ESPN Chat with BA's Jim Callis

JAYPERS (IL)

Jim, in your Draft Report Card for the Nationals, you say that both Strasburg and Storen could go straight to the parent club next spring (without an inning's worth of work in the minors, in Strasburg's case). Do you really see this as a legit possibility, or was this merely a hypothetical?

Jim Callis (2:08 PM)

Based purely on talent, it's a very legitimate possibility, because both Strasburg and Storen are better than most of Washington's pitchers. But if I'm running the Nationals, with no chance to win in 2010, I'm keeping them in the minors long enough to delay their free agency (and perhaps their arbitration) for another year.