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Bryce Harper Is The Most Overrated Player In Baseball And The Nationals Are Better Without Him

Bryce Harper

(Daniel Shirey / Getty Images)

Bryce Harper
The Washington Nationals won the World Series proving that Bryce Harper is the most overrated player in baseball and the Nationals are better without him (Daniel Shirey / Getty Images)

Bryce Harper Is The Most Overrated Player In Baseball And The Nationals Are Better Without Him

The Washington Nationals are World Series champions. I’m genuinely happy for them. Mike Rizzo has been an uber aggressive general manager to put the Nationals in position to compete for titles. Year after year, Rizzo went for it. Whether it be dumping out his pocketbook for Max Scherzer and Patrick Corbin or making aggressive trades like reeling in Trae Turner and Sean Doolittle; Rizzo has gone for it. Sometimes Rizzo even made bad decisions like Jonathan Papelbon. One thing you can’t criticize Rizzo for is going for it. Turns out that all the Nationals had to do was dump Bryce Harper and they would become champions. The Washington Nationals are officially better without Bryce Harper. The Nats are your 2019 World Series Champions.

Bryce Harper is the most overrated player in baseball. He’s not even a top 100 player in baseball. At the time, you laughed at me. That’s fine. I knew I was right. This guy isn’t a winning baseball player. I said it before the year and I’m absolutely correct. The Nationals invested in starting pitching. Not floppy-haired frauds.

What else is new. I was right. You were wrong. I was lectured all offseason how Harper was the guy. How all offseason every expert tried to deep throat him and talked about Harper every single day. Where was he going to sign? Who cares? I told you DJ LeMahieu was the guy to sign this offseason. I was right again. The Phillies spent $330 million on Harper and won just one more game than they did a year ago. The Nationals let Harper walk and won the World Series. You figure it out.

The public has been fooled into thinking Harper is this game changing talent. It’s never been the case. Never. He’s basically CJ Cron. That’s what Bryce Harper is. Harper finished the 2019 season with a batting line of .260/.372/.510 with 35 home runs. Harper also had an .882 OPS and 4.2 WAR. That’s fine. It’s not good enough for $330 million over 13 years. While his stats are respectable, his numbers will obviously decline into his 30’s. In the National League with no DH, that contract will get ugly sooner rather than later.

Even if we take Harper for what he is right now, he would have finished 6th on the Nationals roster in WAR. Victor Robles was inches away from passing him but keep in mind, Robles is only 22 and will improve. Harper was never worth bending over backward for. The Nationals wisely used the Harper money to acquire Patrick Corbin, Yan Gomes, Kurt Suzuki, Howie Kendrick, and Anibal Sanchez. Yes, the Nats were able to acquire all of them for less than what Harper was going to cost in a season. Filling out all those holes instead of investing in the most overrated player in baseball is what changed the Nats fortunes.

Let’s also be honest. Juan Soto is the real MVP in this outfield. Anthony Rendon is the real face of the franchise. You were fooled into thinking Harper is in their class. He’s not. Soto has become a star at the age of 20 and is a more productive player. Anthony Rendon should be the MVP of the National League. He’s also a world class defender. Harper was never the piece that made the Nationals click. He was the guy who was holding them back. The Nationals had several holes to fill. One of the most notable being their catching situation. Letting Harper go allowed them to fix that among many other things.

Don’t try to argue it. This is just a fact. The Nationals were synonymous for choking in the postseason. In 7 seasons with Bryce Harper, the Nationals never won a playoff series. In the first year without him, the Nationals won the World Series. Harper may have gotten his money. He may get the unnecessary promotion because of his hair. It was another Scott Boras con job. It’s the Nats who won the war. Stephen Strasburg was a true number one overall pick. Bryce Harper was living off a Sports Illustrated cover that meant nothing.

Let’s be honest. The Phillies are so fucked. Bryce Harper played about as well as he is capable of in year one of the deal. In 2 of his 3 final years in Washington, Harper hit below .250. That’s pretty much who you’re getting for the “good” years of his contract. Harper’s swing mechanics are also going down the toilet as he looks for the home run ball more often. The Phillies’ love child struck out 178 times in 2019. That number will hit 200 in a season sooner rather than later.

12 more years of this nonsense. 12 more years of ridiculous media attention for mediocrity. 12 more years of having the face of baseball and accomplishing nothing. Keep in mind, these are the “good years”. This contract runs through 2031 when Harper will hit the age of 38. Good luck with that in the National League. This contract will look more and more like the Albert Pujols deal with the Angels. They haven’t won since. Neither will the Phillies.

We should all be happy for the Nationals. A franchise that their fair share of heartbreaking moments. All of those moments came with golden boy, Bryce Harper in their uniform. All the Nationals had to do was let him leave and happiness would be right around the corner. Bryce Harper is not a winner and the Nationals are better without him. Face of baseball? The Nationals World Series run has proved what I’ve said forever. Bryce Harper isn’t just the most overrated player in baseball. He’s a totally irrelevant player that doesn’t impact winning. Congrats, Washington. You earned this.

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