USA TODAY International Edition
High-stakes battleground
Harper free agency shifts to Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS – You get off the plane, pick up your bags at McCarron Airport, jump in a cab, and it hits you.
It’s not the bright lights of the Strip. It’s those billboards.
The ones seen all over Las Vegas with the annual Major League Baseball winter meetings in town.
They show Bryce Harper, setting up the drama of his potential $400 million decision, that is more compelling than Celine Dion or any other Vegas show on the Strip.
Where is he going? How much is he getting? And can he really single-handedly change the fate of a franchise?
Harper, 26, with an MVP award already on his résumé, is one of the most highly sought-after free agents in baseball history. He isn’t close to a decision, but he has already met with a handful of teams before Mandalay Bay becomes the epicenter of the baseball universe this week.
Some flew into Las Vegas three weeks ago, like the White Sox contingent. Others, like the Dodgers, met him in Los Angeles a month ago.
The meetings have lasted anywhere from five to 10 hours, with teams presented a parting gift in the way of agent Scott Boras’ 118-page handbook, telling you everything you want to know about Harper and more.
You want the numbers assuring you that he’s a future Hall of Famer, a modern-day Mickey Mantle, and on a collision course with greatness?
You want to see comparisons of Harper to NBA icon LeBron James?
You want to see if Harper can really be worth $1 billion to your franchise?
It’s all right here, cover to cover, with research starting two years ago when Boras was already preparing to make him the highest-paid athlete in North American team sports history.
“My goal in this thing is to let teams know what they’re getting,” Boras tells USA TODAY, “that’s why we brought in the LeBron comparisons. A lot of people don’t know what he’s done by the age of 25 and how that compares to what LeBron James did at 25. You get a very clear path on how hard it is to achieve a standard of excellence in an arena where you’re both No. 1 picks, both rookies of year, both MVPs and set a standard that no one can meet.
“The way to articulate this in true business form is look at the Nats franchise. It was worth $480 (million) to $500 million before he got there, and now it’s worth more than $2 billion. TV ratings have tripled.
“Every GM in baseball wants him because he fills a need, but the owners are pursuing Bryce Harper because they know he can also make them a billion dollars over a period of years.”
Just in case you needed to be reminded of his talents, Boras points out in the book that Harper has more homers than Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron or Babe Ruth at the same age. Harper is the only player since 2010 to produce a 1.100 OPS in a single season, a 1.109 mark in his 2015 MVP year.
If you’re curious about his intimidating presence, just 41 percent of all pitches thrown to Harper were in the strike zone, a drastic contrast to Mike Trout (49 percent) and 2018 MVPs Mookie Betts (48 percent) and Christian Yelich (48 percent). He also happens to hit .327 with a .779 slugging percentage on fastballs thrown at least 94 mph.
Yet perhaps most enthralling is the pursuit of Harper cloaked with mystery, where one team’s GM isn’t even aware his owner is involved in talks, Boras says.
Teams that get an audience with Harper are provided a room number and time to meet in a Las Vegas hotel suite, where no is ever seen together. Harper and his wife, Kayla, arrive to the suite first. The team shows up next with its front office contingent, sometimes including the man with the checkbook, the owner.
The team presents its sales pitch for the first two hours, most times accompanied by video. It’s Harper’s and his wife’s turn next to ask questions.
Harper, who has surprised teams with his maturity and intellect, several team executives say, intently quizzes them on the team’s direction. He’ll ask detailed questions about their minor league prospects. And he wants to know what they plan to do at the July 31 trade deadline:
“Will you do what’s necessary to win?”
Harper has been candid, teams say, even with admissions of mistakes growing up in this game. He also conveys confidence that he’s ready to assume the responsibility of being a leader and the face of the franchise while enhancing a team’s image and marketability.
Kayla, Harper’s wife of nearly three years, accompanies him on these visits. She asks about stadium security, the nursery, proximity of the clubhouse to the family room and their rules for kids in the clubhouse.
Then, it’s Boras’ turn to do the talking, staying as late as the team desires. He lets the team know that if they invest in Harper, they’ll be buying a combination of Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and Mike Trout on the field, with the star power of Jay-Z and Beyoncé.
The price tag? If you have to ask, you can’t afford him.
Teams have not made formal bids, and there have been no demands from Harper or Boras.
“The only thing we know for sure,” one GM said, “is that he’s looking for more than 10 years and $300 million.”
Yes, that was the offer Harper walked away from at the end of the season by the Nationals, in which owner Mark Lerner predicts will be blown out of the water this winter.
There could be follow-up meetings with Harper in Las Vegas this week, but you won’t see him at Mandalay Bay.
You might not even see him out to dinner.
There’s too much at stake for anything to be spoiled now.
“This is a submarine race, not a regatta,” Boras says. “You do not want other teams knowing you’re interested in a generation player.
“No one wants to be known as a loser in this.”
In the end, Boras predicts, there likely will only be three serious suitors. Maybe two. That’s the way it works in high-stakes poker.
“When it ends,” Boras says, “someone is going to be very, very happy. They’re going to get a rock star.”
It’s Vegas, baby, where everyone’s fantasy can be fulfilled.