Philadelphia Phillies: Executives believe the Phillies could sign both Harper and Machado

The Philadelphia Phillies will be one of the many teams that will heavily pursue free agents this offseason, but they could have a chance at signing the top two stars of the upcoming class.

Manny Machado and Bryce Harper will undoubtedly be the most heavily pursued free agents following the 2018 MLB regular season.  However, according to Jon Heyman of Fancred Sports, the Philadelphia Phillies could possibly sign both Machado and Harper.

After an 81-81 finish in 2012, the Phillies had losing seasons between 2013 through 2017.  Although the team has not yet secured a .500 or better record this season, they would only need to go 6-10 down the stretch to secure their first .500 season since 2012.

According to Spotrac, the Phillies currently have a $128,472,517 payroll for their 2018 roster. The team currently only has $68,933,333 committed for the 2019 roster.  Although baseball-reference estimates additional salary arbitration costs for Philadelphia to be roughly $53.9 million for the team, that is not a guaranteed figure.

More from Call to the Pen

• Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
• Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
• Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
• Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
• 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

Even if the Phillies bring back all of their arbitration eligible players to bring their total team payroll near the $130 million mark, they have a past of spending much more money than that on their roster.  For example, in 2012, Philadelphia had a total team payroll of $183,096,972.  This leaves the team with a lot of flexibility to add numerous impact players in the upcoming offseason.

Due to this flexibility, coupled with a very talented, young roster that is ahead of schedule in rebuilding, the Phillies could conceivably add both Machado and Harper to their team before the 2019 season.  If they are able to make this large of a splash in free agency, a lineup featuring Rhys Hoskins, Carlos Santana, Maikel Franco, Machado, and Harper would be quite a terrifying force in the National League.

If the team is willing to push close to or over a $200 million team payroll for the first time in franchise history, they could potentially look to also bolster their rotation with pitchers such as Patrick Corbin, Charlie Morton, or Gio Gonzalez.  They could also look at adding impact relievers such as Cody Allen, Kelvin Herrera, or Andrew Miller.

This will be a very interesting offseason as many teams have geared up to make a splash in free agency.  Although the New York Yankees have long been considered a landing spot for both Machado and Harper, they do already have a talented outfield and infield that may cause the team to focus more on pitching over position players.  Due to this, an opportunity for the Philadelphia Phillies to add both players could be a realistic possibility, especially if the pair want to join forces on the same team.