My Advice for Stephen Strasburg
Mr.Strasburg, or should I call you Stephen because of your very childish acts of late,just take the money and get to work. Tell your agent, Scott Boras, to take your record-setting deal, and go to whatever level of the Nationalsorganizationthey put you in. I know you want 50 million dollars, so does everyone else, but almost as many would take 20 million. Don’t go over the top here, because the Nationals are not going to give you that much money because of a few of my friends. Let me introduce them to you.
First is Mark Prior. Coming out of USC he was a “can’t miss prospect”, and signed a then-record contract for 10.5 million dollar deal with a 4 million dollar signing bonus. After 3 decent years, 1 great year, and 1 horrible year with the Cubs, Prior is now out of a job after major elbow problems. With hindsight being 20-20, I don’t think the Cubs would give Prior that contract again since the one year he was great, they didn’t win that elusive World Title.
Next is Ben McDonald, former Baltimore Orioles pitcher. Coming from LSU, where he led the Tigers to the College World Series twice, and also led the 1988 USA baseball team to the gold medal. He was selected first overall by the Baltimore Orioles, being hailed as the greatest pitching prospect of all time and a guaranteed Cy Young winner. In 9 seasons, he went 78-70, with a 3.91 ERA, and only 894 Ks in a little less than 1300 innings. Definitely not worth the bill he got going into the draft. Right now, history’s not looking too good for you.
Oh, and how about Rick Ankiel? I remember the expectations he carried, and the Cards signed him to a huge deal too. He even pitched some great baseball while in the minors for the Cardinals.
Ankiel had all of the same qualities that you do today. The Cardinals signed him to a record-breaking deal (but still one much smaller than yours) and he ended up entirely losing his stuff in the minors. He was lucky enough to carve out a role in the outfield, but I wouldn’t count on the same for yourself.
And it’s not just baseball where this happens. It happens in nearly every sport. Let’s look at some players like Ryan Leaf and Jamarcus Russell (more recently) in football, or players like Kwame Brown, Shawn Bradley, and Michael Olowakandi in basketball. It seems like it happens everywhere.
Who knows what the future holds in store for you. You may very well be as amazing as everyone anticipates. This does happen sometimes. But it’s up to you to prove your worth at the young age of 21. Pitch a few great seasons and rest of the money will follow. Trust me on that.
Good luck to you whatever you choose. Hopefully you’ll make the right move.
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