GameThread: Washington Nationals at New York Mets - Game 15 of 162.

Scott Olsen vs Johan Santana...

Washington Nationals' left-hander Scott Olsen is (1-5) with a 4.74 ERA in 13 starts and 76.0 IP against the New York Mets. NY lefty Johan Santana's (4-1) with a 2.50 ERA in 5 starts and 36.0 IP against the Washington/Montreal Nationals/Expos. Olsen's (0-2) in 3 '09 starts in which he's allowed 20 hits, 16 runs, 15 ER, 3 HR and 7 walks in 15.0 IP, with 10 K's, a 9.00 ERA, 1.80 WHIP and .308 BAA. Santana's allowed only 3 runs, 1 earned in 19.2 '09 innings pitched over which he's K'd 27, walked 5 and put up a 0.46 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP while holding opponents to a .157 AVG.

Scott Olsen vs The Mets...

Carlos Beltran - 13 for 30, (What?), .433 AVG, 3 2B, 4 HR, 11 RBI's, 5 BB, 1 SB.

Ryan Church - 3 for 11, .273 AVG, 2 2B, 3 RBI's.

Carlos Delgado - 7 for 29, .241 AVG, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI's.

Jose Reyes - 14 for 35, .400 AVG, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 4 RBI's, 4 SB.

David Wright - 9 for 32, .281 AVG, 4 2B, 3 HR's, 6 RBI's.

Johan Santana vs The Nationals...

Ronnie Belliard - 4 for 23, .174 AVG, 2 RBI's.

Adam Dunn - 1 for 1, 1.000 AVG, 1 HR, 1 RBI.

Jesus Flores - 3 for 6, .500 AVG, 1 2B, 1 RBI.

Anderson Hernandez - 1 for 4, .250 AVG, 1 2B.

Austin Kearns - 2 for 9, .222 AVG, 1 2B.

Josh Willingham - 2 for 8, .250 AVG, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI's.

Ryan Zimmerman - 4 for 13, .308 AVG, 1 HR, 4 RBI's.

The Washington Nationals Top Forbes' List...

According to an article entitled, "Baseball's Most Valuable Teams" published at Forbes.com, which was co-written by Michael K. Ozanian and Kurt Badenhausen, the Washington Nationals suffered the biggest loss in team value over the last year, losing 12% of the total value in spite of opening a new ballpark in 2008. The DC ownership group led by Theodore "Ted" Lerner purchased the franchise from Major League Baseball for a reported $450 million dollars in the summer of 2006, and have since seen the value drop to $406 million according to the Forbes' report.

STRASBURG FILES...

San Diego State University starter and consensus No. 1 prospect for the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft, Stephen Strasburg, starts tonight in Tony Gwynn Stadium in San Diego, California against the same TCU Horned Frogs he beat back on March 27, 2009, in a game in which Strasburg struck out 14, walked 1 and allowed 2 ER on 3 hits in 8.0 IP on the way to earning his fifth win of the season. Tonight's start will be Strasburg's 10th of '09, and so far in his Draft year, the 20-year-old right-handed fast-baller is (8-0) with a 1.28 ERA and 121 K's in 63.1 IP.

*** A LIVE video feed of Tonight's Strasburg start against TCU is a available through the SDSU Official Athletic Site....STRASBURG vs TCU @ 9:00 pm EST.

ESPN.com's Buster Olney had another feature on Strasburg yesterday entitled, (with emphasis added by Mr. Olney), "Nats and Boras under pressure with Strasburg", where Mr. Olney argues that while Scott Boras understands:

"...the Washington ownership will be under incredible pressure to draft and sign Strasburg, and he will know the casual fan will view this -- fairly or not -- as a referendum on the Lerner family's commitment to fielding a competitive baseball team..."

...Mr. Boras also has to know, in Mr. Olney's opinion:

"....that if he holds out for tens of millions on behalf of Straburg, he not only runs the risk of not finishing a deal for a player whose leverage could not be any higher, but he also could damage Strasburg's image..."

In an article out of The Daily Free Press, the Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University, written by Matt Whitrock which is entitled, "WHITROCK: The Stephen Strasburg Experience", the Daily Free Press writer examines Strasburg's options, should he not sign with whichever team selects him this June:

"Per draft rules, the team that selects Strasburg must sign him by Aug. 15 or surrender his rights. If Strasburg goes unsigned, he can return to the Aztecs for his senior season and wait to be drafted next year. Furthermore, if a team fails to sign Strasburg this year after picking him, that team is unable to draft him, let alone sign him the following year, unless Strasburg consents."

Now imagine if things continue going the way they are going for the 3-11 Nationals and here's your nightmare scenario...Washington drafts Stephen Strasburg, fails to sign him, and once again finishes with the worst record in baseball at which point they miss out on Strasburg twice...

Mr. Olney's guess...Strasburg signs for 6-years/$20 million.

Mr. Whitrock's guess:

"Generally speaking, even the top players selected in the First-Year Player Draft sign for contracts worth no more than $10 million total. Strasburg’s billing as a once-in-a-generation caliber prospect may allow him to stretch that limit, but injury risk acts as a salary constraint."

Required Reading...

• Yahoo! Sports.com's Jeff Passan has an article about tonight's Mets' starter Johan Santana entitled, "Santana does a whole lot of shakin'", which documents Mr. Santana's quest to develop, in elaborate hand shake form, "...baseball's answer to LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal's before-the-game-antics"...oh these Mets sound like they have a lot of fun...(ed. note - "What's worse, this whole act, or Elijah Dukes' Figueroa-frustrating dugout cheers?")

• New York Daily News writer Adam Rubin's, "Series Preview: Nats vs Mets".

• The SBN's New York Mets Blog: Amazin' Avenue.

It's The Nationals at the Mets. Live From Citi Field.

Who's Watching The Nationals?