Righty Stephen Strasburg and outfielder Bryce Harper — arguably the Nationals’ two most important players — are both on track to participate in a full and normal Spring Training in 2017, agent Scott Boras tells Jon Morosi of MLB Network (Twitter links). That appears to be positive news for the Nats, who went without the former for the postseason and endured persistent whispers that the latter was dealing with shoulder problems.
In the case of Strasburg, Boras says that he’s expected to be capable of maintaining a typical offseason throwing program in advance of camp in February. The key rotation piece, who inked a $175MM extension early in the 2016 season, was diagnosed with a flexor mass strain in his right forearm. He had at least been throwing to keep open the possibility of a postseason appearance, had the Nats advanced, though that never seemed particularly likely. Needless to say, Washington’s outlook for 2017 and beyond depends quite a bit on whether it receives a healthy and effective Strasburg.
As for Harper, the superstar will begin his usual offseason strength and conditioning program, according to Boras. That’s essentially non-news, but it seemingly confirms that there’s no significant shoulder health issue that was left unaddressed during the preceding season — as a pair of reports from SI’s Tom Verducci had suggested. Or, at least, it suggests that any such issue can be resolved without resorting to any treatment or procedure that would disrupt Harper’s normal workout routine.
Still, some mystery seemingly endures. The Nats maintained all along that they were not aware of any such injury, and even reportedly posed the question directly to Harper — who said he was healthy. Boras declined comment on the subject despite having weighed in on several other notable clients’ own health matters in recent years, raising some eyebrows. Now, Morosi says on Twitter that Boras has previously confirmed an injury, citing a recent story from Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. His comments there were seemingly ambiguous: Boras noted that Harper “played with limitations at times” but also seemingly hinted that those were not necessarily related to a specific, ongoing physical ailment (let alone one that wasn’t being publicly acknowledged or addressed).
Whatever is truly going on, it appears that Harper’s health won’t be a limitation as he looks to bounce back from a disappointing 2016 season. The 24-year-old was still solid overall for the Nats, with a .243/.373/.441 batting line and 24 home runs, but he fell off badly after a torrid start and didn’t come close to his productivity in the prior year. In 2015, Harper won the NL MVP award after swatting 42 long balls and slashing a ridiculous .330/.460/.649. Whether he can return to being that kind of force could go a long way toward deciding the Nationals’ fortunes in 2017 — and shaping the course of his own future.
Ken M.
I think you can kiss $400M goodbye, Mr. Harper.
Ry.the.Stunner
It really should’ve never been a discussion until he could maintain his last year’s numbers. Aside from last year, his stats have been largely mediocre to slightly above average, plus he’s only a right fielder. If anyone deserves that money, it’s Trout.
SFgiantsUK
I think more in the region of $325-$340 mil; for Harper.
Trout what a season he had, he may have hit less HRs but he arguably had a better season across the board. 2020 he will hit the jackpot.
I think Harper will go to NYY.
postcards
I don’t know who you’ve been watching play, but the only mediocre/slightly above average seasons he’s had were 2014 and maybe 2016.
JaysFan19
After last season many people were saying the Yankees could sign him to the first ever 500$ million dollar deal ever. He has a terrible year for his standards though, and moving from the NL to the AL east won’t help his numbers either.. (should he sign there)
Ry.the.Stunner
I certainly don’t think it’ll hurt him. Yankee stadium is the most HR friendly stadium in the MLB, whereas Nationals Park is 15th. And the pitching in the AL East isn’t that imposing compared to the NL East.
bigkempin
How is a move to the AL worse when the AL is more offense friendly?
legit1213
This is still a story? Yawn.
steelerbravenation
I would def think about trading Harper. Boras will not let him sign an extension and I don’t think the Nats could contend with the Yankees. Trade Bryce to the Yankees for Mateo, Severino, Torrens, Frazier & Acevedo.
ncv
Lol, no way in hell the Yankees pull that trade. First they’ll like to see how he will perform next year, because there’s no chance they deplete their farm system for the numbers he had last year, and even if he performs like 2015, they can wait until he hits FA.
ray_derek
There’s cheaper options for average outfielders.
ctguy
Way too much for the Yankees to give up for Harper. He’s coming off a down season and the rumors of shoulder problems. Washington can keep him at that price.
JaysFan19
Bad deal for a .250 hitting corner outfielder who hits 25 homers and plays in the national league
bigkempin
He’s a career .279/.382/.501 hitter…..and he plays in the NL? The NL is a pitcher’s league.
BoldyMinnesota
What are you talking about, harpers still amazing despite having a down year by his standards
petfoodfella
Could you define amazing?
He had a down year by ALL standard, not his.
.243 .373 .441 .814
terrible for someone who people think can make $400-500mm
BoldyMinnesota
Having an 814 ops is a down year by his standards, and although it’s not great, it’s not bad either. I think his ops plus was 116, which is also in a “down year”. That’s why I’d consider him amazing
armsiderun14
Dude what is up with your comments implying the NL is inferior to the AL? They have no merit. A corner OF with that stat line has the same value in the AL as he does in the NL.
pat09
Since he began his career, Harper always had a good season followed by a bit of a down year. I expect him to make an ajustment in 2017, he will have a better idea when to take the pitch and when to let it fly. This player has a ton of power potential and shouldn’t be traded by the nationals before the trade deadline if they decide to do so
bigkempin
Since he began his career Harper has only had 1 healthy season….last year, when he was the unanimous MVP.
notagain27
No doubt Harper is a Special Talent but perception is everything in the major leagues. When you have the Boras corporation constantly spinning stories about his clients and how good they are, their values do nothing but skyrocket. Compare what Harper to Trout? Who comes out on top? Who is has more press coverage? Who floats the $400 million story to the press? All about creating value through the press. Spin the web Mr. Boras, you are the best at what you do.
Hoppy
The payday for Harper comes down to the this upcoming season. Another season like the one he just completed will cost him millions. As a Nats fan I am hoping his struggles were caused by an injury. The alternative is much more difficult to cure.
jd396
Boras was a carnival barker in a past life.
DarkGhost
Amazing Harper has a down year after his break out season and half of the people on this site are jumping off the bandwagon that they jumped on last year. Since everybody is comparing him to trout does anybody remember what happend with trout after his first full season of dominance in 2013? In 2013 he hit 323 and the next season he hit 287. His Batting average dropped 35 points and his OBP also dropped significantly. Major league pitcher and scouts are major leaguers because they are better than anybody else at there job. The pitchers made adjustments and Trouts numbers dropped. 2 years later Trout has made adjustments to the way pitchers are pitching him and his numbers are climbing again. As for Harpers payday, this upcoming season will tell us a lot about Harper and what he will be worth in free agency. While I’m of the mind nobody is worth $400 mil this season will pry end up being worth about 100mil for him one way or the other.
jbaker3170
What you fail to report is that by that time, Trout had already established himself as arguably the best overall player in MLB. Harper has had one really good season, while all the rest can perhaps best be described as “average” at best. Trout, every year, has had a really good season. There’s really no comparison on who the best is between the two.
DarkGhost
Established himself as the best player in the game? He had had one and a half great seasons. His rookie year he hit .220 the next year he had a similar start to his rookie and caught fire in late June until the end of the season. You can’t establish yourself as the best player in the league after only a year and a half, Because by that logic yasiel puig would have been better than both Trout and Harper. And finally where in my first post do I say that Harper is the better player or even really compare the two other than saying they both had down years after there first full breakout season. Trout is obviously the better player I would said that last year when Harper had better numbers.
BoldyMinnesota
Harper has been above average every season of his career. His career ops plus is like 165 or something. How can you possibly say he’s been average at best in his career minus 2015?
chesteraarthur
Average for a mlb player is ~2.0 fwar. Bryce harper has 4.6, 4,0, 1.4, 9.5, and 3.5. He’s had exactly 1 season at or below average and in that season he only had 400 pa’s. He has a career 139 wRC+ and has averaged over 4.0 fwar per season.
tuna411
Trout’s .323 year was his SECOND dominant season of his career and, um, the SECOND season of his career. The .287 season? Oh, yeah, Trout only won the mvp, led the a.l. in total bases, runs and rbi, walked 83 times and stole 16 bases. Yeah, you love harper but he ain’t anything close to Trout. Nice try though…
bigkempin
Trout’s MVP was the FOURTH season of his career. He not only won the MVP, led the AL in total bases, runs, RBI, but also strikeouts. He was the 1st ever MVP to lead the majors in strikeouts. Consider their age 22 season…..Trout .287/.377./,567, 36/111. Harper .330/.460/.649 42/99
tuna411
Lets concede harper’s age 22 season is the best of any season trout or harper has played.
Trout then has the next 5 best seasons between the two…ALL at superstar level..
Oh, did I mention fishboy lead the a.l. this season in on base percentage at .441.
I should probably mention harper also had a .441…but that was his slugging percentage.
Sorry harper fans, but he isn’t in the same paragraph as Mike Trout.
julyn82001
Nah Georgie is not around anymore so no Yankees wouldn’t likely make those monsters trades anymore nor they are willing to pay that much for a player like they did in the past i.e. Arod, Texeira et al..
MB923
I think if they wanted Harper if he became a free agent, they’d actually offer him the money. IIRC, Steinbrenner did in fact say they would not offer long term contracts anymore to players In Their 30’s
They got charged with tampering when Steinbrenner said something like “Now if it were someone like Mike Trout, that’s a different story”
Edit, just looked up the line itself, and it was from team president Randy Levine – “When we signed Derek Jeter to a 10-year contract (in 2001) I believe he was 26. In that context it makes sense,” Levine said Friday. “If Mike Trout was here, I’d recommend the 10-year contract. But for people over 30, I don’t believe it makes sense.
bernbabybern
Sometime during the 2018 offseason the Death Star will be complete.
User 4245925809
You know the game is having problems when this quack (boras) is having multiple press conferences during the year pertaining to what the health of a player is, not the TEAM the guy plays for, but this 21st century version of PT Barnum, nothing but a big mouthed carnival barker. Why MLB teams and owners above all allow this guy to give out this information is a travesty. teams themselves release all pertinent medical info and always have, until this flea bag came along. What;’s the difference in him and all the other shyster’s walking around with a brief case?
MB923
Agree. I don’t get it. Didn’t the same thing happen with Harvey as well?
BoldyMinnesota
He’s shown that he’s the best agent in professional sports, that’s probably the reason. I’m pretty sure he has a good relationship with washingtons owner anyways though, so it’s not a very big deal.
22222pete
Harper had one great year. His other 4 years he has been a 119 OPS+ player and averaged 126 games per year in those 4 years. Still young but is anyone really going to give him a 500 million deal on the basis of 1 year? , Needs to put together monster back to back years in 2017–2018 to justify that
Obviously, they don’t want anyone to know about a possible shoulder injury. These things can linger for years even after surgery, and are not always picked up conclusively on a MRI. So nobody wants to admit an injury, although Boras hints at one to explain the poor season, but kind of dances around it. Sort of but not really. OK,
jd396
It’s a Boras client we’re talking about. Notice how Harper NOT getting a $500 million contract is going to feel like Harper’s value tanked? People will be posting crap like “Oh, he only got a paltry $29m AAV over 10 years!!What an unbelievable bargain!”
Boras probably comes from a long line of mattress salesmen.
tuna411
Hey Pete
Reading your message makes me think of another highly productive ONLY WHEN HEALTHY player who stole his money because he can’t stay healthy (josh hamilton).
Any team which signs harper for astronomical amounts of $$$ and length of contract is going to regret it because they are getting a part time player.