Who'll be the biggest star in Washington not named Barack Obama for the next eight years?
Of course Stephen Strasburg right? Not so fast, Nats fans. Remember the name Bryce Harper, for he and Strasburg are your only hopes in turning this thing around.
Bryce Harper is a 16 year old catcher out of Las Vegas high school. That's right, he's 16, and he very well would have gone ahead of Strasburg in this year's draft if he was eligible. Search his name on Google for highlight reels.
He bats left and plays catcher or third base. He also pitches a little bit.
He's launched homers as far as 570 ft. when he was 15, and, in a tournament that was meant for players much older than him, he went 12-12—with 11 home runs.
He takes batting practice with beans. The little red beans you see in soup.
His bat speed is faster than the likes of Barry Bonds, and he has a cannon behind the plate.
If that weren't enough, he throws up to 96 mph, and scores from second on a wild pitch.
Once again, he is 16.
He is easily baseball's version of LeBron James—a freakishly talented prodigy of the game. And, he could be available in 2010.
Apparently, according to SI, his parents are considering letting him earn a GED credential this summer and enroll him in a junior college next year. He'll be exposed to better baseball while also earning the credentials to be eligible for the 2010 draft—the draft which the Nats are on a fast track to secure the No. 1 pick in.
The money the Nationals will invest in Strasburg and Harper could easily top $100 million, with Scott Boras representing both.
Read this article for more information on Harper: http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1156215/1/index.htm
Just imagine the tag team of Harper and Strasburg.
No runners would be able to steal. No one. Ever.
It's the dominance of a Tom Brady and Randy Moss—Adrian Peterson or the Steelers D. LeBron James or Dwight Howard. Or, five Tiger Woods' against the field. Yeah, he's that good.
I don't even know how to describe the amount of greatness we will see at Nationals Park.
Maybe the two will just take over and name it Harpsburg Stadium, or something like that.
All this being said, I doubt it brings them a championship. The Nationals brass is too inept to make good decisions.
That being said, add a GM like Epstein, Friedman, Zduriencik, Stoneman, Jocketty, Beane etc. that have a proven track record of smart decisions and signing low risk/high reward players (ahem, Russell Branyan) and developing talent to surround Harper and Strasburg, this is a dominant team.
Dominant like the early millennium Patriots and Lakers, dominant like the '50s Yankees and the Big Red Machine, dominant like early Celtics and Packers, dominant like Nicklaus.
Nationals fans, your future may be looking up.
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