Bryce Harper: Baseball's LeBron?

If you follow prospects, you've probably heard of Bryce Harper, the prep catcher/fucking stud from Las Vegas.

Now this kid, a high school sophomore, is on the cover of SI.

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1156215/1/index.htm

Apparently, his parents are thinking of having him get his GED this summer and enrolling him in a junior college in the fall so that he would be eligible for the 2010 draft.

Is that a smart move? And what are your thoughts on the never-ending quest to discover the next big thing? We already have a LeBron ... do we need one for every single sport?

Harper seems to have a good head on his shoulders and a world of potential, but that's a lot for anyone -- let alone a 16-year-old -- to live up to.

 

I just got mine out of the mailbox, but I wasn't too thrilled to see a 16-year-old on the cover. Without having read it yet, I'll say in general that I understand the rush to become a professional and cash in on the big money, but I can't imagine exposing a kid that age to the minor-league baseball life style.

 

Baseball's difference. The skills required to be a baseball player are pretty esoteric and don't really mature until the early 20s, at best. So all you can do with a 16-year-old kid is project and hope, but there's going to be a lot of variability.

With basketball, it's pretty basic size and athleticism, so it's much easier to project a 16-year-old.

But I don't blame the kids' parents. Every year you wait for the payday is a year things can go wrong.

 

But I thought only ESPN the Magazine could tell us "Who's Next?"

And I'm sorry, they need to retire "Chosen One" as a headline. LeBron owns that now.

But I guess they're depending on the short attention span of readers. Just like every few years, they'll put some baseball player on the cover as "The Natural." First it was Ken Griffey Jr., then Jeff Francoeur, then Jay Bruce, then Josh Hamilton.

Show some originality, please.

 

Whether the cover etc. has been done before, I think from Trey's description that this sounds like an interesting story, one that might get people thinking and as a result buying a copy at the news stand.

 

I thought they mistakenly sent me SI for Kids.

 

Bryce Harper's timeline:

2009: On the cover of SI as a 16-year-old
2010: Gets GED, is drafted no. 1 overall by the Pirates, who manage to resist the urge to draft 27-year-old Bumfucker Community College ace Dick Hertz
2011: Hits 37 bombs in Single-A ball as an 18-year-old
2012: Gets into car accident, hurts back, beings spending time in tattoo parlors
2013: Gets addicted to heroin, severs ties with overprotective parents
2014-16: Suspended by MLB for drug use
2017: Comes back with Pirates, hits .237 at rookie ball, gets picked by the Nationals in Rule 5 draft
2018: Hits .300 with 17 homers in just 350 ABs for the Nats
2019: Traded to Rangers for Dick Hertz, Moddy goes on six-state killing spree
2019: Hits .427 with 47 homers and 210 RBI for Rangers, Joe Mauer retires out of awe, Spnited calls it a "soft Triple Crown"
2020: Verducci pens glowing piece on Harper's recovery
2021: Harper busted for blood doping, Verducci writes piece tsk-tsking Harper without once mentioning how he, too, was fooled

 

Why does SI do this to kids? They have to know that it's a crapshoot as to whether these guys will ever fulfill the hype. They did the same thing with Clint Hurdle years ago when he was supposed to be the next big thing. Same with Felipe Lopez in basketball. They just set these guys up to look like huge busts if they don't turn out to be the next LeBron. Do a story on him, fine. Don't put him on the cover.

 

Dam - You brought your A game today BYH. That mad me laugh - a lot.

Verducci lining up his future book deals earlier and earlier.

 

They should be realistic and use a caption something like:

"The Next David Clyde" or "The Next Brien Taylor"

 

Earl Cunningham and Al Chambers wonder what they've got to do to get some love.