Bryce Harper Seemingly Takes Major Shot at Nationals With His Latest Comments

Bryce Harper still seems to have the Washington Nationals on his mind.

Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

There is a different energy surrounding the Washington Nationals this spring.

Despite the fact they are not expected to be competitive and could be one of the worst teams in the majors once again, the new regime in place at least has created some excitement surrounding the direction of this franchise as they look to move forward.

However, a relic of their past made some comments that seemingly took a shot at the Nationals. Bryce Harper -- the superstar outfielder who was taken first overall out of high school by Washington in the 2010 draft and won the NL Rookie of the Year Award and an NL MVP while in the nation's capital -- stated he would have preferred to have been drafted by his current team; the Philadelphia Phillies.

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"I've said this numerous times. I wish I would have started my career there just because of the way it was. Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, [Raul] Ibanez, like all these guys. Just that whole era of Phillies baseball was really cool," he said.

Of course, that didn't sit well with Nationals fans. After all, him going No. 1 overall to Washington and becoming the face of their franchise at such a young age helped him turn into a superstar in the sport. So to hear him say he'd rather have started his career with a division rival certainly feels like a major shot at his former team.

Nationals Could Get Last Laugh in Bryce Harper Divorce

Washington Nationals championship logo | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Despite the divorce that took place between the Nationals and someone who was well on his way to becoming a franchise icon, there's a good chance it's Washington who gets the last laugh when it's all said and done.

After Harper signed the 13-year, $330 million contract with the Phillies ahead of the 2019 season that made him the highest paid player in the history of baseball at the time, it was the Nationals who went on to win the World Series that year.

And despite Washington struggling in a major way since that point and Philadelphia reaching the Fall Classic and winning two NL East titles, the fact of the matter is the Phillies are starting to age out while the Nationals are filled with young star players on their MLB roster and in their pipeline.

So depending on how things go in Philadelphia over the next few years, there is a chance they are going to be stagnant -- or will even regress -- while Washington begins their ascension back into contender status.

If that were to be the case, then there's a good possibility Harper never wins a championship in his career while the Nationals won one without him as soon as he left.