With just minutes to spare before the midnight deadline, RHP Stephen Strasburg, the #1 overall pick in the 2009 MLB Draft, reached an agreement with the Washington Nationals which easily made him the highest paid rookie in the history of baseball. Strasburg stands to make $15.1 million over the next four years.

What does this mean for Washington Nationals betting fanatics? The prospects of seeing Strasburg help out in MLB betting this year are slim, even though there is a chance that he will be called up when rosters expand in September. The Nationals rank in the bottom three in just about every pitching category in the majors, including team ERA (5.00), team WHIP (1.52), and quality starts (45). The Nats are still the worst money team in baseball (-$2,266), though they have improved on their mark by almost 15 units in the L/6 weeks of the season.

Strasburg is coming off a senior season at San Diego State where he lit the world on fire. The righty went 13-1 with a 1.32 ERA and a ridiculous 0.77 WHIP. His K/9 ratio was an amazing 16.10, and his K/BB ratio was an equally impressive 10.26. Numbers like this haven’t been seen at the major collegiate level since the Chicago Cubs made Mark Prior the #2 overall pick in the draft in 2001. Prior previously held the rookie record for guaranteed money in a contract, as Prior raked in $10.5 million before ever putting on a Cubs jersey.

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