Comments on: Digging into the Draft

By: Russ

Russ — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:41:09 +0000

Harper now batting .418 with 8 HR

By: cjrugger

cjrugger — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:26:06 +0000

Ah I see it, thanks

By: jeff

jeff — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:35:12 +0000

The Nationals will draft & sign Bryce Harper. There is no need for any discussion.

By: estuartj

estuartj — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:37:44 +0000

cjrugger, you are looking at game 2 on Friday, Harper got tossed on Saturday.

http://sites.csn.edu/dcabrera/baseball/2010/csn24.htm#GAME.BOX

“Western Nevada 2nd – Conwell singled to right center (2-2). Delp to 3b for Bryce Harper. Weidenaar to rf. Bryce Harper was ejected from the game for unsportsmanlike conduct.”

check out @teemcee or @csncoyotes or @estuartj on twitter to see the exchange about Harper ejection.

By: Ryan Sullivan

Ryan Sullivan — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:45:53 +0000

Taillon would be really tempting but after seeing all these guys, Harper is a better prospect. He is really special, just young. Ranaudo and Deck McGuire, while impressive, are a fair margin behind Harper and Taillon, at least to me.

By: cjrugger

cjrugger — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:18:11 +0000

estuartj- can you post the link to the tweets that say he got tossed? The box score shows he played the whole game (and went 2-4 with a HR)

http://sites.csn.edu/dcabrera/baseball/2010/csn22.htm

ps. CSN pitcher threw a complete game 1 hitter

By: Sue Dinem

Sue Dinem — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:26:42 +0000

Unfortunately, he’s also been compared to Josh Hamilton both in terms of talent and temperament. Take a look at how SI profiled Hamilton ten years before they profiled Harper: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1015903/index.htm

By: estuartj

estuartj — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:16:55 +0000

Harper got tossed from game 2 yesterday, apparently for taunting. @csncoyotes and @teemcee have different takes on the why and how serious it was (one take was that he had to be restrained by coaches to get him into the clubhouse.

Regardless I think the term "Character Issues" will gat more play this week.

By: Jake

Jake — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:07:54 +0000

Thanks a lot Rich.

By: Rich

Rich — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 03:14:19 +0000

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal/2010/03/stephen_strasburg_in_washingto.html?wprss=nationalsjournal

And one more note: Juan Jaime has yet to pitch this spring in a game, and the Nationals have shut him down from throwing at all over the next couple of days because he is experiencing elbow tendinitis. Last year in Class A, Jaime struck out 12.3 batters per nine innings and had a 2.10 ERA in 14 games, 12 of which he started.

By: Rich

Rich — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 03:13:14 +0000

Jake,

Juan Jaime has elbow pains and as a result they haven't let him pitch. Let me find the link where I saw that...

By: Jake

Jake — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 02:56:28 +0000

And does anyone know why Juan Jaime hasn’t thrown in a spring game yet?

By: Jake

Jake — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 02:53:07 +0000

Guys – Do you think that if the Nats selected Bryce Harper with the no. 1 overall pick, would we try and pick Bryan Harper in one of the later rounds to be with Bryce and sort of be his mentor throughout the minor leagues?

By: RD

RD — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:24:37 +0000

It's hilarious to say that Harper won't have a position, on the huge assumption that Norris remains at catcher.

Outside of Zimmerman(and Norris, if you are assuming he lives up to his potential), what spots in the lineup are filled long term? Those two are about it. Nyjer Morgan played re ally well, but he'll be 30 soon and who knows if he can keep that level of play. Let's assume he is a fixture though for another 5 years. That's 3. Let's even assume that Desmond and Espinosa land the middle infield spots. That's 5.

That leaves first, and both corner outfield spots. If Harper is as legit as they say, he by FAR trumps what Marrero and Burgess provide. Harper is the best athlete of the trio, has the best speed, the best bat ... You can put Marrero at first, Harper in left, and Burgess in right.

To say there's no spot for Harper is ridiculous. This team needs a lot of help with the bat. He can play 5 positions at a high level(catcher, first, third, and corner outfield spots). He would fit on ANY team, none moreso than the Nationals.

By: estuartj

estuartj — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:50:16 +0000

No freakin' way does Harper spend 3 years in the minors. If you try to sign him to a contract that would reasonably allow that he'll be playing in college next year and we are drafting 1A in '11.

I do NOT think he makes the bigs as a catcher, it takes too long to develop the skills necessary to work behind the plate, thus he's likely to come up as a corner infielder or outfielder.

The biggest IF is what is going on with draft pick hard slotting negotiations? If Boras isn't worried about having Harper be stuck with a signing bonus dictated by MLB in 11 or 12 there is very little monetary incentive to sign now instead of waiting for the market to improve, so baring a development on those negotiations Boras is going to come at you with a number he thinks fits with a projected market value several years ahead of what anyone else will be using in '10.