stark also writes that he's spoken to major league players, "...who believe that the money in their sport should go to (who else?) big league players." The real interesting quote, in my opinion, comes from an unnamed "club official" who wonders if baseball should adjust the rules of the draft to allow teams to trade draft picks so that, "...if you're the Nationals, and you don't want to spend $50 million...you could trade and get four great players back and rebuild your franchise.")

(ed. note - Be sure to watch ESPN.com's Keith Law's video, which is included with Mr. Stark's article.")

If they could, do you think the Washington Nationals would trade the #1 pick? Should baseball allow teams to trade picks? Or would that give prospects too much power to force trades by refusing to sign with the worst teams in the league?

Is Stephen Strasburg The Real Deal? - ESPN - Truveo Video Search - Keith Law is impressed with what he sees from Stephen Strasburg - ESPN.

Nationals have an ace up their sleeve in the draft: Strasburg - USATODAY.com's Seth Livingstone - Mr. Livingstone: How much impact can one player make?...

(ed. note - "In Seth Livingstone's USATODAY.com article entitled, "Nationals have an ace up their sleeve in the draft: Strasburg", Mr. Livingstone writes that DC team President Stan Kasten, "...believes the Nationals are close enough to success that a player such as Strasburg and another top-10 pick can make a difference." DC's "Acting" GM Mike Rizzo is quoted in the article ackowledging the importance of having a true ace atop a team's rotation, but he also acknowledges that nothing is guaranteed, "Sometimes the (the ace) comes with the first pick in the draft, sometimes in maybe the eighth round, where we (in Arizona) got Brandon Webb." )

What does Rick Eckstein think of Strasburg? The Nationals' hitting coach worked with Strasburg on the US Olympic team? Will the Nationals spend what they have to to get Strasburg signed? Mr. Kasten comments on the Lerners' support of "The Plan", and the USA Today writer takes a look it what he thinks it will take to get Strasburg signed. Do you believe the Nationals will come through?

And Finally...

The Mother Of All Jinxes...

Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals, MLB - CBSSports.com Baseball - Stephen Strasburg's MLB Baseball player profile pages at CBSSports.com. Which has a Washington Nationals' logo on the page already???

Seriously, you have to take that down until at least Tuesday night...Please?

Who's Watching The Draft? 

eMb.