For the second year in a row it went right down to the wire.
Harper and the Nationals agreed to a 5-year $9.9 million contract seconds before the midnight deadline to sign draft picks. Last year the Nationals and Steven Strasburg went down to just over a minute left before the deadline.
Harper’s deal is the largest ever for a non-pitcher signed through the draft, topping Mark Teixeira’s 4-year $9.5 million contract with the Rangers.
Harper’s contract calls for a signing bonus of $6.25 million in five payments. He receives salaries of $500,000 each in 2011 and 2012, $750,000 in 2013, $900,000 in 2014 and $1 million in 2015.
