Washington Nationals, No. 1 overall pick Bryce Harper strike $9.9 million, 5-year deal

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Nationals, top pick Bryce Harper agree at $9.9M

WASHINGTON — Top overall draft pick Bryce Harper and the Washington Nationals reached an agreement on a $9.9 million, five-year contract in the seconds before the deadline of midnight EDT Monday night.

“Suffice it to say, both sides gave up ground at the last second to get the deal done,” Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said.

A year ago, the Nationals agreed to a record-breaking $15.1 million, four-year contract with No. 1 draft choice Stephen Strasburg a little more than a minute before the clock ran out. Strasburg made his big league debut June 8, the day after Harper was drafted.

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Harper is a 17-year-old power-hitting junior college catcher the Nationals plan to convert to an outfielder. He’s the first JUCO player taken with the first overall selection.

“It gives us another impact player in the system,” Rizzo said. “He’s a guy who could possibly be a cornerstone in our lineup in the very near future.”

Harper hit .443 with 31 homers and 98 RBIs in his first season at the College of Southern Nevada, which plays in a league that uses wood bats. He skipped his final two years of high school and got his GED, making him eligible for the 2010 amateur draft.

He already has been on the cover of Sports Illustrated at 16, touted as “baseball’s chosen one” and “the most exciting prodigy since LeBron.” He was the first non-senior to earn Baseball America’s High School Player of the Year award. And he was only the second junior college player, joining Alex Fernandez in 1990, to win the Golden Spikes Award, given to the country’s top amateur baseball player.

Earlier Monday evening, the Nationals announced they came to terms with second-round choice Sammy Solis, a left-handed pitcher from the University of San Diego, and fourth-round pick A.J. Cole, a right-handed high school pitcher.

Harper’s deal is a record total for a non-pitcher signed out of the draft who had not become a free agent. Current New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira set the previous record for a major league deal for a position player, getting a $9.5 million, four-year deal from the Texas Rangers in 2001.

Harper, Strasburg and Teixeira all are represented by Scott Boras.

Harper’s contract calls for a signing bonus of $6.25 million in five equal payments of $1.25 million: 30 days after approval and each July 1 from 2011 through 2014. He receives salaries of $500,000 each in 2011 and 2012, $750,000 in 2013, $900,000 in 2014 and $1 million in 2015.

“The truth is, with a full minute to go, Mike and I both thought we were not going to have a deal,” Nationals president Stan Kasten said.

While they met with reporters at Nationals Park to discuss Harper’s signing, Kasten paused at one point and said, “There is one more thing I do have to do when we celebrate victories here.”

And with that, Kasten smacked Rizzo in the face with a whipped-cream pie.

AP Sports Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.