Bryce Harper 2018 and beyond

[PowerBoater69]

I won't defend Papelbon but I remember before he laid his hands on Harper, Harper said something to him like, "Let's go."    Papelbon did.

That is correct, it's not like Pappy jumped him from behind, only thing he did wrong was win a fight against the wonder kid.

[PowerBoater69]

Papelbon seems like the kind of guy who, 5 years after he's done playing, weighs 400 pounds.  That would make me happy.

From March:

[Optics]

No is saying they are garbage. What we're saying is that they aren't vital to success. Particularly when you have to sink so much payroll into keeping them, when you actually need a lot of good players to make the playoffs consistently.

Bryce Harper hit .243/.373/.441 in 2016 and the Nationals won 95 games. He hit 273/.344/.423 and the Nats won 97. Because the team was constructed with a lot of good players, and wasn't bottlenecked in payroll by one.

It comes down to this: You can have 9 WAR Harper at 30-40 million a year, or a 6 WAR pitcher at 20 million, a 3 WAR catcher at 10 million, and have money for a quality reliever or a late season edition down the stretch. Yes Harper is good, but finding those players in your system and/or on the cheap is more difficult than replacing Harper's production.

This is where I am as well. Harper is great, but baseball isn't like basketball where one guy can single handily win games.

I'd say the individual player has less impact in baseball than any other sport(save for Pitchers in a per game basis but over a season they only play ~20% of the games so its a different argument).

[rileyn]

This is what I mean by the general dislike of Harper on these boards. You have someone who dislikes Harper so much that he’s willing to defend Papelbon.

I can't stand Paplebon, but that's not what this issue is about. 

It would be interesting to take a poll of guys that have played with both Bryce and Paplebon, to see who they would say was the better teammate. 

[Slateman]

What does that have to do with anything? Should the Angels let Mike Trout go because they haven’t won anything with him?

Should they not consider it?

The Angels are in awful shape, payroll wise. Pujols isn't getting any better and tha contract is a disaster. They have no pitching outside of Heaney. Their team is literally Trou, Ohtani, and Simmons. Both Trout and Simmoons are free agents in 2021. THey have no prospects in the pipeline that are close to MLB ready. So unless they decide to go for it, they're not going to improve much in the next two years.

[Mattionals]

Should they not consider it?

The Angels are in awful shape, payroll wise. Pujols isn't getting any better and tha contract is a disaster. They have no pitching outside of Heaney. Their team is literally Trou, Ohtani, and Simmons. Both Trout and Simmoons are free agents in 2021. THey have no prospects in the pipeline that are close to MLB ready. So unless they decide to go for it, they're not going to improve much in the next two years.

And given that Trout has tons of value on his current deal, the Angels could actually rebuild with the talent they would get for trading Trout. The Phillies would have the prospects to land Trout, and he is a local kid there. He would be as big, if not bigger, than Carson Wentz.

Sadly for the Angels, but good for Nats fans, is that Arte Moreno will never do it.

[varoadking]

And given that Trout has tons of value on his current deal, the Angels could actually rebuild with the talent they would get for trading Trout. The Phillies would have the prospects to land Trout, and he is a local kid there. He would be as big, if not bigger, than Carson Wentz.

Sadly for the Angels, but good for Nats fans, is that Arte Moreno will never do it.

Trout get's paid $34MM next year...not sure about 2020, but it should be around that as well...the deal was back end loaded...

[Slateman]

And given that Trout has tons of value on his current deal, the Angels could actually rebuild with the talent they would get for trading Trout. The Phillies would have the prospects to land Trout, and he is a local kid there. He would be as big, if not bigger, than Carson Wentz.

Sadly for the Angels, but good for Nats fans, is that Arte Moreno will never do it.

We may the juice if we include Turner.

[Mattionals]

Trout get's paid $34MM next year...not sure about 2020, but it should be around that as well...the deal was back end loaded...

The money won't matter to the Phillies. They have tons of payroll room, and they would deal those prospects in a heartbeat. We aren't talking about moving Harper with one MVP year, we're talking about the best player this generation and one of the absolute best to play the game EVER.

[varoadking]

The money won't matter to the Phillies. They have tons of payroll room, and they would deal those prospects in a heartbeat. We aren't talking about moving Harper with one MVP year, we're talking about the best player this generation and one of the absolute best to play the game EVER.

Gotta think he would love to be in Philly...

[Slateman]

I don't think the Phillies have the prospects/players.

[Ray D]

Harper is such a godam piece of crap.  I don't care if you want to call me a "Hater" I don't give a flying freak. He's freaking garbage and I can't wait till he's gone.

[Slateman]

Seems a little harsh to call him a piece of crap for striking out in a game

[spidernat]

I know what he means.

[Ray D]

Seems a little harsh to call him a piece of crap for striking out in a game

EVERY time he come to bat in a critical situation it is a NEAR CERTAINLY that he will strike out.  I'm not singling out this one strikeout.

[Slateman]

EVERY time he come to bat in a critical situation it is a NEAR CERTAINLY that he will strike out.  I'm not singling out this one strikeout.

Still seems a little harsh to refer to someone as "a piece if crap"

[Expos]

It seems to me that the “we haven’t won anything with him here,” is a dumb argument. If that’s the case then Trout, Stanton, Goldschmidt, Arenado, Donaldson, Machado are all garbage.

If you want to say his stats don’t warrant what he is likely to get in free agency, that’s one thing. But putting all team success in him seems unfair.

When has Anaheim, Miami, Arizona, Colorado, Toronto or Baltimore been considered favorites to win the World Series for 4 straight seasons??

Harper was the face of an absolutely stacked team from top to bottom and we failed very year in miserable fashion.

Harper is a good player no doubt but something isn't working with him in this locker room.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." 

7 years he has been here and we haven't won. It's time to change the culture.

[bluestreak]

When has Anaheim, Miami, Arizona, Colorado, Toronto or Baltimore been considered favorites to win the World Series for 4 straight seasons??

Harper was the face of an absolutely stacked team from top to bottom and we failed very year in miserable fashion.

Harper is a good player no doubt but something isn't working with him in this locker room.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

7 years he has been here and we haven't won. It's time to change the culture.

In what world were the Nats the favorite to win the WS 4 straight years? They’ve had good teams. But I don’t think they were projected to be even the best team in the NL any of them.

[varoadking]

In what world were the Nats the favorite to win the WS 4 straight years? They’ve had good teams. But I don’t think they were projected to be even the best team in the NL any of them.

Say what?  They were the preseason WS favorites from 2013 thru 2016...

[Expos]

In what world were the Nats the favorite to win the WS 4 straight years? They’ve had good teams. But I don’t think they were projected to be even the best team in the NL any of them.

Have you been in a coma for the past 4 years??

[bluestreak]

Have you been in a coma for the past 4 years??

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/vegas-odds-dodgers-are-favorites-to-win-2014-world-series/

https://www.si.com/mlb/2015/10/05/2015-world-series-odds-blue-jays-royals-cardinals

http://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/14516801/mlb-latest-2016-world-series-odds-westgate-las-vegas-superbook

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/2017-world-series-odds-oddsmakers-like-cubs-red-sox-as-mlb-favorites/

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Are you sure you're not raising the bar too high?

Can't believe you're defending Papelbon.

you really think the Big Intern didn't know what was going on?  You really think Papelbon wasn't doing something the veterans thought needed to be done to Harper?  Not so much the choking, but the dressing down for not running out the play?

[Baseball is Life]

you really think the Big Intern didn't know what was going on?  You really think Papelbon wasn't doing something the veterans thought needed to be done to Harper?  Not so much the choking, but the dressing down for not running out the play?

I don’t think so but we fans will never know. Just speculate.

[Ray D]

Facts are so... well, they're facts,aren't they.

tell that to Rudy Giuliani

[varoadking]

Facts are so... well, they're facts,aren't they.

Indeed...

(Sports Illustrated) The magazine first picked the Nationals to win in 2013, following the club’s breakout, 98-win 2012 campaign. Despite Washington missing the playoffs that year, SI doubled down in 2014, choosing the Nats again. They picked the Nats to make it to (but lose) the series in 2015, another season that ended short of the playoffs.

https://wtop.com/washington-nationals/2018/03/sports-illustrated-picks-nationals-to-win-world-seriesagain/

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/oddsmakers-top-picks-to-win-world-series-nationals-tigers-blue-jays/

Note that bs's last link is regarding the 2017 team...