Nats set to move on from Harper
Slugger would become free agent after 2018
Perhaps it’s a matter of semantics whether the proposed contract extension was formally discussed or simply mentioned in casual conversation, but the Washington Nationals made it clear Monday that they have no intention of meeting Bryce Harper’s request for a record-setting contract to avert free agency in two years.
Harper is seeking at least a 10year contract that will likely pay him a minimum of $400 million, a high-ranking Nationals executive told USA TODAY Sports.
The executive spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the negotiations.
Harper’s agent, Scott Boras, told USA TODAY Sports the only active negotiations lately have involved a one-year deal in 2017. Harper, who made $5 million last season, is eligible for salary arbitration.
“I have had no long-term dis-
cussions with the Nationals on Bryce,” Boras said in a text message to USA TODAY Sports. “No terms, no offers discussed. Only arbitration-year discussions.”
The Nationals executive, however, insists Harper is seeking the record-setting contract that would tie him up for perhaps the rest of his career. Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo told Washington reporters: “I’m not going to answer any of those kinds of questions. Those are private discussions between us and the players.”
Yet it really doesn’t matter who initiated the talks or how specific they became. Harper plans to become the highest-paid player in the sport’s history at the age of 26.
He’s the marquee attraction in the star-studded free agent class of 2018 that includes Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado, Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson, Orioles center fielder Adam Jones, Orioles closer Zach Britton, Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen and New York Mets starter Matt Harvey and potentially Cy Young winners Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers and David Price of the Boston Red Sox if they exercise their optout clauses.
And if Harper gets his $400 million, well, you can be assured there will be a lot of guys eclipsing $300 million in his wake.
“God Bless America,” former pitching great Jack Morris said. “Apparently, (President-elect Donald) Trump has got this country great again in a hurry. ... Right now, I don’t know anybody in today’s game that would pay that. Maybe in two years. Maybe. Who knows? Unbelievable. It really is.”
Considering Harper is 24 and possesses unworldly talent and the fact that baseball’s revenue are expected to exceed $11 billion this year, why not? The largest contract in baseball belongs to Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who signed a record 13-year, $325 million extension in 2014 that’s heavily backloaded. It eclipsed the total amount of Alex Rodriguez’s 10-year, $275 million contract with the New York Yankees in 2007 but pays an average salary of $2.5 million less a year than A-Rod’s deal.
Who’s to say he’s not worth it, particularly with the game never being more prosperous?
“The game of baseball keeps growing exponentially, to be honest with you,” Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier said Monday. “When you start throw- ing money like that, I’m sure it can get overwhelming. But it’s good for the game. It’s very, very good for the game. The game keeps growing and growing, which is good for all of us.”
The Nationals, who have won three division titles in the last five years, love having Harper around. It’s just a matter of economics. The Nationals finished last season with a $155.5 million payroll and have already committed $87.4 million in salaries in 2019 to starters Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg and infielder Ryan Zimmerman.
“The Washington franchise has one of the most successful ownership groups on and off the field,” Boras told USA TODAY Sports in spring training. “They certainly have the ability to conduct whatever form of business they see fit.”
The Nationals’ refusal to give Harper a record-setting contract certainly explains why they plan to be one of baseball’s most aggressive teams at the winter meetings. The Nationals not only are strongly pursuing McCutchen but also Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale, according to a Nationals front office executive. They also have engaged in trade talks with the Tampa Bay Rays for center fielder Kevin Kiermaier but consider the asking price exorbitant.
The Nationals adamantly refuse to include center fielder-short-stop Trea Turner in any deal but are willing to discuss most of their prized prospects, including pitcher Lucas Giolito, and believe that it’s possible to actually acquire both Sale and McCutchen. Giolito and Turner are among a group of five Nationals prospects who cracked Baseball America’s midseason top 100 prospects list.
While the Nationals are poised to be a perennial power under Rizzo, they realize the window to win with Harper now is two years. The Nationals, if successful pulling off the trades for Sale and McCutchen, certainly would be the favorites to win the National League East again and rival the World Series champion Chicago Cubs for the finest team in the NL.
Can you imagine a rotation of Scherzer, Sale, Strasburg, Tanner Roark and perhaps Joe Ross?
They are also willing to make a run at top free agent closers Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen; succeeding on all fronts would increase their payroll by more than $40 million.
The Nats might be willing to absorb the increased payroll now, particularly with Jayson Werth’s $21 million salary coming off the books after the 2017 season. But unless Harper lowers his demands, they’ll be planning a future without him.
And the Nationals’ loss just might be the Yankees’ future.
“Bryce’s young talent doesn’t come around very often,” Atlanta Braves All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman says. “Those guys are game-changing players. ... He can do it all in every aspect. Four hundred million, it’s going to be interesting to see if he gets it. I guess we’ll find out together in two years. But if he gets $400 million, it’s hard to put together a team around him.”
And that is precisely the Nationals’ point.