It's a Deal: Strasburg, Nationals Agree  —  Long Night Ends With Record-Setting Pact for Washington's Top Draft Pick  —  Midnight neared, an organization held its breath, and finally — after way too much losing, years of scouting, and weeks of negotiating — the Washington Nationals secured the one good thing to come from all of it.

The Strasburg & Ackley Deals  —  Stephen Strasburg:  —  Four-year major league deal, $7.5 million bonus, $7.6 million in salaries (including pro-rated $400,000 salary for remainder of 2009), $15.1 million total guaranteed.  Also various incentives based on big league award voting.  —  Dustin Ackley:

Rockies Agree with Matzek - Updated  —  The Colorado Rockies came up to the deadline, and then got the deal done with their top draft pick, high school lefthander Tyler Matzek.  —  The Rockies agreed to a signing bonus of $3.9 million, insidetherockies.com learned, more than double …

Winners And Losers  —  We analyze who did well at the signing deadline  —  The last three years, Major League Baseball has implemented a signing deadline, ending the interminable holdouts that often plagued baseball's draft process.  The draft still has plenty of problems, but that's another story.

Wright's way is right way on, off field  —  Teammates call Mets' young leader ‘too good to be true’  —  The baseball sped toward his face, imperiling his good looks, his cranium and his livelihood.  And 10 days later, it happened again.  Each time, David Wright flinched.

Ankiel's HR helps sizzling Cardinals sink Dodgers … LOS ANGELES(AP) Although Ryan Franklin graciously accepted his teammates' congratulations in the Dodger Stadium clubhouse for his 30th save, the St. Louis closer thought the spotlight should be on Chris Carpenter 's setup work.

Chicago Cubs lose 4-1 to San Diego Padres  —  Closer wastes Lilly's gem as Cubs fall 6 behind Cardinals  —  Padres' Kyle Blanks leaps into his teammates as he crosses home plate after blasting a three-run home run in the ninth inning off Cubs closer Kevin Gregg.  (Lenny Ignelzi, Associated Press / August 17, 2009)

Hitting the brakes on the “Tex for MVP” bandwagon  —  THE MVP PROPAGANDA WARS  —  With due respect to my on-air colleagues at YES who have been touting Mark Teixeira for the MVP award, it's very hard to see how he's going to win it, and more to the point, it's hard to see that he should win it.

Damon Feels Like Staying, and the Yanks Seem Willing  —  OAKLAND, Calif. — Johnny Damon played his first series as a Yankee at the Oakland Coliseum in April 2006.  He did not really factor into one of the games, but he hung around by his locker after it was over, just in case reporters needed him.

Atlanta Braves and Publix invite fans to “Shop with the Braves” this Saturday, Aug. 22  —  Atlanta Braves Jair Jurrjens, Martin Prado, and Omar Infante will greet fans and assist shoppers at Publix in Norcross, this Saturday, August 22 at the season's fourth “Shop with the Braves” summer tour stop.

Baryshnikov in Baseball Cleats  —  Son of Star Ballet Dancers Sets Off an MLB Bidding War; $800,000 From the Twins  —  Kathy Kepler, once a star ballerina at the Berlin ballet, has a saying: “Three days away, out of the ballet.”  That training motto also serves her son Max, baseball's most unusual prospect.

Sox GM Ken Williams not happy with underachieving team  —  Williams voices displeasure with wasted efforts on trip; Podsednik wins it in 8th  —  Alex Rios scores as Royals catcher Brayan Pena goes for the throw after Scott Podsednik's go-ahead 8th inning, RBI single.  (Scott Strazzante, Chicago Tribune / August 17, 2009)

Mets come to terms with Matz  —  Left-hander reportedly signs for $895,000  —  NEW YORK — According to Keith Law of ESPN.com, the Mets have agreed to terms with their top Draft pick, Long Island left-hander Steven Matz.  —  Matz, out of Ward Melville High School in East Setauket …

A Few More Signings  —  The Yankees signed 44th-rounder Evan DeLuca, a Immaculata High (Somerville, N.J.) lefthander for $500,000.  —  The Rangers signed 17th-rounder Paul Strong, a Marina High (Huntington Beach, Calif.) lefthander, for $300,000.  —  The Nationals signed 12th-rounder Nathan Karns …

Game 119: Yankees at Athletics (with draft signing updates)  —  YANKEES (74-44)  —  Pitching: RHP AJ Burnett (10-5, 3.71).  —  ATHLETICS (52-65)  —  Kennedy 3B  —  Davis CF  —  Suzuki C  —  Hairston LF  —  Sweeney RF  —  Ellis 2B  —  Cust DH  —  Crosby 1B  —  Pennington SS

Nats Set New Spending Record  —  We don't have all the signing information for all 50 rounds yet, but we have enough to know that the Nationals have spent more money on bonuses than any team ever has in a single draft.  —  No. 1 overall pick Stephen Strasburg's $7.5 million was a draft record in itself …