Bryce Harper...

[Surfah]

Got the Rays and Sox instead. Eff.

You missed him gun down Uggla at the plate.

[il Padrino Ute]

Got the Rays and Sox instead. Eff.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions/

If you can afford it, this will solve the problem.

[MarkGrace]

Got the Rays and Sox instead. Eff.

[Surfah]

Nats on national tv today.

Harper is playing great ball right now. I wish Clippard and Storen could throw strikes last night.

[MarkGrace]

Nats on national tv today.

[MarkGrace]

4th bomb tonight. Off to a great start.

[MarkGrace]

God is good! #blessed

Happy Easter to all! Church was great with the Mom and @kayvarner! Missing @bharpsis4534, @BryanHarper45, and pops!#EasterSunday #Christ

https://twitter.com/Bharper3407

When you're living right on and off the field....

Going to see him play live for the first time this summer. Pretty excited about it.

[MarkGrace]

Read that his girl transferred from BYU. Lame!

[smokymountainrain]

Looks like Harper hit a 2 run shot in the top of the 3rd today. Nats lead 4-1.

[MarkGrace]

"You're going to get a fiery guy no matter if I'm sick, hurt or on my deathbed," he adds. "The fans expect that. They buy tickets because they want to see you play hard every night. That is what they are going to get out of me. This organization deserves that. The city deserves that.

"I am going to do that for the rest of my life. It doesn't matter if I'm 40 years old or not. It's not about the money. I love this game, and I never will disrespect it. It's about doing what players did back in the day."

[Rickomatic]

'I want to change the game'

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...antle/2029681/

[MarkGrace]

Group 19: The Debate

Bryce Harper vs. Mike Trout
The newly minted Rookies of the Year have drawn comparisons to Bird and Magic, their own legendary rookie seasons, and the hoop duo's subsequent transformation of the NBA into the relentless cash cow it is today. There's not a baseball fan alive who doesn't believe both players will be megastars of the highest order, the kind of rare talents you'll go out of your way to watch, the kind of players who can rewrite a franchise's history. Pat Listach and Bob Hamelin they are not.

Still, there would seem to be a clear pecking order here. Trout just put up the best season by any under-21 position player in baseball history; Harper was about as good as Miguel Montero. They were both rookies, Trout was much better in his rookie season, ergo Trout wins.

Or does he? Harper is 14 months younger than Trout. If we're talking about late-30s middle relievers near the end of the line, that age gap means nothing. Considering Harper just completed his age-19 season, it could mean a hell of a lot. Consider these stat lines:

Ken Griffey Jr.
Age-19 Season: 127 games, .264/.329/.420, 2.8 WAR
Age-20 Season: 155 games, .300/.366/.481, 5.3 WAR

Mel Ott
Age-19 Season: 124 games, .322/.397/.524, 4.6 WAR
Age-20 Season: 150 games, .328/.449/.635, 8.9 WAR

Alex Rodriguez
Age-19 Season: 48 games, .232/.264/.408, -0.2 WAR
Age-20 Season: 146 games, .358/.414/.631, 9.8 WAR

There are other examples, though not as many as you'd like to form a big sample, since we're talking about Hall of Fame–level players who broke in as teenagers, a double rarity. Still, we might be a year away from Harper putting up the kind of season Trout just did in his age-20 campaign. There are other factors working in Harper's favor, too, from a 1.043 OPS in September and October that might point to serious progress in his approach (though it might've simply been random variance) to Trout's likely unsustainable .383 batting average on balls in play last season to word out of Anaheim that Trout might get shifted to left field even though he's a Gold Glove–echelon center fielder — a move that might very well hurt his overall value. Harper's final trump card is this: The Nationals get to keep him for six more years, while the Angels get Trout for only five.

After all that, there's still no getting around the notion that the best player in baseball just celebrated his 21st birthday. If we're lucky, the next 15 years will play out just like Bird vs. Magic, where both players claim the title of best of the best before one finally wins it for good years later. Until then, Bryce Harper is no. 2, and Mike Trout is no. 1.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...aseball-part-2

[Surfah]

There seems to be some momentum behind them going after Bourne if they can't get a deal with LaRoche. Sounds like a lot of AL teams are interested in LaRoche, so we may still see a killer outfield of Werth, Harper, and Bourne.

Bourn would be a nice addition. Especially because the Nats would be taking him from the Braves. He'd be better in the leadoff position than Werth. Maybe Werth goes to 5th in the lineup after Bryce, Zimm and Morse? He's got wheels and is aggressive on the bases which is what the Nats like to do.

Who takes over first though? Morse? Moore? La Roche would be missed. I think they need his veteran experience.

[DrumNFeather]

You know in 2009 when the Nats took Strasburg #1 overall they also had the #10 pick which they took Drew Storen with. Trout was still on the board. The Nats could have had Harper and Trout in the OF. That would be sick.

There seems to be some momentum behind them going after Bourne if they can't get a deal with LaRoche. Sounds like a lot of AL teams are interested in LaRoche, so we may still see a killer outfield of Werth, Harper, and Bourne.

[UtahDan]

You know in 2009 when the Nats took Strasburg #1 overall they also had the #10 pick which they took Drew Storen with. Trout was still on the board. The Nats could have had Harper and Trout in the OF. That would be sick.

Although Storen was awesome last year...except for the last game.