Phil Rogers, "Nationals to draft Harper"

[Owatcher]

Not sure if you folks saw this. I didn't see a thread for it. If so I apologize. Anyway, in yesterday's Baltimore Sun there was an article by Phil Rogers (Chicago Times) titled "Baseball could test for hGH soon". At the end there's a blurb in which he says the Nationals will draft Harper barring anything catastrophic or scandalous.

Barring injury or scandal, the Nationals will select Las Vegas catcher Bryce Harper with the first pick in this year's draft. A switch hitter with power, he's viewed by some scouts as a position player equivalent to Stephen Strasburg, the pitcher who landed in the Nationals' laps last June.

Harper, who opted out of his junior season in high school to enroll at the College of Southern Nevada, draws attention with his bat and is considered a solid catcher. But he is such a good athlete that he could wind up playing center field. He has been clocked in the 60-yard dash at 6.6 seconds, speed that one Nationals official muses could be "wasted" behind the plate.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bal-sp.rogersnotes01mar01,0,3020794.story

[ChaosLex]

I suspected as much.

That'll be a lot of money for both Strasburg and Harper though. Wow!

[ThisIsOurHouse]

How long will it take a guy like Harper to go through the minors? I don't know if DC is big enough for Ovechkin and Harper.