The Bryce Harper Watch

[imref]

JUCO world series starts at 3:00 on Saturday, maybe oh maybe MLB network will air it instead of the crap they've got scheduled now?

[imref]

JUCO world series game 1, Harper is 1-3 with a BB and a SB through 8.  CSN leads 11-5.

Stats will be available on http://www.jucogj.org/tournament.php

[Obed_Marsh]

You can't tell me it didn't disturb Lerner when the Yankees outbid us for Teixeira.

If what you say is true, I think he would have just ponied up more money. I think he determined a price point and stuck with it. The front office wasn't willing to pay the Nationals tax to a player who preferred New York.

[imref]

next game is Monday at 2:00.  Video & Live stats; http://livestats.prestosports.com/jucoworldseries/

[imref]

If what you say is true, I think he would have just ponied up more money. I think he determined a price point and stuck with it. The front office wasn't willing to pay the Nationals tax to a player who preferred New York.

I love Dunn, but man an infield of Tex, Zimmerman and Desmond for the next 5 years would have been quite nice.

[Smithian]

Please take this guy Rizzo. Please don't take a safer, cheaper path.

Take this guy. Put him in RF. Let us in 2025 be discussing this guy closing ground on the all-time home run record.

[cmdterps44]

Please take this guy Rizzo. Please don't take a safer, cheaper path.

Take this guy. Put him in RF. Let us in 2025 be discussing this guy closing ground on the all-time home run record.

There is no way we pass on this guy. We are weak on position studs. This is a must pick.

[Smithian]

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Bryce Harper stands 6-foot-3, hits with any amateur on the planet, directs the game from catcher and plays every inch of nine innings as though he were born to them. He is but 17, got here by way of a GED and a million hours in the batting cage, and he almost certainly will be the first pick in next week’s major league baseball draft.

“What we don’t know about Bryce Harper,” his baseball coach at College of Southern Nevada, Tim Chambers, said Monday, “is what it’s like to be Bryce Harper. Nobody could know. Not his parents, not his coaches, not his brother, not his teammates, not the fans. How could we?”
 
His face streaked in eye black, his uniform caked with dirt, his ballclub a winner again, Harper grinned and said, “It feels good.”

Behind him, nearly 10,000 people shuffled through the charmingly preserved ballpark at the corner of 12th Street and North Avenue, dozens holding pens and programs and headed for the gate through which Harper would leave.

They’d come to see Harper play baseball. They’d groaned when he didn’t get a suitable pitch to swing at, whooped when he lined a hit to right field and gasped when he’d leaked from third base, timed up a lefty’s pickoff throw to first and stolen home on it. That was the first inning.

Sam Suplizio Field rests between Lincoln Park Golf Course and Mesa State College’s football stadium. They’ve played the Junior College World Series here for more than 50 years, and the old-timers remember Kurt Bevacqua, Dave Collins and Kirby Puckett in this park, but never has anyone quite like Bryce Harper come through.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ti-harper053110

He stole home on a throw to first. He truly is Satan.

cmd, this guy is no position stud. That is like calling Strasburg a stud. He's more. He's just... He's Bryce Harper.

[cmdterps44]

How fast is the kid to be able to steal home on a pickoff?

[The Chief]

How fast is the kid to be able to steal home on a pickoff?

He stole your PS3 while you were typing that.

[imref]

Coyotes win 18-1 yesterday, next game tonight at 7:30 MST.  

Bryan Harper got the win,  pitching 1 hit ball over 5 1/3rd with 6ks and 1ER.

Bryce: 1-2, 2 BB, Sac Fly, 3 R

[cmdterps44]

He stole your PS3 while you were typing that.

Good thing I don't have a PS3 because he probably would have!!!

But honestly, is Bryce's speed fast (morgan), quick(desmond), mediocre(zimmerman), slow (dunn)?

[Smithian]

Bryce Harper has at worst Ian Desmond speed, but I bet he is just a bit under Nyjer/Bernadina speed. I remember reading in the original SI article how he more than a few times stole home from second on pitches that passed the catcher. They say he could play a plus CF.

Put this guy in RF and he may win the gold glove before he has a 50 HR season.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Bryce should say after he is picked, "y'know - I like my brother.  think he is a decent ballplayer.  i'd hate to see you guys miss on him again.  What did you offer him?  slot money, late round?  I hear some people say he should go much, much higher, maybe 3d round, and get above slot money. That way, it does not look so weird when my bonus is less than the guy last year. You know, inflation.  That's it, inflation and a recovering economy.  Got be worth some more.  Y'know, cause we're family now."

[Salamander Man]

I've seen some clips, but have not seen Harper in person.  I'd be really shocked if he was faster than Desmond. 

[imref]

Scott Boras today "No baseball person in his right mind will have the guy catch."

[The Chief]

Well there's our franchise RFer then.

[DPMOmaha]

Well there's our franchise RFer then.

...so get Werth for 3 years with an option and hope that Harper's ready to go by then.

[GMUTrkstar]

@ this link you can find a bunch of good B. Harper links:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/06/bryce-harper-links.html#disqus_thread

The Joe Posnanski article is very interesting also references Zimmerman:

Here’s what drives my friends general doubts: He doesn’t think Harper will stay at catcher despite the great arm. For one, he thinks Harper is stiff behind the plate and he will keep growing, making it tough for him to be a good defensive catcher. But, even more, he thinks that Harper’s huge signing bonus will force Washington (or, theoretically, another team) to put him on the fast track and try to get his bat to the big leagues as quickly as realistically possible. That could mean moving him off catcher.

Then, even as a hitter, my friend thinks Harper is not close to a finished product. His swing is awfully long (“He’s going to swing and miss a lot, especially when facing advanced breaking stuff”). He’s not the only scout who sees Harper as guy who will strike out 125 or 150 time per year. Of course if he actually makes enough contact to hit with power, that won’t be be a problem. But that’s no guarantee.

http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2010/06/01/bryce-is-right/

[Potomac Cannons]

...so get Werth for 3 years with an option and hope that Harper's ready to go by then.

Nah, trade for DeJesus if you don't have to give anything major up.  Pick up his option next year and have Burgess and Harper fight it out after that.

[DPMOmaha]

Nah, trade for DeJesus if you don't have to give anything major up.  Pick up his option next year and have Burgess and Harper fight it out after that.

how much would it cost us to get Werth, other than ?

[Potomac Cannons]

how much would it cost us to get Werth, other than ?

I'm assuming he's going to be at least a Type B.  I think our record will be good enough we would lose the pick.  My preferred track would be to extend Hammer and Dunn, try to trade for Oswalt, and go for Werth in the offseason.

I would be fine with staying put on SPs, extending Hammer, trading for DeJesus and picking up his 6mm option, and going into the offseason with an arb offer to Dunn to recoup a pick if he leaves while considering him, Wiggington, Huff and Cantu at 1B for next year.

[DPMOmaha]

and go for Werth in the offseason.

Yeah, that's what I meant.

And, I don't think Dunn is arbitration eligable.  Hammer is.

[Potomac Cannons]

Yeah, that's what I meant.

And, I don't think Dunn is arbitration eligable.  Hammer is.

If a player qualifies as Type A or B then his current team has to offer arbitration to be eligible to get the compensatory pick(s).  If Dunn is listed as a Type A FA then the Nats have to offer arbitration to get a 1st in return for him if he signs elsewhere.

[DPMOmaha]

I see.