Is it too early to start the Bryce Harper Watch in DC?

No. Stephen Strasburg is sooooooo 2009.

Lock for worst-place, #1 pick in 2010, Nats running away with the Bryce Harper Sweepstakes.

If SI's Tom Verducci is to be believed, baseball's version of Lebron James - baseball's next prodigy - is a 16 year old kid from Vegas, Bryce Harper, who lives to mash baseballs. Check out his swing, above. Ignore, for a moment, that most of his success has come with an aluminum bat in hand against high school kids. And that he dreams of playing in pinstripes someday. Kids are stupid like that sometimes. Oh, and his "adviser" is Scott Boras, which definitely is worth at least a mention. (We'll pause for a moment while Ted Lerner finishes wiping the vomit off his shirt.)

Anyway, Verducci's piece only adds to the growing hype surrounding Harper; and what High School legend would be complete without tall tales about monster, 570 foot homeruns? Here's a snippet from a March 2009 feature in the Boston Globe (in which Harper also denies any use of PEDs):

Standing on home plate, on a diamond on the edge of the desert, Las Vegas High School assistant baseball coach Harry Traynor shakes his head in disbelief and points.

"We measured it at 570 feet," he marvels, recalling the titanic blast hit by freshman Bryce Harper last season. "Unbelievable. I've been around baseball 30 years. I've never seen anything like it."

At the moment, Haper isn't eligible for the MLB draft until 2011. But Brian at Nationals Farm Authority flagged Verducci's story several days ago, and hit on the key takeaway for the Nats: Bryce Harper's parents are considering having their son complete his GED this summer, enrolling him in junior college in the Fall, thus making him eligible for the 2010 draft and (barring injury) a no-brainer for the #1 pick:

What the Harpers are considering, however, is having Bryce earn a GED credential this summer and enroll in a junior college this fall, which would expose him to more challenging baseball competition as well as make him eligible for next June's draft, in which he would likely be the first pick in the country. Under that scenario, assuming the Nationals keep losing games at something close to their current rate (they have the worst record in baseball, and it isn't even close), Washington could wind up with Strasburg and Harper in the next 12 months—the baseball equivalent of the Cavaliers getting James and Dwight Howard in consecutive NBA drafts. Of course, in both cases the Nationals would have to negotiate with Boras, who represents Strasburg too. A combined outlay in the neighborhood of $100 million is entirely possible. Boras, according to league sources, will use the six-year, $52 million deal he negotiated with the Red Sox for Daisuke Matsuzaka in December 2006 as the benchmark for a Strasburg deal.

A few weeks back, NationalsFanboyLooser posted a piece titled "LeBron",a reaction to Lebron James' buzzer-beater against the Magic. He said the following:

Pretty much the second that shot went in last night, I changed the status on my Facebook page to "I wish LeBron played for the Nats."

NFBL wondered if the Nats currently have a Lebron-type player on the current roster (they don't), or in the system (not yet), and ended with:

I guess it will be fun to watch, to see who becomes that LeBron. I just hope it happens while I'm still here on earth.

Well, hang in there, Mike. If Tom Verducci is to be believed, you just might see your very own Lebron in Washington before you croak. Here at the Nationals Enquirer, we accepted the Strasburg hype hook, line, and sinker. We're fully prepared to blindly do the same with Bryce Harper.

Let the Bryce Harper Watch begin! Get that GED, boy! And, to the Nationals: Just keep losing, baby! Oh, and Ted Lerner: get out your checkbook and get ready to assume the position for Boras; he owns your ass.

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Comments

[Harper Gordek]

There only room for one "Harper" in the Nat-o-sphere. I'll let Nationals fans decide who gets to stay and who has to go!

[The Nationals Enquirer]

Well there is/was plenty of room for two "Chicos" (Matt, and Harlan), so I'm sure there's room for both Harpers, Harper.

Either that or you need to change your name.

[Vincent Jacob]

i would really like bryce harpers address to write to him cause i am his biggest fan

[Harper Gordek]

Where's Matt Chico now? Ruined by Harlan I tells ya. Don't underestimate the power of the press/fake-press.

[Laich]

We already have better in Ovechkin

Well, hang in there, Mike. If Tom Verducci is to be believed, you just might see your very own Lebron in Washington before you croak.