Never mind
by WTM on Feb 4, 2010 8:59 AM EST
Email
PrintAfter Neal Huntington made some ambiguous comments about Bryce Harper at Piratefest, the PG reported that he'd said Harper didn't rank among the Pirates top ten for the draft.
General manager Neal Huntington made a striking pronouncement on the 2010 draft yesterday by telling the PirateFest crowd that Bryce Harper, the Las Vegas catcher dubbed "Baseball's LeBron" by Sports Illustrated last June, is not currently among the Pirates' top 10.
Not everybody interpreted Huntington's comments that way, including, it turns out, the guy who asked the question to which Huntington was responding:
I'm the guy that asked the "Harper Question" that caused so much debate over the past week. What also gets overlooked is the fact that Neil just got done being grilled by the guy before me for not taking Miguel Sano. The guy layed into him pretty hard and he didn't really have time to collect his thoughts when I asked about Harper. I was very satisfied with his answer and my take on NH's response was exactly that which is presented here by Chuck... He's skeptical of Harper's label, but he's gonna have his boys do work on him and if come draft time, it appears Harper lives up to his hype, he'll take him, but right now it's not an automatic decision.
Chuck Finder's take--which appears to be based on further input from Huntington, although it's not clear--appears in the same blog post:
The general manager was not saying Saturday at PirateFest that ballyhooed Bryce Harper ranked No. 9, No. 10 or worse on their draft board. Rather, he was saying, while trying to be somewhat confidential, careful and diplomatic all at once, that the 17-year-old prospect is such an unfinished riddle that he and his scouting staff couldn't definitively assess right now where the kid should get selected in next June's draft.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the managing editor (Charlie) or SB Nation. FanPosts are written by Bucs Dugout readers.
19 comments
|
1 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Good lord, is it time for pitchers and catchers to report yet? The non-stories that people get spun up about are getting dumber by the day.
That's one thing he hated
the noise, noise, noise, noise!
Yeah, I saw this tweet from Keith Law over the weekend and it took me awhile to find the quote he was talking about.
Speaking of Harper
CSN defeats GateWay CC in Mesa, Ariz. yesterday, 12-0. Bryce Harper was 3-for-6 with a run and an RBI.
is there a link?
i thought it was 2 for 6- not that it particularly matters.
he also hit his first HR a couple of games back!
Harper = JD Drew?
Hi all, this is my first post, wooo hoooo!
I don’t want to see the Pirates pick Harper, if he is still there at the #2 spot, because I fear he will JD Drew us(the Pirates) and we’ll lose this years first round pick. While we will get comp’d in next years draft with a sup pick, losing a year of development time with a young player isn’t worth the risk, IMO, with this organization being in the state it currently is.
Harper has already shown that he is going to be agressive when it comes to trying to control the direction of his career with the HS/GED/CC move. Everyone by now has also read that its his dream to be a Yankee. I, of course, don’t see him getting drafted by the NYY’s, at least not this year, and I don’t see him signing with one of the small market teams, unless that team throws a HUGE amount of cash at him. Partially because “star power” seems to be somewhat limited in the smaller cities for baseball players. It also seems that Harper believes he is going to be the type of star that can transcend sports, and thats always going to be easier to do when you play in one of the NY/LA/Chicago/Boston markets. I question if he is willing to come to this organization, especially with his “advisor” being Boras. And I question if the organization is willing to take the financial risk involved with him. I don’t believe they should or will.
Also on Harper’s side is time. At his age I believe he has much more bargining power than a college player. Throw in the fact that he is going to school 20 minutes from his home, where I imagine his parents are supporting him. If he does put up good numbers this season then the hype and price will raise even higher.
I prefer to see the Pirates take a high ceiling college proven player with the #2 pick, at any position, over Harper. Now if he came with a “The Next A-Rod or Your Money Back” guarantee then I’d say lets draft him but the baseball draft seems to be the biggest craps shoot of all the major sports.
There's certainly an inherent risk
But it all comes down to what his bonus demands will entail. (This is assuming the Pirates project him to be the best player available.)
In JD Drew’s case, he and Boras made clear their bonus demand, and the Phillies refused to meet it. Boras didn’t blink, and off to the indy leagues he went.
I'm sure that Huntington will meet with him beforehand
Last year, I believe they met with both Tony Sanchez and Grant Green to decide which one they were going to take. Sanchez was willing to sign soon after the draft, whereas it was clear Green was going to hold out. If the feel out Harper and hear his demands far exceed their assessment of his worth, they won’t take him.
They changed the compensation system a couple years back.
If Harper didn’t sign, we’d get the #3 overall pick in next year’s draft, not a pick in the sandwich round. As such, our downside risk is much more limited.
To clarify that, we would actually get the 2b pick. So it’s still the 3rd overall pick, but nobody is bumped down from 3-4, 4-5, etc.
by H2O on Feb 5, 2010 4:12 PM EST up reply actions
So we'd get #3 and our own pick
Which will be, what, 25, 26? :)
Actually,
after our undefeated season and sweep of the series they will just take our first round pick.
by Phantaskippy on Feb 7, 2010 12:38 PM EST up reply actions
I believe the Bucs will pass on Harper, if they have the chance to choose him, just because he will be too much of a gamble no matter how well he does in JC this year. We have heard and seen time and time again that NH steers clear of the gamble, so what would make us think he’s taking Harper on one?
I think we will take the guy with the best possible odsd to succeed with pick #2 AND follow the stategy of last year, if the talent is available.
I agree, they seem to be looking for guaranteed contributors in the first, I personally hope that continues, I like the strategy.
by Phantaskippy on Feb 7, 2010 12:39 PM EST up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
