It's a good week to be a Nationals fan. Just a day before Stephen Strasburg is expected to make his MLB debut, the Nationals selected their next top prospect with the first overall pick of the Rule 4 draft. As expected, GM Mike Rizzo and scouting director Kris Kline decided on Bryce Harper, a power-hitting teenager from Nevada.
Last year, the Nationals drafted Strasburg first overall and added Drew Storen later in the first round. Those two pitchers provide Harper with a tough act to follow, but the scouting reports suggest his play will justify the hype. The buzz started last year, when Harper appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a 16-year-old, and it hasn't stopped. But Harper played so well that draft experts and scouts continued raving about the Southern Nevada Junior College product.
Harper, a 17-year-old who plays catcher, outfield and third, won't be catching for long if adviser Scott Boras has his way. However, Kline told MASN.com's Ben Goessling that "there's a chance [Harper] stays behind the plate." In their official press release, the Nationals referred to Harper as an outfielder.
Despite questions about Harper's character, Kline says it's important to consider everything Harper has had to manage at such a young age.
"I think he's handled it tremendously," Kline said. "I think he's a good kid."
The Nationals have until August 16th to negotiate a deal with Harper and Boras. Since Harper's deal will presumably be worth close to $10MM and could exceed the record Mark Teixeira set for position players ($9.5MM), the Nationals may face pressure from MLB not to announce the terms of the agreement even if they reach one before August.
Harper's older brother Bryan is also draft-eligible this year, so a second Harper could be selected before long.
What is his brother’s skill-set?
Not nearly as good as his.
His brother is a pitcher i thought .
HARPER WENT #1?!?!?! SERIOUSLY!?!?!?!
“It’s a good week to be a Nationals fan.” Nationals fans never have good weeks.
Bryan harper has a fast ball that touches 90 mph and a good breaking ball scouts say
he went 10-1 with a era of 2.18 record of10-1 15 games 10 started 15-10 0 complete games 1 save 57.2 innings 41 hits 22 runs 14 earn runs 25 walks 88 strikeouts batters hit .194 off of him
I read somewhere that Bryce has a fastball in the low-mid 90’s as well, seriously. The kid can play any position…Nats could be very interesting in 2012 if Zim can stay healthy and they can get one more pitcher (Cliff Lee) to join the club.
Im talking about his brother Bryan not bryce
I know you were, I was just saying I read that Bryce can also pitch is all….jeesh. Yeah, you’re right Crawford, Lee, and any other “type A” free agent is pretty much a Yankee.
Sorry about the misunderstanding , but yea bryce and throw in the mind 90-s, No im saying Cliff Lee cause about every media outlet says it also and the yanks said they love him and if Andy retires then you can almost guarantee it
What team wouldn’t say they love cliff lee lol? Besides the point, why would the Yankees want to sign another 30+ pitcher to a longterm deal?
he is 31 i think? well give hima 4 year deal for like 70 million with options on the 5 year but personally i would rather see Andy come back and have joba take Javier spot if they still think he could start which i do even though he is really struggling and then sign a secondary pitcher not a big named guy
And Bryce is going to lay the outfield i hear and cliff is pretty much going to the yankees
I am amazed that no one picked Austin Wilson from Harvard Westlake High School. I went to Stanford and I am happy to see him play there. But I have to believe that if a team offers him a deal worth over $5 million he will go straight to professional baseball. I think Austin is maybe the third best position player in the draft.
Can we stop using the word Product when referring to a Person ???
Dehumanizing.
Sorry, sensitive comment of the day.
Man, Soylent Green must have really scarred you.
-1
I cant wait until Harper is in the bigs so we can see how much major league pitching he can actually hit. Im pulling for him until he says something real conceited…
Okay lets for the last time class get this one thing straight, Joba Chamberlain is not a starting pitcher. I love how that one clueless guy said “Oh and you can tell after two years… blah blah I know nothing about baseball”. How many years do you want to give him before you can see he wont work out in the rotation? Now maybe its a case like Kennedy where he needs to go somewhere else outside of the New York spot light before he can be an effective starter. He has a fastball with movement and an “electric slider”. That is a recipe for a very good shut down 8th-9th inning pitcher.