**BREAKING NEWS! Nats sign McGeary!**
This is HUGE! Just moments ago, Washington Post writer Barry Svrluga broke the news on his Nationals blog here:
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal/2007/08/mcgeary_deal_part_2.html
It's official. He's OURS! Stanford's loss is Washington's gain. General Manager Jim Bowden and his team pulled off what many teams thought was impossible, signing a highly-rated player who had a full-ride to Stanford University, who had fallen in the draft because of his demands for 1st-round money.
I'm too tired to say much more about this right now, but I'm thrilled beyond measure to learn of this - I hope I can get to sleep now!
What a great week to be a Washington Nationals fan - first Josh Smoker, now Jack McGeary, and Ross Detweiler pitching in Potomac. Lefties galore!
Greater baseball minds than mine will write huge, analytical pieces about this with greater detail, but I just had to share my jubilation. This team had got to be the envy of all of baseball right now, with a scouting department and development people to get the farm system using everything but Miracle-Grow to fill the player pipeline.
Three cheers for Jim Bowden, his staff, the Lerners and Stan Kasten!
**EDIT** Here's the official press release:
The Washington Nationals today agreed to terms with left-handed pitcher Jack McGeary, the club's sixth-round pick from the 2007 First-Year Player Draft. Nationals Vice President/General Manager Jim Bowden and Scouting Director Dana Brown made the announcement.
"We are very pleased to be able to draft and sign three left-handed starting pitchers - Jack McGeary, Ross Detwiler and Josh Smoker - all blessed with first-round talent," Bowden said.
McGeary was named the 2007 Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Massachusetts after going 6-1 with a 0.88 ERA in seven starts as a senior for Roxbury Latin High School in West Roxbury, MA. He struck out 80 in his 40.0 innings of work, leading his club to a share of the Independent School League championship. The lefthander also earned ABCA/Rawlings Third-Team High School All-American honors. He had entered the 2007 season as a Baseball America Preseason High School First-Team All-American.
McGeary, 18, was rated as the 18th-best pitching prospect, 27th-best overall, among draft-eligible players according to Baseball America. He was also rated by the same publication as having the second-best command among draft-eligible high school pitchers.
The Nationals have now signed each of their first 20 selections from the 2007 draft.
The Nationals will host a press conference Thursday at 4:00 p.m. at RFK Stadium to introduce Jack McGeary.
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