ESPN.com's Buster Olney heard that the Nationals "fully intend to draft and sign" Stephen Strasburg. Former Nats GM Jim Bowden made similar comments earlier in the week. Some rival talent evaluators expect the Nationals would shut Strasburg down if they can't sign him early. He has pitched 78.1 innings so far this year and no team would want to risk overusing an arm that valuable.
Strasburg is 10-0 with 147 strikeouts and 15 walks on the season and, as Laurence Miedema of the San Jose Mercury News reports, he hit 100 mph in his start last night.
