I am going to agree with Midlo on this one. Strasburg won't get $50 mil like people are saying he will. He is obviously an immense talent but he isn't THAT much better than any other draft pick in years past that he can demand 5x the amount of the highest ever given. I see the Nationals offering a signing bonus around $10 million and a very good multi-year contract with incentives. If I were dealing with the negotiations, I'd structure the contract similarly to how NFL teams structure theirs with their draft picks...You get a guaranteed figure up front (let's say $10 million) and then are offered a contract that depends on performance and level of play (let's say 5 years, and anywhere between $11-30 million, depending on what happens. $11 if he craps out, $30 if he's an all-star). These are just BALLPARK figures so please don't take them to be so literal. I don't know enough about the negotiations to come up with solid numbers. All I know is if I were the Nationals I'd want to make sure I'm getting enough bang for the buck. And if I were Strasburg, I'd want to be comfortable the next several years in my contract.
Wherever the "$1 million" source came from is absurd.