“He is adjusting well to his first full season. We challenged him by putting him the South Atlantic League as a 19-year old and he is handling the challenge fine.”

“He has swung the bat well. He is an aggressive hitter. He has shown impressive power so far and has shown that he can drive the ball out of the park to all fields.”

“His strikeouts are high but not a huge concern. He should cut down on his strikeouts in the second half as he continues to improve. He has a pretty good idea of the strike zone and very good plate coverage. Like any young hitter though, he will chase pitches out of the zone at times. He has tremendous bat speed and special power. He tends to overswing at times, which creates swings and misses but he is learning that he doesn’t always have to swing as hard as he can for the ball to go out.”

But in these negotiations, we have no idea what the real hang up is. If the Nationals are low-balling or sticking around slot without budging, that’s an issue the Nationals should not place themselves in. But if the hold up is on the side of the drafted player asking for an out-of-whack bonus and not budging, it makes some sense to not immediately give in.

I agree but it seems a little fishy to me that all of our top 5 draftees have not yet signed. I have no idea what really is being offered or asked for, but it just smells like the Nats sticking to slot.

That said, decisions will need to be made in August when the alternative may be losing the player. In the case of Destin Hood, it is hard to imagine how he could turn down slot money (say, $765,000) redshirt as a football player when all is said and done.

While it makes sense to get the bats in quickly as Brian notes, it is a two-way street. As Jim Bowden said last year to Michael Burgess, a delay in signing delays the draftee’s advancement towards the big leagues, arbitration and free agency. It probably doesn’t matter that much to the Nats if, say, Destin Hood makes the bigs in 2011 or 2012. If Hood turns out good enough to have a long career, he will never be able to get back the year in his early 20s that he spent in the minors as a result of missing a year of development while holding out. On the other hand, I suspect the Nats will still be around long after Destin Hood is forgotten!