So if the Nationals get Prince, would projections have them in the race for the postseason? I'm thinking management might feel compelled to bring Harper up earlier than expected if they think they've got a shot.

I would like to see Harper start the season in Syracuse so I could catch him a few times before he gets clocked by a fastball for being himself in the bigs.

The Nationals will go the Strasburg route with Harper, keeping him in the minors until June, when they can bring him up without losing a year of his rights down the road. With Stras on an inning limit this year, as Jordan Zimmermann was in 2011, it's the prudent thing to do. I see 2013 as the year the Nats really make their move towards a postseason bid.

The Nationals will go the Strasburg route with Harper, keeping him in the minors until June, when they can bring him up without losing a year of his rights down the road. With Stras on an inning limit this year, as Jordan Zimmermann was in 2011, it's the prudent thing to do. I see 2013 as the year the Nats really make their move towards a postseason bid.

I am guessing he stays down longer, until August or September, and then maybe starts next year in the Majors or maybe they hold him down until June in 2013.

I don't get why teams still do this. Unless they fully believe that the player will not sign an extension to stay with the team, why delay the clock? It seems that 9 out of 10 of these great young players are signing long term contracts by the time they are in their third season. A contract that overpays their arbitration eligible years, and underpays a couple seasons of free agency. If a team plans on offering that, why hold the player down if they could be helping the big league team?

So if the Nationals get Prince, would projections have them in the race for the postseason?

Not sure they even need Prince for that, especially if they go with the 2nd wild card. Look at the NL -- the Phils are the class but after that there are no strong teams. Giants? DBacks? Braves? Reds? Brewers? Cardinals? Hanging onto that bunch won't require a Herculean effort.

If the Brewers can get Prince back, they might move up into the clear #2 spot.

I don't get why teams still do this. Unless they fully believe that the player will not sign an extension to stay with the team, why delay the clock?

Well it does delay the clock to arbitration as well. So a team gets an extra year of look-see before they have to really shell out the big bucks. Sure there are some guys who look like gangbusters right off the bat but the problem is that you can't always identify them correctly before they start play. Sometimes you have Evan Longoria and sometimes you have Terrence Long.

Delaying the clock can also be a further incentive to sign the team friendly long term deal.

We're going to pay you under a million dollars for over three years and then you'll have to go through arbitration for three years just to get to FA or you can sign this deal that guarantees you 20 million dollars. Having to wait an extra year for a possible payday might just be a tipping point for some players.

You don't have to keep a player down until June to get an extra year. There are 183 days in a season, and 172 days constitutes a year of service. Players not on the 40-man can have their contracts purchased April 16 and only accrue 171 days this year. Being on the 40-man roster, Harper would have to stay down until April 24 after being optioned out of spring training, as options of fewer than 20 days count as major league service.

I don't get why teams still do this. Unless they fully believe that the player will not sign an extension to stay with the team, why delay the clock?

Well it does delay the clock to arbitration as well. So a team gets an extra year of look-see before they have to really shell out the big bucks. Sure there are some guys who look like gangbusters right off the bat but the problem is that you can't always identify them correctly before they start play. Sometimes you have Evan Longoria and sometimes you have Terrence Long.

It's also about catching as much as possible of a player's prime. If you're assuming the guy's peaking somewhere between 26 and 30, you'd like to be assured you're getting as many of his best years as you can, even if the player takes off immediately once they hit free agency.

Super 2 is one of the big reasons teams wait. It's the difference between a year at the minimum and an arbitration year.

And even if you bring the guy up early enough to be a super-two, buying out a fourth arb year is still going to be cheaper than buying out a FA year.

options of fewer than 20 days count as major league service

Options of fewer than 20 days don't count as options, do they? IOW, a player on the 40-man roster has to spend 20 days in the minors during the season to burn an option year, right?

they can bring him up without losing a year of his rights down the road.

Others have discussed some of the details but I wanted to touch on this because it kinda annoys me.

Teams don't "lose a year of his rights" by bringing a player up "early."

Teams GAIN up to about 5 months of service time by DELAYING a player's promotion to the big leagues. Teams SAVE money by doing this, even if they guy ends up qualifying for super 2. Teams are taking advantage of the system* to reduce labor costs, not "losing" anything.

*A system freely negotiated by the Union and it's not like "delaying the clock" hasn't been going on since almost day one. I'm still surprised they haven't fought to change this.

*A system freely negotiated by the Union and it's not like "delaying the clock" hasn't been going on since almost day one. I'm still surprised they haven't fought to change this.

Well, you have to draw the line somewhere, and teams will micro around that.

Or, you could go with the hilarious random system, where at the end of a year where a player has 5+x years of service, you generate a random number between 0 and 1 and if it is less than x the player becomes a free agent. That would be pretty awesome and make for great theater to boot.