Bryce Harper Signs with the Nationals

Even if you aren't a fan of the Washington Nationals, you have to appreciate the stellar performance of General Manager Mike Rizzo. Over the past year, Rizzo and the Nationals management have been adding some of the very best baseball people in the game. Together they have turned the Washington Nationals from the joke they were as the Montreal Expos into a team destined to be a power in the sport.

Late last night, Mike Rizzo and the Nationals did what Jim Bowden never could, for the second year in a row. They signed the first overall pick in the draft, a Scott Boras client, to a record setting contract. Again, It was the second year in a row. Now it may not seem like a good thing that an organization was so bad that they received the prize reserved for the very worse. But it is when you consider the depths that the Nationals have risen from.

The Expos had been stripped of all resources. The prospects had been traded off in a last ditch effort to win. The staff and all its scouting reports and equipment was all taken to Florida when the Jeff Loria ownership group with the approval of MLB screwed them. The went years without a real budget. They did everything on a shoestring until the new ownership finally took over. Meanwhile Jim Bowden had failed to make good use of the resources he did have. Instead, he did the same thing he always did, he collected toolsy but skill less outfielders, and did his best to reassemble the Reds team he once failed to turn into a winner.

Now the Nats have a farm system loaded with young but advancing talent. They have a small but strong core of young players in the majors. And they have a front office that can deliver the goods and an ownership group ready to do what it takes to build a winner. They proved that when they approved a $9.9 million deal to bring the talented 17-year old Bryce Harper into the organization.

Bryce Harper has been called baseball's LeBron [James]. Though that is not quite the compliment it used to be after the Event. He has been the star of his high school, summer tournaments, and most recently at the College of Southern Nevada. He has graced the cover of Sports Illustrated twice and I'm predicting a third appearance next week.

He has a rocket for a throwing arm and apparently would have been a fine defensive catcher eventually, depending on whose word you trust most. However in an effort to get Harper into the middle of the Nationals lineup as soon as possible, he will be moved to the outfield.

What's next for Bryce Harper and how soon until he joins Stephen Strasburg in the majors?

The Nationals believe that Harper is a middle-of-the-lineup hitter of the highest potential. His power is at the top of the scale and he has ever tool you could hope to see in a baseball prospect. But this isn't just a good prospect. Harper is one of the special ones. The opinions on him are nearly unanimous that he will hit and hit for power. He has worked at it for his entire life. It is only a slight exaggeration (if it is at all) to say that it would be more surprising to see him fail than to become a productive major league player.

Bryce Harper Skipping High School for 2010 Draft

According to a report in USA Today, Bryce Harper will skip his last two years of high school and enroll in community college with hopes of becoming eligible for the 2010 Amateur Draft. Harper was recently profiled in a Sports Illustrated cover story. I put together a few interesting bits on Harper recently.

From USA Today:

Harper plans to take a high school equivalency test and enter the draft in 2010 or 2011, Ron Harper said.

"Bryce is always looking for his next challenge," Ron Harper said. He's going to pursue his education, too. He's going to get pushed academically and athletically."

Harper hit .626 with 14 homers, 55 RBI and 36 steals last season for Las Vegas High School.

His photo is on the cover of the June 8 issue of Sports Illustrated, along with a headline that compares him to LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball star who received superstar hype in high school before getting picked first in the 2003 NBA draft.

Ron Harper said his son pushed to leave high school early.

"He was thinking about it, he initiated it," the father said. "He said, 'Dad, why can't I take my GED and do this?"'

Players become eligible for the draft at age 16 if they have completed high school.

A Name to Know: Bryce Harper

By now, assuming you read as many blogs as I do, or maybe you just watch ESPN's Sportscenter during the blog talk segment, you have to already know the name Bryce Harper. This is the kid who is featured on the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated. I didn't know a hell of a lot more than you about Harper until this morning. That is when I read just about every article I could find (old and new) about this high school catcher and freakishly talented boy being compared to Ken Griffey Jr. and LeBron James. The kid prefers to be compared to LeBron James.

Now I'm convinced that every fantasy owner should also know this name. I get crazy about prospects but aside from the occasional blurb in Baseball America I had not bothered to look into him. I'm not going to translate for you I'm just going to link you to a series of articles and a embed a video that should speak quite loudly.

Remember This Name - By Rich Lederer

Let me introduce you to the No. 1 pick in the 2011 amateur draft . . . Bryce Harper. I know, that particular draft won't take place for three more years. As such, how in the world could I make this type of a prediction now? Well, if you watched the 15-year-old, lefthanded-hitting catcher take batting practice, infield, and two plate appearances on Tuesday at the Area Code Games, as I did, then I have no doubt that you would be as enthusiastic about this phenom as I am. Harper has a power bat and a plus throwing arm that "already grades out to 70 on the 20 to 80 scouting scale," according to Dave Perkin of Baseball America. During infield prior to the game, Harper, in full gear, rifled the ball out of a crouch to second and third base with precision. Upon seeing him in action, I marked down "+ + arm" next to his name in my program. Although the rap on him is that he's not all that fast, I thought he ran very well from home to third on that triple, especially considering his age, size, and power. The kid is nothing if not impressive.

While I didn't witness Harper during the SPARQ (acronym for Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction, Quickness) testing that morning, he earned a score of 63.93, the 54th highest total out of 178 participants. It was the fourth-highest rating among the 25 underclassmen. Interestingly, he ran a 3.91 in the 30-yard dash, ranking in the top 10% in that category.

Revisiting Bryce Harper - By Rich Lederer

Harper made some more noise earlier this month at the third annual International Power Showcase High School Home Run Derby at St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field. Although Harper didn't win the contest, according to Baseball America's Nathan Rode, the tenth grader "played the part of Josh Hamilton" while Christian Walker, a third baseman from Kennedy-Kenrick Catholic High in Norristown, Pennsylvania "served the role of Justin Morneau."

Baseball's Lebron - Tom Verducci

When James was 16, he was a high school sophomore with an NBA game and a body to match. Harper has been compared to Justin Upton, Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr., each a freakishly advanced high school player and each the top overall pick of his draft. But Harper, say the baseball men who are paid to make such assessments, has the ability as a sophomore that the aforementioned trio had as seniors. That is why Harper—to his own approval—is best compared to James. Indeed, Harper nearly fell off the couch one day last month when he heard a sports announcer call San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg, the presumptive No. 1 pick in next week's draft, "the LeBron James of baseball."