Update: 12:41 am EST: Yahoo!Sports.com's Tim Brown via Twitter (@tbrownyahoo):
"Final on Harper: $9.9 million over five years, $6.25 million as bonus. Plus $500,000 roster bonuses in '14 and '15."
• 12:01 pm EST: There were rumors floating around Nationals Park all weekend. Draft picks spotted at BP, Twitter messages from national baseball writers, and some mixed messages about when the Nats could announce deals they may have already signed, but before the night was over on Monday, the Washington Nationals had announced that they'd agreed to deals with all four of their top remaining 2010 Draft picks: the No.1 overall pick, OF Bryce Harper, 2nd Round pick LHP Sammy Solis, the Nats' 4th Round pick RHP A.J. Cole and 12th Round pick LHP Robbie Ray, so that the Nats had 14 of their top 15 and 25 of the top 26 draft picks from the 2010 class under contract.
Robbie Ray's $799,000 deal was the first one confirmed by the Nats, who sent the message out on Twitter via their account @NatsTownNews, writing simply,"#Nationals agree to terms with 12th rounder, LHP Robbie Ray," who was described in a follow-up tweet, "As part of Baseball America’s 2010 Draft Preview, Ray was rated as No. 6 prospect in Tennessee, 2nd among high school players."
Up next was the Nats' 2nd Round pick, University of San Diego left-hander Sammy Solis, whose signing (and rumored $1M deal) was announced along with the following info @NatsTownNews on Twitter:
"Solis went 9-2 with a 3.42 ERA in 15 games/14 starts for University of San Diego to garner All-West Coast Conf. honors in 2010...
"Solis was rated as No. 7 prospect, 3rd-best college player, in California among 2010 Draft class as part of Baseball America’s Draft Preview"
And then the Nats' 4th Round pick A.J. Cole, projected as a 1st Round talent, who'd fallen to the fourth round because of his commitment to the University of Miami, but had somehow been convinced, (hint: $2M dollars) to forgo the college experience and sign out of high school. According to the Nats, again on @NatsTownNews:
"Cole, 18, was rated by Baseball America as the No. 16 overall player, the 8th-best pitcher, among 2010 Draft-eligible prospects."
Then the DC Faithful waited...Cole's signing was made official about an hour before the 11:59:59 deadline to sign 2010 picks, and there was no word on the no.1 overall pick, though there was little doubt a deal would get done either. In the final minutes a bit of panic may have set in for some, but most Nats fans who sat through the Aaron Crow negotiations in 2008 and the Stephen Strasburg talks last season were prepared, but maybe not for the source of the first reports that a deal was done:
@JimBowdenXMFOX: "Nationals and Bryce Harper have agreed to terms...waiting on final numbers and details."
BOWDEN!!
The Nats made the news official several minutes later, with an official @NatsTownNews release which read, "#Nationals agree to terms on a major league contract with OF Bryce Harper, 1st overall selection in 2010 First-Year Player Draft." There are reports that it's a 5-year deal at somewhere around $9.9M dollars, not yet confirmed....