I wonder if he would turn down that $4M offered in 2009 if he had it to do over again.

And his father is weeping somewhere in a ditch.

His father is a colossal dumbass. I feel bad for a kid with parents that stupid.

It would be one thing had they simply had some ideological view of education in which there was simply no price at which anyone could have bought him away from college. But this yokel actually advised his kid to hold out for $6M.

Purke had a $4M check (that MLB had approved) for the taking. And his dad told him to bet the whole thing on a gamble of it improving by 50% or so after a couple years of college baseball.

Now it's $1M at best. And they'll probably once again bet the whole thing on another year of college baseball.

Yee haw.

Theres no reason for him to sign with the nationals. He will be going back to TCU. His stock can only go up. He has two more years of college eligability, he could probably end up like an Aron Crow or Sheppers.

Meh. He'll pitch in the Cape this summer. If the fastball velocity and slider come back, i wouldn't be surprised if the Nats threw money at him

wow.... the time value of money and a colossal dumb@ss for a Dad...

you wait long.... you wait wrong!

Much better chance of an elbow blowing out or major shoulder problems than everything magically being right with him.

maybe the cape solves everything, but not sure anyone will pay him $4MM ever!

Tanner Scheppers may be a good example...

If you were listening closely to the early MLB TV coverage of the draft you'd have heard John Hart (still in the employ of the TR's) comment on Matt Purke thusly: "he's got a nice little 88-89 mph fastball, a nice little slider and a nice little cutter"! If that's not damning with faint praise, I don't know what is....Former GM Hart was practically telling people this is what the TR's now thought of him.....plus some sour grapes perhaps.

I'm a former hard throwing lefty now in my 70's and I can tell you for a fact that sometimes it does NOT come back.....Cape Cod league or not. As far as committing to another year at TCU and throwing lots of innings trying to "keep the bullpen fresh" .... in a cold NCAA baseball February, I'd say if you really want to be a Major League pitcher, then sign with the Washingtons and never look back!