Two days after the Nationals paraded down Constitution Avenue to celebrate their first-ever World Series win, agent Scott Boras flew to Washington D.C. for an important dinner with a high profile couple: Stephen and Rachel Strasburg. Strasburg, fresh off winning World Series MVP, had already made public the easy decision to opt-out of his contract, to leave four years and $100 million on the table to get a more lucrative deal.



As a new free agent, his value had never been higher. But when Boras took out a piece of paper and asked Strasburg what was important to him, the shy star never mentioned money or years. Strasburg had more pressing issues. Together, working off the central question Boras posed — How could they make D.C. the ideal destination for the Strasburg family? — the trio came up with a list of about 15 things.



What was on that list was telling. It says more about Strasburg as a teammate, a man and a player than anything you’ll see on the...