Matt Harrington (born February 1, 1982) is a former first round pick in Major League Baseball's First-Year Player Draft.
In Harrington's senior season, he posted a 0.54 earned run average (ERA) and an 11–0 win–loss record, including one no-hitter, with 126 strikeouts in only 65 innings pitched.
[2] His starts received significant hype, leading Pete Rose and George Brett to attend his games.
USA Today also named him their high school Player of the Year that season,[2] He was chosen to participate in the 1999 Goodwill Games.
[3] Harrington was regarded as one of the top talents available in the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft, and he chose agent Tommy Tanzer as his representative.
While Harrington and his parents initially retained Tanzer, they ultimately replaced him with Scott Boras a few months into negotiations.
[6] Although the Padres were still free to make additional contract offers until the day of the 2002 draft, they chose not to after scouting Harrington in independent ball that May.
[citation needed] Harrington's improvement caused some major league clubs to again have interest in signing him.
[3] He was able to salvage a portion of the baseball money he turned down, due to a settlement of an insurance policy he took out in 2000 for loss of skill from Lloyd's of London.