Opinion: Why I am disappointed but not devastated that Bryce Harper is leaving Washington

I like to think that I know a lot about the sport of baseball but who knows. If I had to rank myself as a baseball fan who knows all about the game, with 1 being someone who watches the last out of the World Series without knowing which teams are even playing, with 5 being a casual fan and with 10 being a baseball expert, I would say that I am a solid 6. I know players and teams, I have a general knowledge about which players are good and who will help a team win and I have some sort of knowledge about how a player performed each season and the statistics they put up. I’m an aspiring baseball expert.

The one thing that everyone knows about, whether you are a 1 on the scale, or a 10, is that Bryce Harper is a big deal in the sport of baseball.

Heck, even my girlfriend who likes baseball simply because of the sunny summer weather, hot dogs and the occasional firework show after the local Triple-A games, is obsessed with Harper. The sheer thought of him joining the Los Angeles Dodgers nearly had her jumping up and down in my apartment, while I quietly hoped he would rejoin the Washington Nationals.

For those who don’t know, I lived in the Washington DC area for nearly 10 years as a kid, and I consider it the place that I grew up. While I attended middle school and high school in Utah, my “childhood’ was spent in Northern Virginia. My family and I attended Baltimore Orioles games until the Montreal Expos decided to call Washington DC home, calling themselves the Nationals. I can still remember my dad coming home from work one day with a Nationals cap for himself and two Nationals shirts for me and my younger brother. We were going to the game. I kept that shirt for years, bringing it with me as my family moved from Virginia to Utah. And as I grew older the cap my dad brought home that day became mine and I wore it constantly. I still have it, sitting in my basement storage. So while the Boston Red Sox are my favorite team, the Nationals aren’t far behind.

With that said, for the past seven years, Bryce Harper has been my favorite player in baseball. He was an LDS kid playing in my hometown. He was flashy and outspoken. He was good. Of course he was my favorite player and he still is one of them (welcome to the No. 1 spot Mookie Betts). So naturally, I wished he would re-sign with the Washington Nationals.

For those who don’t follow Washington DC sports, it’s hard to imagine the complex workings of Washington sports culture. In a town full of politicians, presidents and foreign dignitaries, it’s hard for an athlete to stand out. Even NBA All-Star John Wall can barely break through to stardom in his own city. It’s unlike any other city in the country. In DC, there were two star athletes: Alex Ovechkin and Bryce Harper.

Now there’s only one.

Was I sad about the news that Bryce Harper was signing with the Philadelphia Phillies? Of course. Was I devastated? Far from it.

Yeah, I wanted my favorite player to re-sign with my (second) favorite team. But I understand why he didn’t. Washington is a hard place to win and the Nationals hadn’t been doing much of it since Harper joined the club. In his seven years in DC the Nationals had failed to win a playoff series. Now, Harper hadn’t been great in those playoff series but neither had the team as a whole. Philadelphia provided a fresh start and a chance to join forces with Mike Trout in a couple of years. I can’t knock him for that.

Fortunately for the Nationals, baseball isn’t the same as basketball.

When Lebron James left the Cavaliers (both times) the following seasons for Cleveland were dreadful. Loss after loss after loss. The city and the franchise were decimated. When Deron Williams left the Jazz via trade, Utah struggled for the next several seasons. And when Kobe retired from the Lakers, Los Angeles finished at the bottom of the division until Lebron came to town. But in baseball things aren’t quite the same. Sure, there are teams that free-fall down the standings after a star player leaves but it rarely to the same degree as their NBA counterpart. In baseball, one player rarely makes a world of difference.

There are a few reasons as to why I’m not devastated by the loss of Harper as a Nationals fan. For starters, I had some reservations about paying a player $400 million over 10 years, a player who is coming off of a season in which he batted .249 with 169 strikeouts. The 34 home runs and 100 RBIs were great, but Harper struggled mightily at times throughout his career and his struggles seemed to only increase in 2018.

Secondly, the Nationals weren’t exactly experiencing high levels of success, even with Harper on the team. I said it earlier, the Nationals have not won a single playoff series in the seven years that Harper has been with the team. They came away with a couple division championships, sure, but the NL East wasn’t exactly a loaded division. The loss of Harper isn’t going to prevent the Nationals from reaching the World Series because they weren’t getting there with him.

Lastly, the Nationals are still going to be a good, entertaining baseball team. Fortunately for DC, the Nationals still have talent throughout their roster. Sure, Harper was the star every team wants and no one wants to lose their star, but the Nationals have another star player. He goes by the name Max Scherzer and he’s one of the premier pitchers in Major League Baseball. In addition to Scherzer, the Nationals boast one of the best pitching rotations in the MLB, featuring Steven Strausburg and the recently signed Patrick Corbin. In the field, the Nationals have Trea Turner who led the Majors in outs made and batted in 73 runs in 2018.

Turner isn’t the only talented fielder that Washington has on their roster. Juan Soto had a breakout rookie season in 2018, batting .292 with an OPS of .923 which already ranks higher than five of Harper’s seven OPS ratings in each of his years in DC. On top of that, Soto hit 22 home runs to go along with 70 RBIs en route to finishing second in the NL Rookie of the Year race. But perhaps Washington’s greatest talent still lies in the Minor Leagues.

Victor Robles has long been considered one of baseball’s top prospects since entering the Nationals organization and was recently named the fourth best prospect in baseball by MLB.com.

“From his athleticism to his immense physical tools and his baseball savvy, Robles has the makings of becoming a true franchise player for the Nationals, one who has the upside of a perennial All-Star and possibly an MVP candidate.”

With Harper’s departure, fans should not be surprised to see Robles step in a fill the void left by the former NL MVP.

So while I am sad to see Harper go, someone who had meant so much to the Washington DC sports community, I am optimistic about the future of the Nationals franchise. With a loaded pitching rotation in addition to incredibly talented young players, it’s hard to imagine the Nationals fall off to a similar degree as the KC Royals after the departure of Eric Hosmer. The Nationals will still be good, and will be for the next several seasons.

Good luck Bryce, and thanks for the memories.