Well good luck to the Harper Family. I’m guessing the family must be financially unstable pushing there child to forego his high school education in hopes to jump in the 2010 draft. So i Bryce becomes a major flop that GED is really going to help him in the real world. It will also help his chances of gaining entry to a real college then again an education doesn’t seem to be something he cares about.

We should all remember the last high school poster boy on Sports Illustrated . He went on to USC by leaving high school early to jump start his college career. Check out his career average its in the .230’s and virtually no Power.

Hopefully Bryce will not end up this way and will have a productive career. Unfortunately, this move will inspire other families to make very bad decisions and in turn hurt there children’s future and lives.

Good move on his part. U don’t need a HS education in order to hit the ball or call a game.So people only go to school to play sports and if he can get paid for playing ball, I say let the kid enter the 2010 draft If he wants to go to college at a later time,his 7 million dollar signing bonus will be more than enough to play for his college education. Not sure people know this but you can go to college with a GED.

My only problem with this is if he does not like the team who gets the #1 pick. I would have a problem if he sees the team and says ill stay at Southern Nevada for 2 years. Then he would seem like some money hungry kid.

Right now he just looks like a kid who would rather play baseball and get paid then sit in class all day and play baseball for 4 months.

What a horrible decision. End of story.

The value of an education cannot be overstated. Why can’t someone be academically educated and talented on the baseball field? This boys parents are misdirecting him horribly. Many boys peak at a young age, and others will catch up. In the meantime, this boy will be missing out on not only an education but valuable teenage years.

“To support this, why would the money be any better in 2010 than in 2011?”

CBA. You bcan rest assured the next CBA will have a nba/nhl type feel to it. Limiting the amout one can sign for

TJ is right. He’d be crazy not to do this. He can get all the education he wants later; the time to maximize his career income is now.

“I wonder if this move give the Nationals a little more leverage with Steven Strasburg. Being able to take Harper and then Strasburg again if they wanted sounds pretty sweet to a Nats fan.”

The Nats would have to get Strasburg’s approval to draft him again, which I doubt he would give if they fail to sign him this time around.

There’s something to be said about the maturity it takes to be a professional baseball player. Beyond the education aspect, there is a reason tons of extremely talented prep ballplayers flame out every single year in the minors. Mentally/emotionally it is a huge leap to go from a high school kid to playing baseball for your profession and living against extremely talented competitors every day for 5-7 months. This kid is 16 years old. At 16 I was trying to find ways to extend my curfew past 11 pm. He’s trying to enroll in Junior College (which I guess is about the academic equivalent of the 11th grade) so he can enter in the Rule 4 MLB Draft to make millions and become a pro….slight difference. Will be interesting to see how he handles all this.

Being a former minor league baseball player, that was drafted out of high school and played ball at a junior college here is my take. I feel this is absolutely the best choice for him. The kid has nothing left to prove in high school, from a tools standpoint he would have been a top pick in this years draft. Kids from the Dominican and Venezuela sign every year when they are 16. Also Harper has a 3.5 GPA and since when is starting college at a junior college a bad option, thousands of kids go to jc’s first some just because they simply cant afford college, not because they aren’t smart, those credits will transfer to any 4 yr college. With that being said, I wish him the best of luck.

i don’t understand this logic of “the kid needs to put education before baseball”. Why? Why do any of us go to school? To get a job. Well, in under 12 months he’ll be offered a job at more money than any of us will ever see. Good on the kid. If he wants to attend university, he can do that during the offseason or he could do it after he’s done playing. For him to risk potential injury playing an extra year would be beyond foolish. What good comes from him playing another year of baseball at the high school level?

The only caveat is he needs to ensure that he has a support system in place to ensure that the money is waiting for him when his playing days are done. If he has this, then this is a no brainer as far a decision is concerned. If you find 10 million dollars on the street, you don’t ignore it and return the next day hoping it’s still there.

The sports world is full of stories of kids who decided to return to school for an extra year when they didn’t have to. In some of these cases the kid’s stock dropped and they wound up with nothing. In this case, there is no reason to take that chance.

Its ok for actors or gymnasts or tennis players or musicians to turn pro at an age where most should be in high school. However, a baseball player tries it and people think its a bad idea. Go get your money Bryce and start working towards your dream of being a big league ball player and ignore those who think chasing your dream is a bad idea…

Here we go again with another round of “sports are evil” and education is the only way. Many “educated” people in this country today contribute very little to the tax base nor to charity. The tax revenue this kid will generate will directly impact useless individuals, many of whom got an education. The jealous crowd is so quick to tell an athletic phenom how to live his/her life. Oh and by the way, the kid is passionate about his future “occupation”. Aren’t we all supposed to be?

what are we here debating right or wrong?who the hell any of you think is right is wrong,all that matters is what they think.Oh by the way brainiacs.you can get a college education afterwards or even during time in the minors,so you guys are really funny ,saying geez no education,get real.I also must mention as much you talk about flame outs,you better look deeper…its about even with college/hs kids.I also see where seems alot of college-dudes-get in trouble alot as well.well its all people of opinions and we all got ours..thanks for letting me vent.

I can’t speak for AFLAC, but just got off the phone with a Baseball Factory staff member. They’re responsible for inviting the players to the Under Armour All-America Game. They have been in touch with Harper before and have invited him, but he has not confirmed. He could play in this year’s game. There is no rule against it. However, if he passes his G.E.D. and is eligible for the 2010 draft he would essentially be eliminated from the 2010 event because he’ll be either playing pro ball or working on a pro contract. Hope that helps. Thanks for all the comments and interest!

If the parents really wanted to take this a step further, they could find a country with very quick immigration laws and try to have Bryce become a citizen, which, while I haven’t looked at the MLB rules, might make him available as an international signee on July 2nd and the bidding war would start