Nats appear resigned to losing Harper
WASHINGTON — As with most things involving the Washington Nationals’ offseason, a day that was supposed to be all about introducing Patrick Corbin morphed into a day about Bryce Harper.
Washington announced its six-year contract with Corbin, a deal worth $140 million, and the All-Star lefthanded starter donned a No. 46 Nationals jersey as rotation-mates Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg looked on from the front row Friday. After the news conference, general manager Mike
Rizzo was asked a key question:
How might the big bucks he used to outbid the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies for Corbin affect the pursuit of Washington’s own big-deal free agent right fielder Harper?
“I think they’re independent of each other. I really do. We’ve gone about this business of creating a roster for 2019, and at the end of the day, we’ll figure out whether that includes ‘Harp’ or not,” Rizzo said.
But in an interview with WJFK-FM, Nationals owner
Mark Lerner painted a different picture about where things stand with Harper, who didn’t accept a late-season offer from Washington.
“I really don’t expect him to come back at this point,” Lerner said. “I think they’ve decided to move on. There’s just too much money out there that he’d be leaving on the table.”
Lerner also described the team’s earlier offer to the 2012 NL Rookie of the Year and 2015 NL MVP, reportedly for $300 million over 10 years, as “the best we can do.”
In other pro baseball news:
• Free-agent pitcher
Garrett Richards and the San Diego Padres finalized a two-year, $15.5 million contract. Richards was 5-4 with a 3.66 ERA last season for the Los Angeles Angels before reconstructive surgery in July. • Righthander Merrill
Kelly agreed to a two-year, $5.5 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Kelly, 30, spent the last four seasons with SK Wyverns in South Korea. He was 48-32 with a 3.86 ERA, including 16-7 in 2017.