It’s still 55 days away, but Ben Goessling of MASNsports.com is reporting the Nats are likely to select 17-year old catcher Bryce Harper with the first pick in the 2010 draft.
Harper is currently hitting 422/516/891 with 15 home runs and 42 RBI in 39 games for the College of Southern Nevada.
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#1 by Positively Half St. - April 13th, 2010 at 06:49
They had better take the best player available, regardless of the cost. Harper certainly is making a case to be that player.
#2 by bdrube - April 13th, 2010 at 07:28
Just seeing how much buzz the Nats are getting for having Strasburg shows why they need to take Harper. The kid is a potential superstar who will put fannies inthe seats and build the fanbase. It OUGHT to be a no-brainer.
Besides, how llucky does a Washington franchise ever get to have the top draft pick two years in a row just as two once-in-a-generation type talents are availaible instead of Kwame Brown?
#3 by alexva - April 13th, 2010 at 07:37
Compared to SS, how do you see his total signing package? 50%, 100% or $150%. He has more uncertainty but he has much more bargaining power.
#4 by cjrugger - April 13th, 2010 at 08:05
AMEN! Make it happen
I say he beats Tex (9.5) but not Stras
#5 by Sec 204 Row H Seat 7 - April 13th, 2010 at 08:44
If a college bat pops into the picture, things might change. NATS apparently believe Harper would be ready for the bigs in two years as opposed to me thinking 3 or 4. Signabiliy should not be an issue, Rizzo and Boras seem to work well together.
#6 by Nate - April 13th, 2010 at 08:57
Meaning Rizzo gives Boras what he wants.
#7 by Marcus - April 13th, 2010 at 08:58
I think he signs a 12 million dollar bonus richest ever given to a HS hitter.
#8 by cjrugger - April 13th, 2010 at 09:24
http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/college/?p=3027
AL scout says Harper is decent in CF due to his athleticism, sounds like RF or 3B would be good fall backs if C doesnt work out
#9 by estuartj - April 13th, 2010 at 10:42
Nate: “Meaning Rizzo gives Boras what he wants.”
Is that a problem? I wish Crow had been represented by Boras, he’d have gotten more money and actually signed.
Boras clients get top dollar, and torture owners/GMs, but they DO SIGN.
#10 by joNAThan - April 13th, 2010 at 10:43
This is seemingly a no-brainer. From what I have read (from Law and friends) there are no premium college bats this year and Renaudo is a risk with his elbow. Tallion might be interesting, but given the Nats lack of premium position players and the performance he is displaying as a 17 yo in college, Harper should be the choice. Heyward is what, 20? Harper could be in DC by 2013, depending on his development. And who cares what position he plays, if Dunn can be on the field, so can Harper.
#11 by estuartj - April 13th, 2010 at 10:49
BTW Nat’s front office gave a straight retraction via Ladson at nationals.com. Sounds like whoever pulled masn into the loop was ahead of the story.
#12 by Sec 204 Row H Seat 7 - April 13th, 2010 at 11:46
@Nate
No, Rizzo gets Boras to come around to what Rizzo wants to give.
#13 by Offense/offensive - April 13th, 2010 at 12:44
Harper seems like he is head and shoulders above the other available players- while I can understand the feeling that we should take a player that is closer to the big leagues to improve the team sooner, for the long term benefit of the team I hope we take the best player. Besides, if Harper tears up minor league pitchers the way he is tearing through JuCo pitchers (at 17 yrs old), then he might not be that far away from the majors anyway.
#14 by Greg - April 13th, 2010 at 13:23
I’m impressed the most about his ability to make adjustments. (To JUCO pitching and using the wood bat)
#15 by Pilchard - April 13th, 2010 at 13:51
Don’t think its fair to say that Rizzo give Boras whatever he wants. SS wanted to sign, and Boras got the Nats to go as high as they were willing to go, but the Nats did not roll over for Boras.
Similarly, Bryce Harper is desperate to play pro baseball. Hence, the decision to get his GED and play JUCO in a wood bat league. Boras will hold Harper out until the August 15 deadline, but a deal will get done (for less than SS, but as stated above it will set a MLB draft record for HS player).
Just supposition, but if anything, I think that Boras is less inclined to go “hard-ass” on the Nats because he thinks that they have been fair to his clients in the past. Don’t think that means that the Nats get a discount, but I don’t think he will go out of his way to try to screw the Nats either like he has to some other franchises.
#16 by Scott - April 13th, 2010 at 14:14
Yeah, I would think this would be actually an easier negotiation than the Strasburg negotiation. Everyone knew Strasburg was going to get the biggest package (bonus plus guaranteed salary) ever, but no one knew how much higher it would be than Mark Prior at $10.5 million.
Whereas Harper will almost certainly get more than Teixeira did ($9.5 million) just because of his youth and negotiating power since he can go back to school another few years, but he will also certainly get less than Strasburg, a sure thing who will likely be blowing up the majors by the time Harper is trying to sign. No way you can say a 17-year old is worth as much as a guy who took less than one season in the minors to become your best pitcher on the major league team.
So I think the lower bound is pretty clearly $9.5 million with the upper bound being pretty clearly $15 million. It won’t be a hard negotiation unless Boras tries to get the Nats to top the Strasburg deal.
#17 by estuartj - April 13th, 2010 at 14:35
It’s pretty clear to me that Harper will sign (at 11:59:59 on 8/15), he has too much to gain – and way too much to lose. This is a mediocre draft class and he’s head and shoulders above it. A year from now he might have struggled, others might “catch” him in development.
He can threaten to go back to JuCo (or D1 too), but he doesn’t WANT to do that. He could lag (as I stated above) or there could be hard slotting system coming so all arrows point to going pro now – thus a deal will get done, IMO something north of $10M signing bonus on a big league deal.
And despite what many are saying about him being 2-3 years away from the bigs I think he’ll move to RF and be up late in ‘11.
#18 by Wally - April 13th, 2010 at 15:05
I agree with estuartj that there are real incentives for harper to sign this year, which he acknowledged by rushing towards the GED to become eligible for this draft. Plus, the 2011 draft reputedly is loaded, so the delta between him and the field will narrow considerably, if not eclipse him.
he seems like the right pick (although taillon is very interesting), but it will pain me if they go cheap with the rest of the draft again.
#19 by Toast - April 13th, 2010 at 16:12
Just saw on the Carolina League Transactions that Cory Van Allen was sent from Harrisburg to Potomac and that Pat McCoy and Justin Phillabaum were suspended?
#20 by MiLB Fan - April 13th, 2010 at 16:28
VanAllen was in extended to finesse a few things. Potomac is just a stopping point, not an end point.
#21 by Chris - April 13th, 2010 at 19:54
How do you figure? Stras got significantly less that what it was assumed he’d get. And no, I’m not talking about $50 mill, I’m talking about the low $20 mill figures.
#22 by peric - April 13th, 2010 at 23:46
In other news, Kobernus appears to be shredding the “sally league” , he is currently hitting .564. Have to wonder if Potomac or even Harrisburg is on the horizon for this guy. ‘pears to be another good choice for Rizzo.
#23 by Russ - April 14th, 2010 at 00:52
Could we see Harper take a few swings in September? Because of the business part of baseball…maybe not…
#24 by RD - April 14th, 2010 at 01:16
I would hope we get Harper signed as early as possible. Get him as many hacks in Florida as possible this year. Then he has a little understanding of what he’ll deal with next year at Hagerstown. The more AB’s this year, the better.
#25 by Jeff E. - April 14th, 2010 at 01:57
Last time we saw somebody shread a league like Kobernus was John VanderWal….
#26 by Jeff - April 14th, 2010 at 18:49
Stephen Strasburg & Bryce Harper in back to back years. Am I dreaming? Maybe all the awful baseball in D.C. these past few years was all worth it :)
#27 by Hardball - April 14th, 2010 at 21:09
Isn’t it a little early to be sending Kobernus to Cooperstown? He’s got less that 20 ABs in the SAL, let’s let him settle in a while. He’s off to a hot start, that’s great! There will be a few bumps too, gotta see how he works thru those just like any player.
#28 by hleeo3 - April 15th, 2010 at 00:21
Kobernus should be in Potomac now.