Author Topic: The Bryce Harper Watch  (Read 186663 times)

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Online JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #175: April 01, 2010, 09:01:42 AM »
Like Josh Hamilton?

Let's hope he keeps his nose to the grindstone and not other stuff.

Online blue911

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #176: April 01, 2010, 09:08:18 AM »
Let's hope he keeps his nose to the grindstone and not other stuff.

My point is Josh Hamilton was a "Good Kid" (helped boy scouts cross the street etc...) before he was drafted. A 17 year old has a lot of growing up to do. He isn't getting that playing at a JUCO in his home town. I'm not suggesting in any way shape or form the this Harper kid is anything but the real deal. But the Real deal can be a Josh hamilton/Mickey Mantle just as easily as the next Jr. Griffey.

Offline DPMOmaha

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #177: April 01, 2010, 09:20:52 AM »

Offline JMUalumni

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #178: April 08, 2010, 09:06:37 PM »
Some quotes on Harper from other execs/scouts:

Quote
Feel a draft? Ten months after Bryce Harper showed up on the cover of Sports Illustrated at age 16, we're getting the mounting sense that clubs at the top of this June's draft are almost beginning to look for reasons not to take this guy.

"Don't get me wrong. This kid projects as a starting catcher in the big leagues," said an executive of one of those teams. "But he's not the type of guy you want to pay three times the going rate for -- which is what Scott [Boras] is going to be looking for.

"I'll put it this way," the same exec went on. "With Alex Rodriguez, when you walked in to see him against high school competition, he separated himself. Ken Griffey separated himself. This kid is a good player. But he's not in a class with A-Rod and those guys. Not even close. … And with all the hype Scott has generated around him, he's going to walk in the door with a monkey on his back, and it's not going to ever go away."

No one disputes Harper's staggering raw power or arm strength. But the same exec said Harper's crazy numbers at the College of Southern Nevada (.426 average, .521 on-base percentage, 12 homers in 115 at-bats) should be taken with an entire shaker of salt.

"Yeah, he's got great numbers," the exec said. "But to be honest, I've seen better high school pitchers in the top programs than the guys he faced when I saw him. Every weekend, he's basically going against one decent pitcher and three stiffs. So his numbers are a little inflated."

Nevertheless, with no clear alternative, it's going to take some serious guts for the Nationals not to take Harper No. 1, considering all the buzz that has built up around him. But of course, that's exactly what Boras had in mind when he unleashed that buzz.

Offline tomterp

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #179: April 08, 2010, 09:24:29 PM »
So, we have to pay $15m for a player that we ought to be able to get for $10m, who the F cares?

Lerners have slashed salaries once again, presumably for exactly this reason, to be able to draft and sign whoever the hell they want to.

Offline NatsDad14

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #180: April 08, 2010, 09:32:01 PM »
So, we have to pay $15m for a player that we ought to be able to get for $10m, who the F cares?

Lerners have slashed salaries once again, presumably for exactly this reason, to be able to draft and sign whoever the hell they want to.


Sure they did. Do you also believe in Santa Claus giving you presents for behaving well? :roll:

Offline JMUalumni

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #181: April 08, 2010, 09:48:27 PM »
So, we have to pay $15m for a player that we ought to be able to get for $10m, who the F cares?

Lerners have slashed salaries once again, presumably for exactly this reason, to be able to draft and sign whoever the hell they want to.

I really don't give an F what the Lerners have to pay for whoever they draft, but I do think the other comments in the article are relevant.  I'm not against drafting Harper for the record, but a healthy dose of various opinions on the guy hurts no one.

With that said, there are two dynamics at work here.  Scott Boras fueling the hype behind the kid to shoot up his value and guarantee that he goes #1 AND other teams in the top 10 trying to say whatever they can to get the kid to fall to them in the draft.

Offline imref

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #182: April 08, 2010, 10:10:15 PM »
If Strasburg is any guide, the hype alone is probably worth paying him a bit more than he might be worth.  This team will draw a lot more fans and attention if Stephen Strasburg is pitching to Bryce Harper come fall 2011 (on the off-chance Harper makes it as a September call-up) rather than Strasburg pitching to Pudge, Flores, or Derrick Norris.

What they need to do though is sign him quickly and quietly so they can get him into the minors right away rather than signing him with 15 seconds left in the signing period, when it's too late to spend at least some time in the minors.

Offline Kevrock

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #183: April 09, 2010, 06:26:55 AM »
Getting bent over by Boras is what happens when you suck enough to have the number one overall pick. It comes with the territory.

I can't speak to the level of competition that he's playing against, I have no idea. I'm surprised there haven't been more articles touching on that. It is pretty important to know who Harper is putting up these numbers on.

I don't care about his ego. He's 17, crushing college pitching, and the presumptive number one pick. I doubt he will breeze through the minor leagues without any struggles -- he can get his reality check there. I know Rizzo is a character guy, but I wonder how much he would factor in character with the number one overall pick.

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #184: April 09, 2010, 06:35:08 AM »
I know Rizzo is a character guy, but I wonder how much he would factor in character with the number one overall pick.

Hard to tell, because SS is a typical Rizzo guy.

Offline tomterp

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #185: April 09, 2010, 08:01:22 AM »
Do you also believe in Santa Claus giving you presents for behaving well? :roll:

Sure.  Last year he brought us a Strasburg, the top item on our list, didn't he?   :P

Online blue911

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #186: April 09, 2010, 09:47:29 AM »
Getting bent over by Boras is what happens when you suck enough to have the number one overall pick. It comes with the territory.

I can't speak to the level of competition that he's playing against, I have no idea. I'm surprised there haven't been more articles touching on that. It is pretty important to know who Harper is putting up these numbers on.

I don't care about his ego. He's 17, crushing college pitching, and the presumptive number one pick. I doubt he will breeze through the minor leagues without any struggles -- he can get his reality check there. I know Rizzo is a character guy, but I wonder how much he would factor in character with the number one overall pick.

Pretty much sums up my feelings.

As to the level of competition issue, who gives a rats ass if there are better high school leagues somewhere in America? How many high school leagues are playing with wood bats? Does anybody care if the kid hit a billion home runs or none? What I care about is will he be able to produce at a major league level.

Offline JMUalumni

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #187: April 09, 2010, 09:57:55 AM »
I can't speak to the level of competition that he's playing against, I have no idea. I'm surprised there haven't been more articles touching on that. It is pretty important to know who Harper is putting up these numbers on.

It would be interesting to see breakdown of Harper's numbers versus the opponents #1 starter and versus the other starters.  At the majority of community colleges, there is often only one decent pitcher amongst the staff (if even that), usually guys that got drafted and wanted to go to college for a year to increase their stock.  But the rest of the staffs are usually future beer league material.  I don't know how helpful those types of splits would be, but it would be interesting nonetheless.

Offline Zoidberg

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #188: April 09, 2010, 05:06:58 PM »
as long as hes better than weiters im down with drafting him

Offline Smithian

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #189: April 10, 2010, 11:50:02 PM »
I think it annoys Oriole fans that no one cares about Weither compared to Strasburg.

Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #190: April 10, 2010, 11:59:43 PM »
I think it annoys Oriole fans that no one cares about Weither compared to Strasburg.

Because everyone knows Strasburg is going to strike his ass out-- BOOYAH!

Offline Kevrock

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #191: April 11, 2010, 12:17:59 AM »
It would be interesting to see breakdown of Harper's numbers versus the opponents #1 starter and versus the other starters.  At the majority of community colleges, there is often only one decent pitcher amongst the staff (if even that), usually guys that got drafted and wanted to go to college for a year to increase their stock.  But the rest of the staffs are usually future beer league material.  I don't know how helpful those types of splits would be, but it would be interesting nonetheless.

Sigh. Agreed, all that information would be interesting. Maybe I'll write one of the sites/blogs that are doing the Harper updates and ask them some of these questions.

Offline Kevrock

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #192: April 13, 2010, 06:41:18 AM »
Nats plan to draft Harper, according to Goessling. Interesting read:

http://masnsports.com/the_goessling_game/2010/04/nats-likely-to-take-harper-with-no-1-pick.html

Offline Evolution33

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #193: April 13, 2010, 08:36:39 AM »
I wonder if Harper really has as much levarage as people think. He dropped out of High School to enter the draft one year early. If he is drafted and doesn't sign it makes everything he did pointless. 

Offline Kevrock

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #194: April 13, 2010, 08:49:57 AM »
Yup. That's what I've been thinking as well. He seems pretty eager to go pro.

Offline UMDNats

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #195: April 13, 2010, 10:13:14 AM »
Quote
washingnats
I was informed the #Nats have not decided to draft Bryce Harper in the 2010 First Year Player Draft. #MLBcom

Offline Lintyfresh85

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #196: April 13, 2010, 10:43:44 AM »
Ahahaha. Dueling twitter battle!

Offline tomterp

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #197: April 13, 2010, 10:46:06 AM »
Ahahaha. Dueling twitter battle!

One guy says Nats are probably going to draft him, the other says it hasn't been decided yet.  I'd say that leaves a fairly wide range of options that include just about everything, and nobody would be wrong.

Offline imref

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #198: April 13, 2010, 10:54:04 AM »
I think it annoys Oriole fans that no one cares about Weither compared to Strasburg.

Do the Orioles even have fans anymore?  they only drew 9k last night, a record low for Camden.  Remember how Camden used to sell out every night regardless of the quality of the club?

Offline tomterp

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Re: The Bryce Harper Watch
« Reply #199: April 13, 2010, 10:57:02 AM »
They were very successful in marketing Weiters' debut last season, drew a big crowd.  I hope we draw as well on Stras' Nats' Park debut.

There's a lot more national media attention on Strasburg than Weiters, however, no question about that.