Say It Ain't So: Werth says Harper will thrive in Philly

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Et tu, Jayson? 

Yes, even Jayson Werth, the outfielder who made the switch from Philadelphia to Washington, believes Bryce Harper will come to thrive with the Phillies.
“Bryce is a once-in-a-generation player. He almost was created in a lab. This all is what has been laid out for him at a young age. It’s not surprising," Werth told MLB.com. "The difference going forward is how he writes his next chapters. That is going to be his legacy."

"He is going to be remembered as a Phillie. If he goes to the Hall of Fame, he will be in there as a member of the Phillies. These next 13 years will define his career," Werth said.

Well we're a long way away from "Jayson Werth Appreciation Day" at Nats Park.
Those words strike at the heart of every Nationals fan. They sting right now, but that pain will be dwarfed by the sting that will come if Werth's words prove prophetic. 
RELATED: Harper already calling Philly 'the greatest city in the world'

And Werth knows a lot about Harper as he was like an older-brother figure for him and played a key role in helping him develop from prospect packed with promise to elite-level talent.

Werth said getting a big, long-term deal is challenging and tough when expectations are raised, however, he predicts Harper won't shrink from the challenge.

“But Bryce is a little bit different. Most of guys who received the long-term deals, they were not on the cover of Sports Illustrated when they were 16. They weren’t doing Gatorade commercials during their rookie year. Maybe they weren’t (an) MVP (either)," he said.

"We’re not dealing with your average, everyday ballplayer here. Bryce is and has been a different animal from a young age. If he’s not equipped to handle this, then I think he probably wouldn’t have been apt to sign it," Werth told The Washington Post. 

Werth, who arrived in Washington from Philadelphia on a seven-year, $126 million deal in December 2010, says he wasn't surprised the 26-year-old slugger left the DMV.

“Am I shocked or surprised or upset by it? No. It’s business,” Werth told The Post Friday. “It’s the name of the game. You get to that point, and you get one chance at it."

"Do you stay where it’s comfortable, or do you check out something else? It’s tough. It’s not an easy decision. It’s not an easy thing to go through on any level. Now you sign deal like that, it doesn’t get easier from here. It only gets tougher. More is more. It’s tough. When I left Philadelphia to come to Washington, I got booed in Philadelphia for seven years,” Werth said.

But Harper isn't one for the "easy" path, Werth said.

“The easy play would have been to take the deal he got from the Nats at the end of the season,” he said. “You know what you got. If you’re worried about perception or all those other things that come into play with a long-term deal, you probably would have made the easy play and stayed in Washington.”
Of course, the Nationals' offer, while similar in terms of total cash to the one he signed with the Phillies, contained a great deal of deferred money and could have made Harper's decision to leave easier.

Werth did have a word of warning for the newest Philly resident: You better win or it won't be pleasant.

“I told him if you win in Philly, it’s the best. I don't think any city wins better,” Werth told MLB.com. "They win the best and lose the worst."

“(In Philly), it’s what have you done for me lately. You have to go out and compete. With any long-term contract, the stakes are higher. You work your whole life to get to that point. Now, it’s, 'OK, now you've got to put up,'" Werth said.

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