Editorials

Bryce Harper Has Not Been Mediocre Since His MVP Season

Since the beginning of this PT Barnum-esque, circus of an off-season, there’s been one narrative about Bryce Harper I just can’t abide. “Bryce Harper has been mediocre since his MVP season.” I once heard Tim McCarver (suspect source to be sure, but the man has been around) say “sometimes you’re penalized by your ability.” I think a lot of that notion holds true for Bryce Harper. The kid (because he was a kid) was touted as the next savior of baseball since he was a tween. The hype surrounding Bryce Harper has never really died down. In many years, he’s been worth and proven that hype. His 2015 isn’t just a ‘good MVP season.’ It’s one of the better ones in recent history.

Over-Bryced

10 years and 300+ million is definitely a high price tag. There’s no way I can say he’s worth that price tag, because there’s nothing intrinsically valuable about being able to hit and catch a baseball. Look I’m not going to go on a diatribe about ‘free-market value’ because we’ve all heard this over the conversation of free agency. Simply put, you have to put faith or a gamble into a talent.



Scott Boras and the hype machine that surrounds Bryce Harper at all times has likely put a negative taste in our mouths. This isn’t to paint Bryce Harper as a saint or a sinner. But his overhype isn’t a fault of his, it’s just the machine.

Give Me Numbers

If you take Bryce Harper’s last 3 seasons and averaged out the numbers, you get this.

  • Games: 139
  • HR: 29
  • BB: 102
  • OBP: .393
  • SLG: .510
  • OPS: .903
  • OPS+: 134
  • wRC+: 133

Not a single one of those statistics is anywhere near average. They’re all above average. So when you read that Bryce Harper is an average player, you should go nowhere near that source or publication ever again. It’s simply untrue. There’s no question this phony narrative is a product of hype and just derision.


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Final Thoughts

If you’re a Dodger fan and you don’t want Bryce Harper in a Dodger uniform, there could be these reasons.

  • Cost
  • Defensive Liability
  • Another LH Bat

All these reasons have legitimate, arguable reasoning behind them. They don’t outweigh the desire to have a power bat in your lineup, who walks 100 times a season, though. They just can’t. A lot of rhetoric (mine included) this offseason related to teams not wanting to spend money, and how that was a bad thing. Well it’s hard to hold that opinion and still be opposed to signing Bryce Harper for big money. The length of the contract is definitely a concern, but the money is there.

If the reasons behind now wanting him as a Dodger are visceral–it’s time to come back home. I want to see the Dodgers win the World Series. Bryce Harper helps any team come closer to that goal.

AJ Gonzalez

AJ is a lifelong Dodgers and Lakers fan who grew up in California. His whole family is also lifelong Dodgers fans. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, two kids, his guitars, and beagle Kobe.

7 Comments

  1. Unfortunately there is a huge gap between slightly above average and superstar worth $300 million. These numbers don’t rank him in the top ten over that period.

    1. You got that right! The Phillies are going to be hoping the NL gets the DH. Even then Harper will be an albatross with in 6 years, and then they’ll still have him for 7 more! Stupid!

  2. 330 million over 13 years is a BIG ouch!………Go Phillies……..hope it doesn’t kill ya!

    1. Hello bluz1st. Harper is the one LHB I would sign for Dodgers but lo and behold, although it’s a minor league deal Dodgers sign YET another LH hitter in Brad Miller….SMH

  3. Well, he is a Philly so that concludes the Dodgers going for any top level FA for this year. At least he is not going to the Giants. But we ALL know this: it was strictly about the $$$$ because we all believed he wanted to play on the West Coast closer to Las Vegas.

  4. So, let’s hope we no longer have to see a story about how Harper will lead the Dodgers to a WS championship, at long last. Also, and this is a bit, but it not “a Dodger uniform” or ” Dodger fan”. They are the Dodgers with an “s” so it’s a Dodgers uniform or Dodgers fan or Dodgers player, etc.

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