The Washington Nationals spent the weekend trying to persuade Lucas Giolito, their first-round pick in the 2012 MLB Draft, to sign a deal with the team rather than head off to play college baseball at UCLA this fall. The biggest factor in determining whether or not Washington can sign the 6-foot-6, 230-pound right-handed pitcher might be how much they can offer him in the way of a signing bonus.
A Monday report in the Washington Times says that the Nationals can only offer the 16th overall pick a total of $3,029,773, reflecting money saved from their other draft pick signings.
The Nationals will not risk losing future draft picks by exceeding the money than they have allotted to them for this year's draft class, according to the same report. Penalties for going over that amount scale up from a 75 percent tax on the amount exceeding the allotment.
For more Nationals coverage and conversation, visit Federal Baseball, SB Nation's Nats blog. For news, updates and projections related to the next week's MLB Draft, stay tuned to this StoryStream here at SB Nation DC.