Bryce Harper

[illiniguy]

Ben Goessling of MASN reports that the Nationals plan to select 17-year-old catcher Bryce Harper in this year's first-year player draft.

There has been some speculation that the Nats would look elsewhere, since a handful of scouts are down on Harper. But Goessling hears that the Nationals see the youngster as being "head and shoulders" above the rest of the upcoming draft's talent pool. Harper is batting .422/.516/.891 with 15 homers and 42 RBI through 39 games at the College of Southern Nevada.

If you had to pick two years to really be awful, these were probably the two.

[sweetpeteman]

Ben Goessling of MASN reports that the Nationals plan to select 17-year-old catcher Bryce Harper in this year's first-year player draft.

There has been some speculation that the Nats would look elsewhere, since a handful of scouts are down on Harper. But Goessling hears that the Nationals see the youngster as being "head and shoulders" above the rest of the upcoming draft's talent pool. Harper is batting .422/.516/.891 with 15 homers and 42 RBI through 39 games at the College of Southern Nevada.

If you had to pick two years to really be awful, these were probably the two.

 

 

Yeah, and fortunately for them, Jim Bowden got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, so now they might have a half-competent GM.

[videographer]

I found this from a Baseball Prospectus article:

 

The Makeup: This should not be underrated. It's impossible to find any talent evaluator who isn't blown away by Harper's ability on the field, but it's equally difficult to find one who doesn't genuinely dislike the kid. One scout called him among the worst amateur players he's ever seen from a makeup standpoint, with top-of-the-scale arrogance, a disturbingly large sense of entitlement, and on-field behavior that includes taunting opponents. "He's just a bad, bad guy," said one front-office official. "He's basically the anti-Joe Mauer." How this plays into the negotiation or future evaluation is yet to be determined, as history has shown us that the bigger talent a player is, the more makeup issues teams will deal with. Bench players can't afford to be problems, but plenty of teams happily put up with difficult superstars.

 

He sounds like a future headache for the team that drafts him.

[A-Cal]

I found this from a Baseball Prospectus article:

 

The Makeup: This should not be underrated. It's impossible to find any talent evaluator who isn't blown away by Harper's ability on the field, but it's equally difficult to find one who doesn't genuinely dislike the kid. One scout called him among the worst amateur players he's ever seen from a makeup standpoint, with top-of-the-scale arrogance, a disturbingly large sense of entitlement, and on-field behavior that includes taunting opponents. "He's just a bad, bad guy," said one front-office official. "He's basically the anti-Joe Mauer." How this plays into the negotiation or future evaluation is yet to be determined, as history has shown us that the bigger talent a player is, the more makeup issues teams will deal with. Bench players can't afford to be problems, but plenty of teams happily put up with difficult superstars.

 

He sounds like a future headache for the team that drafts him.

 

So, another A-Rod?

[javy knows my name]

I found this from a Baseball Prospectus article:

 

The Makeup: This should not be underrated. It's impossible to find any talent evaluator who isn't blown away by Harper's ability on the field, but it's equally difficult to find one who doesn't genuinely dislike the kid. One scout called him among the worst amateur players he's ever seen from a makeup standpoint, with top-of-the-scale arrogance, a disturbingly large sense of entitlement, and on-field behavior that includes taunting opponents. "He's just a bad, bad guy," said one front-office official. "He's basically the anti-Joe Mauer." How this plays into the negotiation or future evaluation is yet to be determined, as history has shown us that the bigger talent a player is, the more makeup issues teams will deal with. Bench players can't afford to be problems, but plenty of teams happily put up with difficult superstars.

 

He sounds like a future headache for the team that drafts him.

 

So, another A-Rod?

 

Uhhhhh.

 

No?

[OleMissCub]

I found this from a Baseball Prospectus article:

 

The Makeup: This should not be underrated. It's impossible to find any talent evaluator who isn't blown away by Harper's ability on the field, but it's equally difficult to find one who doesn't genuinely dislike the kid. One scout called him among the worst amateur players he's ever seen from a makeup standpoint, with top-of-the-scale arrogance, a disturbingly large sense of entitlement, and on-field behavior that includes taunting opponents. "He's just a bad, bad guy," said one front-office official. "He's basically the anti-Joe Mauer." How this plays into the negotiation or future evaluation is yet to be determined, as history has shown us that the bigger talent a player is, the more makeup issues teams will deal with. Bench players can't afford to be problems, but plenty of teams happily put up with difficult superstars.

 

He sounds like a future headache for the team that drafts him.

 

One of the guys on deadspin pretty much summed up my attitude about that article:

 

Of course he's arrogant. So is every great baseball player ever, even Joe Mauer, who simply hides it better. You know who's the truly arrogant one here, though? The front-office guy who feels he's qualified to condemn a 17-year-old's humanity on account of the kid not saying aw-shucks enough.

[Garwilly]

I found this from a Baseball Prospectus article:

 

The Makeup: This should not be underrated. It's impossible to find any talent evaluator who isn't blown away by Harper's ability on the field, but it's equally difficult to find one who doesn't genuinely dislike the kid. One scout called him among the worst amateur players he's ever seen from a makeup standpoint, with top-of-the-scale arrogance, a disturbingly large sense of entitlement, and on-field behavior that includes taunting opponents. "He's just a bad, bad guy," said one front-office official. "He's basically the anti-Joe Mauer." How this plays into the negotiation or future evaluation is yet to be determined, as history has shown us that the bigger talent a player is, the more makeup issues teams will deal with. Bench players can't afford to be problems, but plenty of teams happily put up with difficult superstars.

 

He sounds like a future headache for the team that drafts him.

 

One of the guys on deadspin pretty much summed up my attitude about that article:

 

Of course he's arrogant. So is every great baseball player ever, even Joe Mauer, who simply hides it better. You know who's the truly arrogant one here, though? The front-office guy who feels he's qualified to condemn a 17-year-old's humanity on account of the kid not saying aw-shucks enough.

 

I have no problem calling a child a "brat". This one just happens to be 17, and some guys are calling him a brat.