Philadelphia Phillies: The Pressure to Sign Bryce Harper is Officially On
By Manny Gómez
After Manny Machado agreed to take his talents to San Diego, the Philadelphia Phillies front office must officially be feeling the pressure to land their big fish.
Upon learning of the 10-year, $300M offer that was on the table for Manny Machado, Philadelphia Phillies GM Matt Klentak decided to punt. In his mind, the star infielder just wasn’t worth the money.
Matt Klentak: “If the reports are true, this contract will exceed our valuation. Sometimes you have to walk away.”
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) February 19, 2019
Phillies, of course, are still in on Bryce Harper.
However, now that Machado to San Diego for 10-years, $300M is official, the Phillies are under immense pressure to sign Bryce Harper. Especially considering that Phillies owner John Middleton promised that he was ready to spend “stupid” money this winter.
There is good news for the Phillies, however.
Earlier this winter, the Phillies pulled off a move that brought Jean Segura to Philly in exchange for first baseman Carlos Santana. The move would allow Rhys Hoskins, who played LF last season, to return to his natural position at first, thereby creating an opening for an outfielder.
In another bit of good news, the Padres, who were said to have also made an offer to Bryce Harper, are now out on the star outfielder. That’s one less team to have to compete with.
What’s more is that even after signing Andrew McCutchen and David Robertson this winter, the Phillies still only have an approximate payroll of $125.5M, which is over $80M under the luxury tax threshold. With Arrieta’s contract expiring at the end of this season, the Phillies payroll will continue to drop, making them players again at the trade deadline and next offseason.
The bad news is that reports have floated around all winter that Philadelphia isn’t Harper’s first choice. Then, today, Andy Martino of SNY tweeted out the following:
Have been hearing lately Bryce Harper unsure about Philly. They'd better convince him for their sake.
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) February 19, 2019
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This puts the Phillies in a tough situation. For one, in order for Middleton to follow through with his promise, his GM, Matt Klentak will have to feel confident that the “stupid” contract it’s going to take to land Harper, matches the team’s valuation.
In other words, the Philadelphia Phillies are going to have to be prepared to exceed what the Padres ended up giving Machado in order to land Bryce Harper.
The question now is, do the Phillies value Harper at upwards of $350M over 10-years?
Next. New Phils contention window. dark
If John Middleton wants to keep his promise and appease the Philadelphia Phillies fanbase, he better hope they do.