Stephen Strasburg gets the paparazzi treatment

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Stephen Strasburg, the San Diego State pitcher who signed for a record $15.1-million contract as baseball’s top draft pick, finally got to work with the Washington Nationals Sunday.

Not with the major league club. He won’t pitch for them this season. Strasburg had his first workout with the Nationals -- play catch, do some fielding drills, nothing too exciting -- at the Nationals’ spring training facility in Viera, Fla.

But he is the story for the last-place Nationals, no matter how far away from Washington he might be and how insignificant his daily routine might be at this point. In this nice story from the Washington Post, Strasburg sounded exasperated that reporters, photographers and fans trailed him through a 45-minute workout on his first day in uniform.

‘I’m just a baseball player,’ he said. ‘It’s not like I’m the president or anything.’

Strasburg is scheduled to join the Nationals as an observer for a week, then pitch in the Florida instructional league and Arizona Fall League.
-- Bill Shaikin