Pitching for Phils: Harper lobbies to catch Trout

CLEARWATER, FLA. — Major League Baseball is investigating whether new Philadelphia slugger Bryce Harper committed a tampering violation when he lobbied for Mike Trout, who isn’t a free agent for two more seasons, to join the Phillies.

Speaking Wednesday, commissioner Rob Manfred said he doesn’t want players recruiting other players, a practice that has been winked at in the NBA. “Given our rules, players recruiting other players who are still under contract or under reserve to another club is a rule violation,” he said. “So, obviously not anxious to see that.”

Harper signed a $330 million, 13-year contract with the Phillies last week, and said at his introductory news conference: “There’s another guy in about two years that comes off the books. We’ll see what happens with that.” He may have crossed the line when he told radio station 94WIP: “If you don’t think I’m gonna call Mike Trout to come to Philly in 2020, you’re crazy.”

A two-time AL MVP with the Los Angeles Angels, Trout grew up near Philadelphia, attended the Phillies victory parade in 2008 as a 17-year-old and has season tickets for the Eagles. The 27-year-old outfielder is set to become a free agent after the 2020 season.

“For me, I can be able to talk to Trout, or whoever it is, big-name free agent or whoever wants to come to Philly ... I can say ‘Hey, this is the place to be,” Harper said in the radio interview.

Manfred wouldn’t say Wednesday whether he thought Harper’s comments were tampering. “We’re in the process of gathering information about the comments and the context in which they were made,” he said.

Harper homered Wednesday in his first scrimmage with the Phillies and said he had been spoken to about the comments, but did not say who talked with him, only that it was not MLB. “If I didn’t mean it, I wouldn’t have said it,” he told reporters.

The Phillies gave Harper a 13-year contract last week, the largest in baseball history at $330 million. Harper told team owner John Middleton he’s willing to help the team recruit free agents. It wouldn’t be unprecedented to have two players making at least $25 million per year on the same roster. Detroit won 86 games in 2016 with Miguel Cabrera ($31 million) and Justin Verlander ($25.7 million). Since 2017, Washington has carried Max Scherzer ($30 million) and Stephen Strasburg ($25 million). This year, Harper and Phillies pitcher Jake Arrieta will both top the $25 million mark.