08:10 AM ET  07.22 |     According to ESPN, The Nationals do not as if they are going to sign #1 Draft Pick and Apparent Savior to the Team Stephen Strasburg before the deadline in August. This would be the second straight year that the Nats did not sign their top draft pick, as last year they failed to sign pitcher Aaron Crow out of the University of Missouri. If this story is true, than go ahead and change the team's name from "Nationals" to "Loveable Losers". Well, maybe just "Losers".

    YOU CANNOT LET STRASBURG GET AWAY! This year the Nats are on pace to win about 45 games. If you really want to have a serious shot someday at the playoffs, you need Stephen Strasburg. This guy is almost unhittable! And believe me, the Nats current pitching staff is definately hittable. They have no one in the rotation that batters look at and say "Oh crap, [insert name] is pitching tonight!" And they could get that with Strausburg.

   Plus, who is marketable on that team? The 3 best players are Ryan Zimmerman, Nyjer Morgan, and Adam Dunn. Nobody is going to go to a game to just see these 3 men play on a pathetic team. But if you get Strasburg and he makes to the Majors, then people will come to the ball game just to see him play. You should have known you were going to give up big bucks when you drafted this guy (after all, his agent IS Scott Boras), so shell out the $ and make your team better.

   So where does Strasburg go from here? Apparently he's going to go to Japan for a couple of years and strut his stuff there. This is such a dumb deal for the Nationals. They aren't going to be a contender in the next 5 years if this deal isn't done. Strasburg is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of talent, and the Nats desperately need someone like that. 

  They now make me think of the Cleveland Indians in the movie Major League. Anyone remember that scene in the movie where the manager is telling the team the owner's plans to move them out and for them to suck all year? He says "Most of the country wishes we would just all go out and shoot ourselves". THAT'S what the Nationals are going to become without this guy. Heck, they are already halfway there.