The price of drafting high

The Washington Nationals’ work will be just beginning if, as expected, they select Stephen Strasburg with the first pick in the Major League Baseball draft Tuesday.

What will follow is weeks of grappling with a most difficult and - for baseball - far-reaching question: How much money should this highly touted hurler be awarded before he dons a major league uniform?

$10 million? $20 million? $50 million?

The reported contract figures certainly are out there.

“There are numbers thrown around that are absolutely crazy for a guy who’s never thrown a pitch in major league baseball,” said Steve Phillips, a former general manager with the New York Mets who’s now a baseball analyst with ESPN.

The record for the most money paid to a newly drafted player is the $10.5 million the Chicago Cubs gave pitcher Mark Prior in 2001. Several other players - Mark Teixeira, then of the Texas Rangers, and David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays - have neared the $10 million figure.

Strasburg’s agent, Scott Boras, appears certain to seek considerably more for his client, but Nationals officials downplayed talk of a record-breaking contract.

“I assure you it’s irrelevant to me what hyperbole and mythology has been written,” Nationals president Stan Kasten said. “I have no expectation that this year’s draft is going to be revolutionary in terms of pay, especially with the economy down. I don’t see that in the cards, and it certainly won’t be happening here.”

With Strasburg, the Nationals face the ultimate risk-reward situation: The club is in position to sign a player viewed as one of the most talented prospects in perhaps decades. But the Nationals also could be on the hook for millions of wasted dollars if he does not perform as expected.

They face considerable pressure from fans to sign Strasburg because they failed to sign their first-round pick last season, Missouri pitcher Aaron Crow.

Despite the failure to sign Crow, Nationals ownership recently has shown a willingness to spend money on players. The team was an aggressive bidder for Teixeira, one of the most coveted free agents on the market last winter, and signed outfielder Adam Dunn to a two-year, $20 million contract.

But spending money on drafted players with no major league experience is a whole other ballgame.

“With the unproven amateur player coming into pro ball, there are so many factors that come into play in terms of their ability to perform,” Phillips said. “I think it’s by far the most significant risk. For all of the great amateur players that signed to come into professional ball, there’s a long list of guys that had success as anticipated. But there’s also a long list of guys that haven’t lived up to expectations.”

Prior, for example, pitched well with the Cubs in 2003 but later struggled with injuries. He has not appeared in the major leagues since 2006.

Ben McDonald, a top pick in 1989 with the Baltimore Orioles who often is compared with Strasburg, won just 78 games in a nine-year career.

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