Bryce Harper: Future LDS #1 MLB Draft Pick

[Indy Coug]

Now playing in junior college at the age of 17.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today...10/269457.html

[cougjunkie]

He hit a homerun in his 4th at bat the other day.

[DrumNFeather]

He'll be a great addition to the Nationals.

[DU Ute]

Autographed baseball card sold for almost $800

http://cgi.ebay.com/2009-Upper-Deck-...#ht_500wt_1182

[il Padrino Ute]

I've seen a bit of film on this kid and he's as good as advertised. His offensive skills are really emphasized, but his defense is very, very, good.

Whoever gets him - and it sounds like it's going to be the Nationals - the organization is going to be set at catcher for many years, if they're willing to pay him.

[Hot Lunch]

So will he be eligible for the draft this summer?

[il Padrino Ute]

So will he be eligible for the draft this summer?

My understanding is that he will be eligible.

He was smart to play in a JC league that uses wood bats. That will be one less thing for him to do when he makes the transition to the pros.

[MarkGrace]

I was talking to my old man this morning (he follows the draft much closer than I do as his Pirates are always picking near the top) and apparently he's not a total slam dunk for the #1 pick right now. Word is some scouts feel like he has too much noise in his swing and have defensive flaws that leave him without a solid position right now. He could still go #1, but they're saying he's not the slam dunk Strasburg was. I guess even BA had him at #5 in their first mock draft. Some excerpts from an article written earlier this week.

Four months from the draft, it's no sure thing that Harper will be the No. 1 pick. He's not Stephen Strasburg yet.

"I don't think it's a lock that he's the best talent in the draft," the scout said. "He's definitely one of the best. I think the unfortunate thing for the kid is there's no way he can live up to the hype."

Defensively, he started at third and made a throwing error that cost his team a couple runs. The next day he was behind the plate, and showed some mechanical flaws that might be tough to overcome. So far in Harper's young career he's best-known as a catcher, but it's still possible that he winds up as a third baseman or an outfielder.

One scout who saw him for the first time this weekend said Harper is good, but still has to answer a lot of questions over the next four months.

"I don't think he's the No. 1 player in the country," the scout said. "He's one of the best players in the country. I think the season will tell us who the best player in the country is. He's one of the best."

Chambers admitted as much before the weekend, saying that Harper still has some work to do with his swing. Harper has a little kick and bend to his front leg as he loads up. Chambers said that had become more exaggerated over 2009. He could get away with it against the pitching he faced in high school, but during summer tournaments and in the fall at CSN, he had actually started to fail. He struck out four times in an intrasquad game, and showed up in Chambers' office wondering if he had made the right decision to skip his final two years of high school.

http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/02/01/b...d-college-try/

[MartyFunkhouser]

I was talking to my old man this morning (he follows the draft much closer than I do as his Pirates are always picking near the top) and apparently he's not a total slam dunk for the #1 pick right now. Word is some scouts feel like he has too much noise in his swing and have defensive flaws that leave him without a solid position right now. He could still go #1, but they're saying he's not the slam dunk Strasburg was. I guess even BA had him at #5 in their first mock draft. Some excerpts from an article written earlier this week.

I'm sure that the ability to sign him will also factor into the equation on whether or not he goes first in the draft. If he signs with Boras it could cause him to slip. I wouldn't be surprised to see this kid as a Boras client.

[MarkGrace]

He's already with Boras.

[DrumNFeather]

He's already with Boras.

I think the Nats will be influenced the same way they were last year with Strasburg. They don't want to be the team that passed on the phenom.

[MarkGrace]

Doubts about phenom Bryce Harper

Tim Tebow must haunt some NFL evaluators these days. He is the draft-eligible quarterback who promises to make you look either really smart or really dumb, because he is so well-known to casual fans, because his athleticism and his leadership skills are so well-known, and because his mechanical flaws have been so detailed.

Imagine if you're running the Jacksonville Jaguars and you pass on a couple of opportunities to take the Florida Gators product in the draft -- and then, in a couple of years, he cleans up his throwing motion and becomes a star in the NFL, a Tom Brady-like figure. Forevermore, you will have to listen to this: How in the world could you pass up Tebow? Everybody knew he was a monster athlete and a leader of men.

And, on the other hand, if you are running the Jags and you reach to take him, and he fails to develop, then you will get wrecked in the court of public opinion with this: What, are you an idiot? Everybody knew his throwing motion was a problem.

Well, in June, some baseball general managers and scouting directors are going to face their own Tim Tebow quandary, and his name is Bryce Harper.

The young slugging catcher made the cover of Sports Illustrated last year, and given his set of tools and skills, there was an attempt to co-opt the notion that Harper, and not Stephen Strasburg, was the LeBron James of amateur baseball. Because of Harper's tremendous bat speed, his size, his raw power.

But with Strasburg, as with LeBron James, there was no doubt: He was the best pitching prospect anybody could remember. Harper, on the other hand, has become a figure of great debate in the scouting community. Yes, the tremendous bat speed is there -- and yes, scouts are noting privately that Harper tends to swing and miss a whole lot more than great young hitters usually do. So far this spring, while playing at Southern Nevada, a junior college, he has 15 strikeouts in 56 at-bats and is hitting .356.

Joe Mauer's swing, as a high school kid, was smooth, easy, natural. Harper's swing, some scouts are saying, is violent, with the mechanics of his legs and hips a concern.

The scouts see how hard he plays; one scout compared his playing style to that of Kirk Gibson. But they wonder if he will be a guy who tries too hard, and whether he will cope with the inherent failure in baseball, given the pressure that he will face.

Yes, he is big -- but the scouts wonder if he is too big, and if the hype about him came too quickly.

Scouts see reasons why the Washington Nationals could take him with the first pick in the draft. But on the other hand, scouts also see reasons why they would pass. "Last year, at this time, there was no doubt -- Strasburg was far and away the best player in the draft," said one talent evaluator. "I don't think that's the case here."

In truth, Harper scares some evaluators -- to the point that some teams are hoping that some other team, like the Nationals, takes him early in the draft. Because they recognize the possibility that Harper could become a star, and they don't want to listen to years of second-guessing for their decision to pass on him.

He figures to go somewhere in the top 10 picks in the draft. He might go first; he might fall. And as with Tebow, someone is going to look very smart or very dumb, because his potential strengths and flaws are all on the table for everyone to see.

[ame="http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog?name=olney_buster"]Buster Olney Blog - ESPN[/ame]

[MartyFunkhouser]

All the talk of this kid reminds me of the talk about Billy Beane as a prospect in Moneyball.

[cougjunkie]

Bryce Harper is playing for COllege of Southern Nevada who is actually in the same region as SLCC and CEU.

My nephew pitched against him over the weekend and gave up a bomb from Harper that he says has not landed yet. Harper hit 4 homeruns during the 4 game series he is now batting .431 with 12 homeruns and 40 rbis.

Everyone on CEUs team said he is a total dick and that they were up 13-2 in the last inning of one game and he is throwing behind runners and trying to show off his gun. They also said that he has a routine longer than Nomars when he steps in to the box.

College of Southern Nevada plays at SLCC on May 7th and 8th (Doubleheaders both days) if any of the Utah locals want to see him in person.

[Indy Coug]

They also said that he has a routine longer than Nomars when he steps in to the box.

So why don't they plunk him?