Jackpot: Newton's McGeary signs big deal with Nationals

Many around baseball were surprised yesterday to find out that just prior to the stroke of midnight Tuesday night Newton native Jack McGeary signed a professional contract with the Washington Nationals.

Those who watched the Roxbury Latin ace go from a surefire first-round draft pick to a second-day Nationals selection because of a consensus that he was determined to attend Stanford University weren't the only ones convinced the hard-throwing lefty would be pitching for the Cardinal next spring.

``I got drafted in the sixth round, so I thought, pretty much there was no chance to sign,'' admitted McGeary during a Washington press conference to announce the deal yesterday. ``Here, we're two or three months later, and it's hard to believe that something actually happened.''

The Nationals made it happen two ways: first, with a lot of money; and second, with a promise to McGeary that he could play short seasons while he still attended the prestigious university.

According to the Associated Press, the Nationals gave McGeary a $1.8 million signing bonus - a record for a sixth-round choice - and agreed to pay his tuition at Stanford since he will lose his baseball scholarship there due to the pro deal.

``From the Nationals' perspective,'' said Washington general manager Jim Bowden at the press conference, ``we encourage education. We encourage education with all of the players that sign.

``We have encouraged the family that he should go to Stanford,'' he continued. ``So, as part of the deal, one of the things that was important to them - and one of the reasons he fell to us - is that he is going to Stanford.''

Bowden led off the press conference noting that McGeary was ranked among the top 10 overall players on their draft board. But because of his commitment to Stanford, like every other team, the Nationals passed on McGeary on the first day.

But as the second day began, Bowden said they decided to take a chance.

``We had an internal meeting,'' he said, ``and we felt that it was a risk worth taking because of the talent Jack possessed. With the approval of (team president) Stan Kasten and ownership at that point, we took him with our sixth-round draft pick with the hope that a miracle would happen on the last day.''

The drama went right up to the midnight deadline Tuesday night for signing picks. Instead of being in Cambridge that night playing in the Oldtime Baseball Game that he'd been invited to attend, McGeary was in Washington finalizing the deal alongside advisor Brody Van Wagenen.

``Getting Jack finished last night was, for me, very emotional,'' Nationals scouting director Dana Brown said at the press conference. ``We got him done. We're excited about it.

``I feel he's a top-of-the-rotation-type of pitcher,'' he predicted, ``a No. 2 starter, and could get better than that.''

Bowden said McGeary had ``probably the best breaking (stuff) of anyone in the draft'' as well as ``a tremendous delivery, and a makeup and character that just is off the charts, including intelligence.''

According to Bowden, McGeary is committed to pitch in the Nationals system from June to September in the first three years of his contract and will take part in their year-round strength program while taking classes at Stanford.

``That was always part of the plan,'' McGeary said, ``for me to go to Stanford. The creativity on the part of the Nationals was outstanding. That's really what made the deal happen. I'll definitely be able to develop here a lot with the four months, at least, I'll be playing.''

McGeary, who was 6-1 with a 0.88 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 40 innings over seven starts at Roxbury Latin as a senior, said he will immediately report to the Gulf Coast League for the remainder of the summer and then head out to California to begin classes.

``Everything they portrayed to me about the direction they're going to take this team is something I wanted to be a part of since day one,'' McGeary said. ``They're definitely committed to winning and that's what I want to be a part of. Hopefully, we'll win a World Series here someday."

Scott Souza is Daily News Tribune (Waltham, Mass.) sports editor.