Every major league team dreams of having a pitcher who can do the following: throw a fastball at 98 mph or faster, throw a slider in the low 90s, and throw a curveball in the low 80s to mid. Stephen Strasburg can do all of those things, and he’s never pitched in a pro game in his life. He is the product of San Diego State, currently managed by Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn.

Strasburg was selected by the Washington Nationals with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 amateur draft. He can’t get an agent before signing with a major league team, but his “advisor” is baseball super agent Scott Boras, the same man who has represented players who negotiated the biggest contracts in the game, like Alex Rodriguez and Daisuke Matsuzaka. It has already been reported that Strasburg could demand a major league contract worth $50 million, roughly four times the previous record amount for a draft pick. That might seem justified given the Strasburg stuff, but a quick look at other pitchers drafted early in the first round shows they’re an unpredictable breed.

Ben McDonald was selected No. 1 overall by the Baltimore Orioles in 1989. At the time, he had already brought the US Olympic baseball team to a complete shutout in his first Major League game. Despite the hot start, things never really blew up for McDonald, who was a mediocre pitcher before experiencing career-ending shoulder problems in 1997.

Todd Van Poppel was the Oakland Athletics’ 14th overall pick in the 1990 amateur draft. He had just finished high school and would have been picked by the Atlanta Braves at No. 1 had he not told the Braves he would not sign with them. Instead, the Braves used his pick on Chipper Jones. Van Poppel signed a major league deal, which allowed him to make more money but also gave the A’s fewer options to develop him in the minor leagues. He was in the major leagues after making just 32 minor league starts, and his much-publicized fastball was never able to get a hold of major league hitters. Van Poppel never won more than 7 games in a season and finished with a career record of 40-52.

Brien Taylor was another pitching phenom who was drafted with the No. 1 pick in 1991 by the New York Yankees. Like Strasburg and Van Poppel, Scott Boras advised Taylor. The $1.55 million contract he signed with the Yankees was a record for a draft pick at the time. Taylor was featured on the cover of Baseball America and his 100 mph fastball was the talk of the baseball world. He was fine in his first season in the minors, but showed he could use a little refinement. Then, in 1993, his shoulder was severely damaged in a fistfight in a trailer park. He would never fully recover from the injury. Taylor is now a bricklayer and lives with his parents on a street named after him during that brief period nearly 20 years ago when he was the next big thing in baseball.

Strasburg has some things going for him that these other pitching phenoms never did. He’s college-educated, along with experience pitching against Division 1 college hitters. Unlike McDonald, who also went to college, Strasburg didn’t overwork himself in a championship effort. Tony Gwynn was very careful with Strasburg and limited the number of innings he pitched. If Strasburg has early success in the minor leagues, he’ll have Gwynn to thank. Strasburg will be under the watchful eye of top Nationals coaches and trainers as he progresses through the minors. He’s the kind of player who can turn a lousy franchise around and turn them into contenders. That won’t happen overnight, and by the looks of it, the Nationals will have more help building their franchise when they get the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 amateur draft, as they have the worst record in baseball at this moment and tt doesn’t seem to be looking to get out of the basement anytime soon. Perhaps Strasburg will soon throw to Bryce Harper, the 16-year-old 500-foot homer catcher who will be eligible for the draft next year.