Those are all words used to describe San Diego State Pitcher Stephen Strasburg.
Strasburg, a junior, is eligible for this year's MLB Amateur Draft. He and his future agent, Scott Boras, plan on making history.
Strasburg throws consistently in the high 90s and low 100s. Along with his ungodly fastball he has an outstanding curveball among other pitches.
Strasburg entered San Diego State as an overweight, underachieving "athlete." However, early on he realized that he needed to change his philosophy to be a professional baseball player.
So he did.
Strasburg began changing his work ethic and began hitting the gym harder than ever. He started to notice the results, and people started to take an interest in his abilities.
Because of his transformation from overweight, average pitcher to pitching phenom, he is expected to not only break the record for largest amateur contract, but to shatter it.
The Washington Nationals hold the No. 1 pick and would be crazy to pass on a "can't miss prospect" like Strasburg, or would they?
Strasburg and agent Scott Boras will demand a huge asking price, reportedly in the area of 50 million dollars. And as we have seen in the past Boras shows no shame in refusing to sign and having his clients play in the Independent League for a year (see Luke Hochevar and J.D. Drew).
So with all that in mind, why draft a guy that would be so difficult to sign? Why go through the arduous task of dealing with Scott Boras?
Well, in this case the Nationals would be passing up a possible MLB ready pitcher and Lord knows they need all the help they can get.
On the other hand, is there really such thing as a "can't miss prospect?"
I'm sure Mark Prior can tell you what it's like to be the next great thing to happen to baseball. Strasburg has often times been compared to Prior, who was highly touted out of college and the eventual No. 2 pick overall in 2001.
If Strasburg lives up to the hype he undoubtedly will go down in history for his unbelievable talent and his unbelievable contract. But, if he fails to meet expectations then he will be nothing more than a "can't miss prospect" who missed.
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