Philadelphia Phillies: Grading Bryce Harper deal after first season
The Philadelphia Phillies signed Bryce Harper to a $330 million deal last offseason, so let’s look at how the first year went.
We all knew Bryce harper was going to get more money than Manny Machado. His agent, after all, was Scott Boras, and Boras is known to drag out the free agency process in an attempt to get the most money as possible for his client and it worked with Bryce Harper. The Philadelphia Phillies made a huge commitment to him by not including a no-trade clause in addition to no opt-outs.
Well, the first year of the 13 year commitment went pretty well. Usually, when a big-time free agent comes into a new city, it takes him a little bit of time to settle in but that didn’t seem to be the case for Bryce Harper.
He recorded his best batting average since 2017 and still hit 35 home runs in his first season in Philadelphia.
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Some fans may not have labeled it a success because they didn’t make the postseason and they fired their manager, Gabe Kapler.
But in terms of Harper himself, I would give it a B+ grade because he still produced and hit a lot of home runs while improving on defense from 2018.
Why I wouldn’t give it an A is because he didn’t make the All-Star team for the first time since 2014, and with the talent that he has he should have been able to make it.
The only thing that concerns me with his deal is obviously how long it is.
He still has 12 more seasons to go on this deal, and that means he will be a Phillie way past his prime and might not be suited to be playing the field every day like Manny Machado will be able to. Therefore, I see Harper filling a DH role once it becomes universal and almost replicates Albert Pujols‘ Angels tenure.
Next. Phillies: Pay attention to the starters. dark
With that said, I don’t think Bryce will end up being a hole in the lineup with no speed like Pujols is at times, but I am questioning how many years he will be able to produce past his prime.