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The Nationals have reached an agreement with reliever Sean Burnett on a contract extension that will keep the left-handed reliever with the Nationals through the 2012 season with a dual option for 2013, according to a league source. The deal is pending results of a physical and could be official by this afternoon. MLB Washington Nationals Jerseys The deal means the Nationals will avoid arbitration with Burnett both this season and next and have an option for the first year of his free agency. Burnett will make at least $3.7 million for two years – $1.4 million in 2011 and $2.3 million in 2012. The Nationals can exercise an option for 2013 worth $3.5 million. If the do not, they owe Burnett a $250,000 buyout. Burnett can opt out if the Nationals exercise the option, with the buyout waived if he does.Burnett, 28, is expected to be one of Manager Jim Riggleman’s top late-inning options this season and could be a candidate to close games. He was perhaps the Nationals’ best reliever this season despite an unsightly 1-7 record. Burnett had a 2.14 ERA in 63 innings over 73 appearances with 62 strikeouts and 20 walks while converting three saves. During the final two months of the season, Burnett allowed three earned runs in 26 1/3 innings.
One scout this season called Burnett a younger version of Scott Downs, whom the Angels signed to a three-year, $15 million deal. A run of contracts for relievers such as the one Downs received explains the Nationals’ motivation to lock up Burnett, who will be eligible for free agency following the 2012 season. Wholesale MLB Jerseys The Nationals acquired Burnett in June 2009 along with Nyjer Morgan in a trade that sent Joel Hanrahan and Lastings Milledge to the Pittsburgh Pirates. For the first time since the franchise arrived in Washington five years earlier, Nationals fans had legitimate reason to be excited in 2010. The team still finished in last place for the fifth time in six seasons since moving from Montreal, but the anticipated arrival of top prospect Stephen Strasburg infused cheap jerseys from china Nationals Park with energy—and fans.Strasburg, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 draft, made his major league debut on June 8. Before that, the Nationals averaged 21,560 fans a game. They drew more than 40,Ugg boots,000 fans for each of his first two starts, and averaged 33,446 fans in his seven home outings.
Strasburg held up his end of the bargain, electrifying the baseball world with 14 strikeouts over seven innings in his debut against Pittsburgh. He continued to pitch well, going 5-3, 2.91 with 92 strikeouts in 68 innings before his rookie season ended abruptly in August when he tore an elbow ligament. He had Tommy John surgery that will sideline him for most if not all of 2011.The Nationals are optimistic Strasburg can regain his pre-surgery form, and they hope to pair him with another phenom before too long. Washington had the No. 1 choice for the second consecutive draft and chose 17-year-old slugger Bryce Harper. Cheap Jerseys Wholesale A year after giving Strasburg a draft-record $15.1 million major league contract, the Nationals handed Harper a $9.9 million big league deal, the largest ever for a position player in the draft.For the second straight year, the Nationals set a record for bonus spending. They spent $11.51 million in 2009 and $11.93 million in 2010. In addition to Harper, they also gave over-slot deals to A.J. Cole, Sammy Solis and Robbie Ray last summer. Those three immediately ranked among the best starting pitching prospects in an organization short on impact arms.