MLB hot stove: Next moves for the teams that miss on Harper

Right now it seems like every team wants Bryce Harper in MLB Hot Stove. Unfortunately, they can’t all have him. Here’s how the teams that lose out should rebound.

Nothing in baseball exists inside of a vacuum, especially during MLB hot stove season. The moves of one team reverberate out to all the others, informing their decisions and putting them into new situations that they must adapt to. This is especially true during the offseason, when many teams are often pursuing the same prized free agents. This is something that will be fully displayed when Bryce Harper announces where he’ll be taking his talents next year.

The splash that is Harper’s signing will cause plenty of ripples, and teams that thought they might sign Harper will scramble as front offices regroup and pursue the next player on their list.

We don’t know where Harper will sign right now, but we do have a few ideas, and the rumor mill is constantly flowing. At this time it seems like the Phillies, Dodgers, White Sox, Nationals and Cubs are the teams most likely to land him, although there is also a supposed mystery team in the mix as well. That’s all subject to change, but let’s run with it for now.

So, in their heart of hearts, some of the teams listed above might know they’re not signing Harper. But, the fact that they’re still in the conversation at this point shows that they’re still pretty serious about their pursuit; they wouldn’t be willing to even entertain the idea of giving up this kind of money if they didn’t think they needed Harper.

That means these teams have some sort of deficiency they’re trying to make up for with Bryce, and for the four teams that don’t sign him that deficiency will remain. Once Harper is off the board they’ll have to start getting to work on their second and third options, looking to round out their line up heading into the season. Let’s take a look at what that might look like.