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‘The Nats drafted Bryce Harper’
courtesy of ‘afagen’
The deal came down to within the last minute, but it got done, and Bryce Harper has signed a $9.9M major league contract with the Washington Nationals. The high-school and junior-college phenom is likely the most touted signing of an offensive player since Mark Teixeira in 2001. Harper will likely play right field in the Nationals organization. His first stop will be the Gulf Coast League, as soon as possible, followed by the Arizona Fall League. Before that, though, Harper will come and spend a few days with the big club next week, including a possible BP session, and get acquainted with the concept of playing professional baseball day in, day out.
The Nationals spent just under $14M yesterday signing four of their top picks. Sammy Solis, and A.J. Cole, both starting pitchers, went for $1M and $2M respectively, and also signed pitcher Robbie Ray for $799,900. All told, the Nationals signed 25 of their top 26 picks, with just one deferring entry to finish college.