Nationals ink Bryce Harper to $9.9 million contract

After plenty of give and take, the Nationals signed first-overall pick Bryce Harper to a major league deal worth a guaranteed $9.9 million prior to Monday’s midnight deadline. According to ESPN.com, Harper gets a $6.25 million signing bonus, though that will be paid over a five-year span. He’ll receive salaries of $500,000 in 2011 and 2012, $750,000 in 2013, $900,000 in 2014 and $1 million in 2015. It’s a modest surprise that Harper settled for less than $10 million after Stephen Strasburg got $15.1 million a year ago. Harper, though, did get the major league deal he desired. He’ll go on to the 40-man roster immediately. No word yet, but it’d be no surprise if the arrangement guaranteed him a September callup next year. The $9.9 million figure does top Mark Teixeira’s $9.5 million deal from 2001, which was the previous high water mark for a position player coming out of the draft.