. the following is a masn presentation. >> earlier, the nationals drafted for the future, but, for the current roster, it's all about it present. tonight, 2008 first round pick ross detwiler gets the call as the nats host the reds in the first of three on masn.  . women as you know b

today is an historic day in the nation's capital, they have taken steven strasbourg in the draft. the draft room, the war room here at national's park, the rainy tuesday evening, the first of three for the cincinnati reds in town here. johnny holiday along with rob dibble. bob carpenter taking a couple days off and everybody has been talking about well we're gonna get the guy. now you've got to sign this guy. >> and that's not going to be an easy thing. rob dibble. >> how do you sign a guy with 110 innings pitched and 109 strikeouts. that's the toughest part for the nats. obviously you want him, you want to sign him, it's going to take an awful lot of money. last year they did not sign their number 1 pick and he is still out there in the draft today. listen, if this kid wants to play pro ball are you going to let your agent dictate sitting out another year? that would hurt his development. that's where you got to draw

the line. if it's a couple hundred thousand or a couple million dollars is it enough to sit out a season? these agents have done enough. not enough of these guys are making it to the major leagues and you should be rewarded for getting to the major league. there is month more motivation than giving a kid 10 to $15 million out of college. >> and they have got until august 15th. tonight is the first of three as we mentioned against the cincinnati reds, we're not going to start on time because of the rain falling and then johnny lab done and cha ron march diswill continue in the next couple days followed by zimmerman and detwiler, swrep gets the call because zimmermanen's shoulder a little bit tight? >> it is tight. zimmerman, detwiler and stay men. so we have a young and youthful

one. jury generator since jins guns, he said the best thing that happened to him was being around these veteran guys its, you need some veteran guys. if you are strasbourg and you're going to come in here we might want to go out and think about getting a veteran guy to you the tore him in the rotation. >> and hope he listens. >> tony gwynn, hall of famer is coach out there in san diego, so whether he was playing in the minor leagues and san diego state he was playing for the best. >> but tony raised about this guy and said he thinks his head is on tight. >> i talked to david price out of vanderbilt. another food man. the bottom line is if you are ready physically, one thing, if you are ready mentally, that's another. >> cincinnati hasn't won in two years, they lost the last three games at rfk. they lost all three in national's park.

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. >> johnny: still ra national's park. nick johnston down to the dugout, where they are about to begin the press conference, talking about the number 1 pick, steven strasbourg. >> at 1-1 we took steven strasbourg the big fire bawling right-handed pitcher, we're expecting great things from him as we are with the number 10 pick this the country, drew storeage, our right-handed pitcher from stanford university. both pitchers possess outstanding make up, outstanding skills and outstanding character which is

hallmark of the players that we are -- we have been putting in to the system here in washington. we are -- we count have been any believed any more to have these pitchers available when we drafted and like i said earlier in my talk it's a great day for the nats. any questions? greg? [ no audio - stand [ no audio - stand by please ] inaugurated. >> we weren't going to pass on the best player in the draft, we felt he was the best player and as we stated to you many times we're gonna take best player available at all times. [ inaudible question ] >> well we were optimistic about signing all our draft choices, we don't negotiate through the media so i'm not going to begin now. we're going to begin the process.

i've spoken to scott boris in a congratulate tory phone call, also had a great and detailed conversation with steven strasbourg, he was elated to be drafted by the washington nationals and fired up with being the number 1 pick and was having a great deal of fun there in california with the rest of his teammates at san diego state. [ inaudible question ] mike, can you just, other than obvious fastball and can you talk about why this kid is being called a once in a generation kind of pitcher in your opinion? >> i don't always call him that. he is an outstanding pitching prospect. he has got two plus pitches, size, leverage, downhill playing and he can throw both pitches for strikes, competes well on the mound and you know he is a tremendous pitching package and you know, great talent and success, so that was

the reason we took him 1-1 and the reason he has been -- he was considered a top guy in the draft. question r [ inaudible question ] . >> he is a 6'2" right-handed pitcher that has two plus pitches and a developing change- up. he has a repertoire to start but we are going to keep him in the bullpen row. that is where he is most comfortable. and his make-up and character have led us to that decision. he is a tough minded hard-nosed right-handed pitcher, he wants the challenge of coming you out of the bullpen in the ninth inning, we believe he has the pitches and the repertoire to compete in the ninth inning and that was the reason we took him. he is a much busier prospect the major leagues as a closing prospect which he hasn't done

in a couple years since he has been the snapper.  [ inaudible question development is probably the second most important part of getting -- acquiring major league talent. the scouts can draft 'em, the right players, but development has to prepare them to play in the major leagues and there is no short cut process in this. it's a -- it's a process that you can't rush, some players advance quicker than others, but there is always a learning curve and the process of just being a professional player is some -- is probably the most daunting of tasks for a young amateur player.  [ inaudible question innings pitched, the stressful innings he has pitched and not only the innings but the amount of pitches he throws in any given game. as we all know, strikeout

pitchers seem to amount to many more pitches per game than your secret slider guys and steven is no exception to that rule, he throws a lot of pitches because he strikes out a lot of batters. for  [ inaudible questio >> well he was at the top of all of our pref list going into the season and he stayed atop of everybody's list. we monitored his clothesly as you all well know, we saw every start that he had this year, and i don't think we ever wavered from him being, you know, at the top of the draft board. for  [ inaudible question ] >> well we, as far as i'm concerned, there is no pitcher or player that is major-league ready coming out of the draft because they don't know, they have never experienced the wear and tear of a professional season, the baseball activity, as far as a pitcher goes the

pitching every five days with a bullpen in between there, it's just such a drastic change from what they are used to in college and certainly in high school that i don't believe any pitcher or any position player is -- comes out of the draft and goes directly to the major league. and steven and drew are thaw exception to the rule.  [ inaudible question >> he is certainly in the team photo. >> that's general manager mike rucinsky oh talking downstairs about the selection today of steven strasbourg as as the cincinnati's number 1 selection. ray knight to my right, rob dibble to my left. you were in that war room. a lot of things go on. who makes the final call, gets the final say so. >> you have that list and you have your prior advertised wishing list and then what you would have to have or would prefer to have in order of positions. when you go down the list you are always going to take your

best player, that was cincinnati's deal too. but what happens, it can change, if you get two room real solid pitchers and there's another one you had rated higher than a center fielder but your need is center field in the organization, and because you felt like you had two real quality pitchers, they would go to the center fielder. my philosophy is you get that best pitcher and as rob and i have talked and stock piled the position, nothing trades easier than a quality pitcher whether he is 19 years old and there is so many times rob was talking about you know you are able to -- jeff bagwell, you were able to get him, he talked about that. dole alex for johnny smoltz. and so it all -- it is all about quality players. now bagwell was one of those guys that was, you know, like a strasbourg in the draft, he was so good. but you have got to get as many pitchers as you can, stock pile

them. every day players, they are just not as valuable as good young itchers and pitchers are harder to develop. you can see an everyday matter and see he is close to playing. a pitcher, you never know if he is going to throw a ball over the plate or if it's going to be enough to overwhelming them. >> a lot of the number 1 picks have not panned out the way they say they should. you just saw mike rizzo say eh wait a minute, nobody comes right from college into a major league ball club. >> i had a conversation with jury adjuster against, he is a guy they traded to get edgar rent a rhea, they traded a young pitcher. he goes out there, throws 188 pitches last -- 188 innings last year, he told me today, he said "i had to go the whole off- season to try to ready myself at 2 years old to, you know, get yourself ready for 200 plus innings. you got strasbourg, he threw

110 innings this year. and penal think he is gopen a step right up here from college and pitch another 50 innings? david price, his last year at vanderbilt. pitched 133 innings, then he got sent back to the minor leagues not just for more conditioning but to be able to throw his balls when he is behind in the count. you have to be able to you know evaluate yourself at this level which is different than the nfl, different than the nba, where you can go right from college drilling 1 right into the major sports. so to me, yeah, strays boying might be ready as far as physically but, mentally, can he tell hills body to go 200 plus innings right now? can he tell his body to throw a 102 breaking ball to pujols when he is standing right there. >> let's look at some of the guys who have been picked number 1, pitchers. not a lot of household names in

that list. >> man it was nobody that through the ball better than mcdonald from usc. but he had arm and back problems. sidney bell cher was there in cincinnati, all those guys made it. paul wilson was the guy with the mets, tremendous air, he actually came over to the reds a little bit later but just because you're drafted number 1 doesn't mean you're going to be a star. it means you have the job, the makeup, to pitch in the big leagues. but then something happens when they get here and rob can tell you, nobody had a better arm than this man. nobody. and i mean he could throw the ball through a brick and he says that 95 miles per hour fastball. i have looked up there, he threw it 98, 99. then hepedded up losing the strike zone for a while after he got injured.

and never found it. never found it. he was the most dominating guy in the league when you're talking about striking out major league hitters. it's not an easy thing to do. you have got to be able to have people plus-plus expire. >> what i wanted to tag that with was ben mcdonalds, signing that big contract. he said the same thing. the one thing i do like about strasbourg is in 2007 he played in the summer league and he was a closer and he got reliever of year in 2007. so maybe, if anything, the nats bring him up here, throw him into the bullpen like david price last year, get some saves under his belt, get his feet wet and send him back down to get get him ready to pitch 200 or more innings. >> there's more to it than swinging hard, you have to be able to close the door too.

>> the third round, the 81st, the fourth round the 112th pick. but steven strolls bourg, the big right-hander out of california. >> when you are developing these young guys, i played 7 1/2 years in the major leagues. you want this strasbourg to play 15, 20 years, you want saturday recollection to play 15, 20 years, what you want to do in the next couple of years is to last a lifetime. he cannot be a c untill he dies, so make sure they are ready and have good legs and foundation underneath them, then the endurance to go out and play 20 years at the major league career. >> and a long long successful tradition. we're going to step out and go to espn news. we'll come back a little bit later on. hope there's going to be baseball against the cincinnati reds. if, . >> had him anin tucson and near

offered him the job the replace lute olson. is i would not be shocked if he resurfaced somewhere around chicago again because his former assistant and his good friend is the general manager of the chicago bulls. so i mean, this is obviously a long reach, but that's where i can see maybe a life preserver being thrown out the tim whereas, you know, there's an opportunity maybe in scouting or something to wring him back into the nba. i just think in a coaching aspect, it's going to be very hard for him to get back at this point. >> he's considered one of the best xs and os guy, no doubt thanks in both the college and program. andy katz, we appreciate your time on this breaking news. thanks so much. >> all right. thanks, ryan. >> still to come, phil jackson, stan van gundy both heading to the podium in mere minutes to discuss tonight's game three of the nba finals. stay with us.

>> with the first selection in the 2009 first-year player draft, the washington nationals select stephen strasburg, right-handed pitcher from san diego state university, san diego, california. >> stephen strasburg goes number one to the nationals as expected. the san diego state right-hander, who some believe is the best pitching prospect in decades goes to the nationals. now they will have to sign him

along with his agent, scott boras. >> well, we were optimistic about signing all our draft choices. we don't negotiate through the media, so i'm not going to begin now. we're going to begin the process, which i've begun already. i've spoken to scott boras in a congratulatory phone call. i also had a very great and detailed conversation with stephen strasburg. he was elated to be drafted by the washington nationals, fired up to be the number-one pick and he was having a great time there in california with the rest of his teammates at san diego state. >> so strasburg goes number one as expected. welcome in aaron fitt from baseball america. aaron, we just heard the nationals talk about cybering strasburg, easier said than done, especially with scott boras calling the shots. who has the most leverage here in the strasburg-nationals signing process? >> >> you know, i have to think

strasburg has a it will -- a little bit more leverage. everyone knew strasburg was the best talent in this draft by a long, long margin, and, you know, i think their fan base will revolt if they don't sign this guy. there's been so much build up for it. at the same time, there's a lot of risk for strasburg and boras if they turn down $20 million, let's say, you know, which would be double the record for a drafted pitcher. if they turn that down and reenter the draft next year, that's a huge risk. >> that's a huge risk for sure. all right, aaron, let's go through the picks so far and get your reaction. as expected, number two, considered the best position player in the draft. dustin ackley from north carolina, played first base for the tar heels. we expect to see him in the outfield. he goes to the mariners. your thoughts on ackley? >> he's a great pick, a safe pick. that's best hitter in the draft without question. squares balls up consistently to all fields. he's really developed his power this year. he's well above average runner.

he's really the whole package. the only question is will his arm be healthy enough? can he really make that transition to the outfield? obviously if mariners believe he can or they wouldn't have taken him this high. a guy heading to north carolina to play a couple different sports, great athlete, he goes three. then tony sanchez, catcher from boston college, goes much higher than probably allotted by the scouts. why does he go number four to the pirates? >> that one is the real eyebrow raiser. it's clearly a financially motivated pick. tony sanchez is a good talent, a second or third-round talent according to the general consensus in the northeast this year. he's probably a solid everyday big leaguer in the kelly shoppach mode. good defender, power in his bat, but he can't really hit breaking balls real well. i think he probably would have been available later in the first round, but not when the pirates picked again, so if this is a guy they wanted, he wasn't going to be there.

>> the pirates taking a beating, trading nate mclouth for prospects, and it looks like paper tomorrow will pick apart their draft. let's continue with number five and the orioles as they go out and get first high school pitcher in the draft. your thoughts on matt hobbgood. >> it's a pretty good pick. i think it's high they'ren most people expected him to go. he came on strong down the stretch. he has some up side. he can rub the fastball up to 94, 95mph. he's a physically mature kid, so not a lot of projection with him, but i think his stuff is good enough that you can dream on him being a front half of the rotation starter. >> mike live eake to the reds. we've seen him in the college world series for arizona stated. great control. how quickly would the reds want to get him up? >> he's going the move pretty quickly. i don't think you'll see him in 2009 in the big leagues, but i wouldn't be surprised to see him get up there late in 2010 some time. he'll need a little bit of development time. but he's a polished pitcher.

outstanding command, a really good fastball because of its sink and its location more than its velocity. but a great breaking ball, a great change-up. he's really ready to go. >> aaron fitt, baseball america, thanks for the time. we appreciate it. >> game three of the nba finals less than two hours away, we'rea expected to hear from both coaches. the magic's stan van gundy and the lakers' phil jackson in the next half hour. we'll take you touted orlando when that occurs. >> espnews brought to you by: since 1873, coors banquet has been brewed in one place... and one place only: golden, colorado. it's followed one tradition: use the best high-country barley... and only rocky mountain water. and it's been brewed under one motto: never compromise.

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