Greedy agent or cheap team? The Nationals No. 1 pick from last week’s draft won’t be playing in their farm system anytime soon. Intern Bill peers into the murky waters of baseball negotiations.

Major League Baseball’s post-draft signing period ended on August 15th, and as is customary with negotiations between amateur players and team front offices, many players did not sign. The most interesting case of the latter situation might be that of former Missouri right hander Aaron Crow, who after a stellar season (127K’s, 105 IP, 2.35 ERA), was selected by the Washington Nationals in the 1st round (9th overall) of this year’s draft. In a fascinating post by Washington Post blogger Chico Harlan, Nationals GM Jim Bowden gives a dramatic first-person account of how negotiations really go with elite draft picks who are expecting top dollars before throwing a pitch as a pro. The relationship is an adversarial one, with each side firmly entrenched in their camp until essentially days and minutes before the deadline.

The Nationals made their initial offer to Crow shortly after the draft

- A 2.1 million dollar contract
- A deal for major league contract conditioned on an MRI of the elbow and shoulder

Early in the draft, Aaron Crow and agent Randy Hendricks hinted that they wanted a “premium,” “out of the box,” deal. Their demands, not given until August 12th at 6 pm, were as follows:

- A major league contract
- A $9 million (!) signing bonus
- No MRI done on the elbow or shoulder to determine the health of the player

After initial talks, the Baltimore Orioles inked No. 4 pick Brian Matusz – the first pitcher drafted overall – to a $ 3.2M dollar deal with a major league contract, and the Nationals offered to do a deal within that framework. Crow and Hendricks did not budge. On August 14th, the two sides broke off negotiations, and Crow signed a minor league deal with the independent league Fort Worth Cats – leverage in case a deal couldn’t go through. Hendricks was quoted saying “The last I talked with Jim Bowden, he didn’t think there was anything more to talk about. I didn’t disagree.€

At 11:44 pm on the final day of signing, 15 minutes before deadline Crow’s representatives made a counter offer: $ 4.4M, plus a major league contract. The Nationals moved to $3.3M, but said that they would not do a major league deal for a player without first doing an MRI (and because MRI’s take hours and not minutes, that was impossible). At 11:59, the Nationals verbally bumped their offer to 3.5M, which would make Crow the highest paid pitcher in the draft. But the player’s reps held firm for more money, and the deal never got done. In the ensuing fallout, it was reported that the two sides were about 700K away from a deal.

There’s a lot to examine, here. Assuming everyone is telling the truth, what’s an extra 700K to a team that’s paying Paul LoDuca $2.5M not to play? Was Crow’s insistence against an MRI a sign that he was really hurt (and with the strain college coaches put on their pitchers, who wouldn’t be?) If so, why not just take the 3.5M and rehab? No one wants to be the next Matt Harrington.

Regardless, Chico Harlan’s post is an outstanding insight in the high-stakes negotiations of professional athletes in Major League Baseball.