![]() Harper knew all along the process would likely linger into February or March. Four whole months of false starts and social media sleuthing from information-starved fans. 29 and Harper agreed to his deal with the Phillies on Feb. There will be exclusive interviews with Harper, his agent Scott Boras, Phillies managing partner John Middleton and his wife Leigh, and more. On Tuesday at 8 p.m., NBC Sports Philadelphia premieres "Signing Harper," a one-hour documentary focusing on the behind-the-scenes process for the Phillies to land their man. Two surprising and impressive trades, a couple big signings of veterans, and the long, winding, ultimately successful path to bringing Bryce Harper aboard. Barring any changes in the collective bargaining agreement, the Nationals can pay Robles just a little more than the minimum salary of $550,000 over the next three seasons.Ĭombine the value Robles could provide with the money already spent in free agent and it is easy to understand why the Nationals are no longer willing to break the bank for Harper.Phillies fans will never forget this offseason. 5 and Baseball America rates him 11th.įurthermore, Robles won’t be eligible for salary arbitration until following the 2021 season. MLB.com ranks Robles as the fourth-best prospect in baseball while Baseball Prospectus has him at No. Robles has amassed 83 at-bats for the Nationals over the last two seasons, but the 21-year-old still has rookie eligibility. He became overlooked last season because of the meteoric rise of fellow outfield prospect Juan Soto, who finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting as a 19-year-old. It is hard to justify shelling out $300 million for a player in that context.įurthermore, the Nationals have a ready-made replacement for Harper in rookie Victor Robles. 31, that puts Harper in just the top 17th percentile. That ranks him 125th among major-league players-125th!-during that span.Ĭonsidering there are 750 active players on major-league rosters from opening day until Aug. Since having 10.0 WAR during his MVP season, Harper has combined for just 7.5 over the last three years. Yet it is also hard to make the case that Harper is a $300 million player. At 26, he has also already won the 2012 NL Rookie of the Year, 2015 NL Most Valuable Player and made six-time All-Star Game appearances in his seven-year career. Granted, Harper is baseball’s most-recognizable player, with all due to respect to Mike Trout, so he provides a lot of star power. Thus, a strong case can be the made that the Nationals made their team better by spreading their free-agent dollars around rather than concentrating them on Harper. Adams provides a powerful left-handed bat off the bench and insurance at first base for the injury-prone Ryan Zimmerman. Dozier fills the shoes of Daniel Murphy, who was traded last season. Suzuki will combine with trade acquisition Yan Gomes to form a good catching tandem. The Nationals have seemed to improve themselves following last year’s disappointing 82-80 finish.Ĭorbin, Sanchez and Hellickson fill out what should be a strong starting rotation behind Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg. The Nationals have also signed right-hander Anibal Sanchez ($19 million for two years), catcher Kurt Suzuki ($10 million for two years), second baseman Brian Dozier ($9 million for one year), first baseman Matt Adams ($4 million for one year) and righty Jeremy Hellickson ($1.3 million for one year). Left-hander Patrick Corbin was signed to a six-year, $140-million contract, the largest given in this free-agent in this free agent class until the Machado singing. They have spent $203.3 million in this cycle of free agency. The Nationals certainly can’t be accused of taking part in gamesmanship with Harper or being cheap. In other words, Harper won’t be getting Machado money if he wants to remain with the team that selected him first overall in the 2010 amateur draft. MLB.com reports that even though the Nationals remain interested in re-signing Harper, their offer from September is now off the table.
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