Monday at midnight is Major League Baseball’s deadline to sign draft picks selected in June’s amateur draft. While nearly all highly drafted players have signed their deals, one very notable player remains unsigned—Nationals pick Bryce Harper.
Harper, considered one of the best prospects in the history of the draft, heads to the deadline with little news coming out of his camp. His agent, Scott Boras, leads the negotiations with the Nationals, who are trying to sign an extremely touted prospect for the second year in a row.
However, it is that other top prospect-Stephen Strasburg-who has come out with some sharp words for Harper.
“If [Harper] wants to play here, he’s going to play here,” Strasburg said Sunday, after pitching five innings in the Nationals’ win over Arizona. “He doesn’t need advice from anybody to convince him otherwise. If he doesn’t want to play here, then we don’t want him here.” (from ESPN.com)
Will Strasburg’s interjection help or hurt the team’s chances at signing Harper, or will his words push Harper away from the table, sending him back to the draft pool for the 2011 draft? Here is a look five reasons going either direction.