Nationals Daily Evolutions 8/17/10

Welcome to Bryce Harper day. If you aren't sick of the news of Bryce Harper yet then you might be soon, but on the other hand how could you be. You know those songs that when you hear them at first you really like them, but then after hearing it in every club, bar, restaurant, elevator, and TV promo you are just sick of it. Then there are the rare songs that you just never get sick of. I think I might have heard Metallica's Enter Sandman and Michael Jackson's Thriller a combined 450 million times in my life, but I have yet to be sick of either song. Of course we could all be real sick if in four years Harper is batting .226 at single A.

In my mind there has been one and only one truly iconic figure in sports. Only one person that has transcended sports and become a brand image themselves. That person of course is Michael Jordan with his famous Jump Man logo. I am sure Derek Jeter could come out with a jump throw logo and everyone would know it was him right away. Could Bryce Harper already be on the way to becoming an icon himself? --Jeff Passan from yahoo sports.com

I just wonder how much hype Harper is going to get as he works his way throw the minors. Of course he has to get there first, and before that he had to sign. --Joe Lemire at si.com

Rizzo was the player of the game last night with his walk-off winner off closer Scott Boras. --Video from CSNsports.com

Former Nats GM has thoughts on Bryce Harper. --Jim Bowden foxsports.com

Also very important and not to be lost in all the Harper hype three other guys signed. --Mark Zuckerman natsinsider.com

And some other Boras client started at second in AAA. --Adam Kilgore from washingtonpost.com

More on Harper and other news after the jump.

Stan Kasten feels the draft system is broken. --Adam Kilgore at washingtonpost.com

I think a certain still unsigned cornerstone is missing, but I am sure that will be the focus after today. Also can Harper be considered a cornerstone and exciting player to watch when a lot of people might not want to make the trek up to Hagerstown next year?  --Thomas Boswell in The Washington Post

This article is from yesterday and before Harper signed, but it is still a very good look at the differences between how he will be handled and how Strasburg was handled. Harper is likely to spend at least two years in the minors (if Harper was as good as he thinks he is he would be starting tonight), and those two years will include a lot of bus riding. I also don't know if the team will go to the lengths they went to with Strasburg to insulate Harper from autograph seekers. --John Paul Morosi foxsports.com

There are of course Right Fielders already in the Nationals' system and one of them earned a promotion yesterday. --Ben Goessling masnsports.com

There was on person yesterday that took slight offense at Thomas Boswell saying that Scott Boras refused to even work with Jim Bowden, and that of course was Jim Bowden. --Jim Bowden via Twitter 

The entire argument is laid out here. --Dan Steinberg The DC Sports Blog

I do not think Bowden has many friends left in the natosphere. I feel confident that Brian Oliver's feelings are shared by many that read this site. --Brian Oliver via Twitter

Thom Loverro shares his opinion on the entire Boz vs. Bowden showdown. --Thom Loverro espn980.com

There was no mention of Jim Bowden in Boswell's column today, and I doubt Boswell has a twitter to fire back at Bowden from. I am also of the opinion that if Boswell does have a twitter he is too classy to even mention Bowden's name again. I don't know if Boswell would get so careless to make an assumption or listen to an assumption, but I doubt it. Either way this is over unless Bowden decides to escalate it.

Around the NL East

The Mets sure are an exciting franchise these days. They are trying to void K-Rod's contract because he broke his hand on his girlfriend's father's face. --Barry Petchesky deadspin.com

General philosophies about things interest me. I know up until the 60's it was frowned upon to reveal information about player's private lives or to even be outwardly critical of a player. The media doesn't like to be blamed for things and will deny influencing public opinion, but they do. In a way they contributed to how people felt about Roger Maris. In a way they destroyed him. Many people have claimed that in the 60's the media went from reporting the news to making the news. It seems to me that now the backlash against that is in full swing and there were two very interesting columns on si.com yesterday about the Mets. One was from the 60's style of reporting and the other was from the new style of journalism. --Jeff Pearlman and Joe Lemire from si.com

In my opinion Joe Lemire is a rising star in sports journalism. He fits into the vein of a guy like Joe Posnanski. I really have no idea about trends in journalism and of philosophical differences between journalists. We always hear how fans can't be objective, but here we are. I think Patrick does some great reporting on the team, and his view is very objective while still being a fan. It also seems like from the 60's to now is too long for a new movement to take place. There should have been a backlash before now. Is there even such a thing as journalistic philosophy, and if so has anyone studied it?

Word of advice. If you are goign to go to a Phillies game in Philly either don't forget to uncheck the box to recieve e-mails or get your tickets through the second hand market. Or your e-mail might be flodded with stuff like this. --Phillies.com via my e-mail 

In other Phillies related news Chase Utley and Ryan Howard are due back tonight. --George Winkler The Sporting News

General Baseball

Defensive metrics are in there early stages. Here is an attempt to adjust to the different metrics giving us different information. --David Appelman fangraphs.com

One of the things some people love about baseball is the second guessing. --Joe Posnanski at joeposnanski.com

Peter Gammons tweets about who the Mariners might want as manager. --Peter Gammons via Twitter

There are a lot of good baseball books out there and here is a look at one. --Josh Wilker at deadspin.com

There are some stories in baseball that are just sad. Dontrelle Willis one year being one of the best pitchers in baseball and then suffering from anxiety issues. The story of the Brewers first round pick is sad right now, but it could become a story of triumph. If Covey can get the diabetes under control and enter the draft again in three years, and then go on to have a good career it will become a happier story. However right now he was on the verge of having his dream come true only to find out that not only was it going to be postponed, but that he has a life altering disease. --Adam McCalvey on mlb.com