MLB Draft Deadline: Nationals Sign Bryce Harper In Flurry Of 11th Hour Activity

Things were looking good for both Barret Loux and the Diamondbacks when the team selected the pitcher sixth overall in the June draft. Loux, however, subsequently failed a physical and was revealed to have a shoulder tear and elbow problems, forcing the Diamondbacks to back out of their agreement. How should such an unusual situation be handled? This is how. Via a joint press release sent out by Loux and the organization:

The Diamondbacks get their pick back - sort of - and, come September 1st, Loux will be free to negotiate with any team, and as such should still be able to make a fair amount of money. The young pitcher will command a lot of interest, even with his health concerns.

So now that that final flurry of activity is behind us, the smoke is beginning to clear, and we can get a better view on how things shook out. The big stories, naturally, were the Nationals locking up Bryce Harper, and the Dodgers convincing Zach Lee to drop football. Also worth noting is that, while 17 of the 32 first round picks were unsigned coming into the day, only three remained unsigned throughout. Those players:

6. Barret Loux, Diamondbacks

The Cardinals were another team to agree with an unsigned high draft pick at the deadline, theirs being named Zack Cox:

There was a good deal of uncertainty regarding whether or not the Cardinals would be able to pull it off, but they got the job done with a franchise-record-high Major League contract that will see Cox placed immediately on the 40-man roster. Cox batted .429 with Arkansas last season, with a .609 slugging percentage.

Earlier this evening, Tom Haudricourt reported the following:

And now Haudricourt provides an update:

With the deadline now just over 12 hours away, half of the players taken in the first round of June’s amateur draft remain unsigned. Those players are, in order:

1. Bryce Harper, Nationals

As the midnight ET deadline for contract negotiations looms, the LAnaheim Angels have agreed to terms with the 18th overall pick:

Cowart was given a $2.3 million signing bonus.

However, the Nationals seem less concerned than they were last year. They are not as far apart on figures with Harper as they were with Strasburg, and they have a better relationship with Scott Boras, the agent for both Strasburg and Harper. Also, as Ben Goessling of MASN notes, Harper has less leverage than Strasburg did last year.

Also, Strasburg himself has weighed in on Harper, saying, quite bluntly, that the team doesn’t want him if he doesn’t sign.