I am not surprised when I learned that the Philadelphia Phillies are going to offer MLB star outfielder, Bryce Harper, a massive amount of money to try and score the hottest position player amid the impressive handful of star free agent players looking to lock down big time deals in 2019.
Although we must keep in mind that Bryce's current team the Washington Nationals already made a strong bid to keep their phenom slugger from going to another team by offering him the largest contract in the history of pro sports. It looks like those two teams are now going to have to go way above the initial 300 million over 10 years offer that Bryce turned down from the Nats without a flinch near the end of 2018.
The Washington Post's Chelsea Janes reported last year:
"The Washington Nationals offered Harper the biggest free agent contract in the history of the four major North American sports in late September/2018, and he and his agent turned it down. Think about that sentence for a moment, and glean these two stunning facts from it: First, the Nationals — often described as somewhere between maddeningly selective in their spending and unnecessarily frugal — were willing to give one of their players a record-setting deal."
"They offered Harper $300 million for 10 years in a deal that included no opt-outs, according to multiple people familiar with the terms. The biggest free agent deal in pro sports history by total value had been Alex Rodriguez’s 10-year deal worth $275 million with the New York Yankees in 2007. Giancarlo Stanton’s 2014 deal, which guaranteed him $325 million over 13 seasons, was an extension."
It's said that the White Sox are reportedly emerging as the frontrunner to land Manny Machado. As for Harper, the chances of him staying put in Washington look very strong. That is unless the Phillies throw super silly money at Bryce and it does not make sense for them to do that, because they really need to focus on building their team up with other players using that giant amount of cash. I don't see Bryce leaving the home he has been playing at his entire career so far, and he has some great hitters like the new sensation Juan Soto to give him protection in the lineup. Bryce already won an MVP with the Nats so I seriously doubt he will take his glove and bat elsewhere. If he is going to continue to make a name for himself as the best of the best, among the elite like Mike Trout, he needs to hit where he is already most comfortable... and to keep performing around the men that he's already been playing with. Legendary baseball stars that are the most remembered stay with the same team their entire career, while winning the World Series at least once. So far the World Series ring is missing from the hands of Trout, Harper and Machado.
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