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Scott Boras: Stephen Strasburg wants to stay with Nationals; Rumor "inaccurate"

Super agent Scott Boras was in the nation's capital for Max Scherzer's introduction with the Washington Nationals, and he addressed/shot down a recent rumor that said Stephen Strasburg was available and both sides believe, "it is time to move on."

By Patrick Reddington
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

His report on Twitter launched a thousand posts [ed. note - "That's a rough estimate."] and caused enough of a stir in the nation's capital and the rest of the baseball world that Scott Boras was asked about it today after the Washington Nationals' press conference introducing new starter Max Scherzer to the nation's capital.

John Perrotto, a freelance writer who covers, as per his Twitter bio: MLB, the NFL, NHL and more for USA TODAY, Baseball America and other publications, wrote in the aftermath of Scherzer signing a 7-year/$210M deal with the Nats, that Nationals' starter Stephen Strasburg and '09 no.1 overall pick was suddenly available and maybe ready to move on from D.C.:

What followed was a few days of rumors about where Strasburg might potentially land and why Strasburg might be dealt after a winter of rumors about other Nats' starters potentially being moved.

Boras addressed the rumor about Strasburg today and also touched on some of the other chatter about what the Nationals' rotation will look like in 2015.

"I don't know who that journalist was. We haven't spoken to him and Stephen hasn't spoken to him and that's inaccurate." - Scott Boras on Strasburg rumor on MLB Network Radio

"I spoke to Mike [Rizzo] and the people when we signed Max, and they said that they have every intention of keeping this pitching staff intact,'" Boras told reporters at Nationals Park including Washington Times' writer Tom Schad.

Nationals owner Mark Lerner, who reportedly played an important role in bringing Scherzer to D.C. told Schad the same.

"'Right now, it’s our intention to [keep the team intact],'" Lerner said. "'But that’s Mike [Rizzo's] call. And sometimes opportunities pop up that we don’t know about. But right now, this is the team that’s going to spring training and hopefully will be here on Opening Day.'"

Boras spoke about the rumor in an appearance on the MLB Network Radio show "Inside Pitch" this afternoon as well, when hosts Casey Stern and Jim Bowden asked about Strasburg:

"I don't know who that journalist was. We haven't spoken to him and Stephen hasn't spoken to him and that's inaccurate. The Nationals have told us that they intend to keep their pitching staff. They intend to try to win a World Series, try to move forward and Stephen Strasburg is certainly a part of that and is looking forward to playing with Max and certainly growing his career and a chance to win."

Scherzer, for his part, said he too would, of course, like to see the impressive rotation the Nationals currently have remain intact.

"For me personally, of course you want to see guys like that," Scherzer explained.

"They've given us all the ammunition that we need to put together a quality team. Nothing has changed in regards to any other player on the roster." -Mike Rizzo on how signing Max Scherzer affects the team's plans

"You always want good players on your team. When you speak of Fister and Zimmermann, those are really talented pitchers. So, going forward, of course you want to see them on your ballclub. But at the end of the day, Mike is the architect here, he understands what pitchers he has coming on the way, and what's best for the team, so that's where he's going to make this type of decision."

While not discussing any particular player or rumor directly, Mike Rizzo did talk about what the Scherzer deal means for the rest of the Nationals.

"With the acquisition of Max, the ownership has allowed us to do our business in the best way we can as far as the baseball side goes," Rizzo said.

"They've given us all the ammunition that we need to put together a quality team. Nothing has changed in regards to any other player on the roster. We make good baseball decisions based on baseball evaluations and money does not come into play. We love the team that we have right now. We feel that it's a really good capable ballclub and we're looking to better ourselves each and every day."

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