According to a Nationals Journal post by Washington Post writer Thomas Boswell entitled, "Nats Offer Strasburg Record-Setting Contract", the Washington Nationals, "...have offered No. 1 overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg the largest contract ever for a pitcher taken in the amateur draft." Mr. Boswell's citing "industry sources" in the article, wherein he writes that the "...offer has been on table for some time," and could be worth as much as, "$14-$16 million, a third to a half higher than the current benchmark contract," the $10.5 million Mark Prior received from the Chicago Cubs back in 2001.
Mr. Boswell writes that the Nationals' approach to signing Strasburg is similar to the approach they took in pursuing the prize free agent on the market this past winter, Mark Teixeira, who was given an early 8-year/$160 million dollar offer that was reportedly raised to around $188 million before the switch-hitting first baseman decided on pinstripes. Mr. Boswell also mentions, once more, Strasburg's agent Scott Boras' claim that Strasburg deserves a contract commensurate with those signed by some recent free agent pitchers, like Daisuke Matsuzaka's 6-year/$52 million dollar deal.
No comment in the story from the Strasburg camp.
Further Reading:
• SI.com - "With deadline looming, Nationals have a ways to go with Strasburg" - Jon Heyman
"With only a long weekend to go before the signing deadline, there's no evidence of progress in the negotiations between the rebuilding Nationals and Strasburg's agent, Scott Boras. It's possible the sides will not agree by midnight Monday, and that Strasburg will go unsigned and re-enter the draft pool in 2010."