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The Bryce Harper to Houston trade package that fell through was finally revealed

Bryce Harper was nearly traded to the Houston Astros in 2018 at the July 31 trade deadline. (Don Otto)

Bryce Harper committed his baseball life to Philadelphia when he signed a 13-year, $330 million contract with the Phillies prior to the 2019 season.

He remained a Washington National throughout his walk year in 2018, but there was real buzz surrounding a potential deadline deal.

We already know that Harper was nearly dealt to the Houston Astros at the July 31 trade deadline in 2018, but we didn’t have any idea what the blockbuster trade that fell through looked like until now.

Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle recent reported the details of the trade that would have sent Harper to Houston. Five prospects, including current Phillies pitcher Kent Emanuel, were included in the deal.

It looked like this:

HOU receives: OF Bryce Harper

WSN receives: INF Abraham Toro, INF Randy César, RHP Josh James, RHP J.B. Bukauskas and LHP Kent Emanuel

None of the five prospects included turned out to be major league regulars. Emanuel was on the Phillies’ 40-man roster for the duration of the 2022 season but did not appear in a major league game. Toro received 324 at-bats with the Mariners this season and his numbers were terrible.

Randy César has not played a game in the majors. Bukauskas made it to the majors with Arizona last season while James is out after undergoing flexor tendon surgery a month ago and has barely pitched in the majors over the last two years.

Because the deal involved a franchise player in Harper, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo needed ownership approval to make the deal official. Owner Ted Lerner axed the trade and that was that. Harper stayed a National for another two months and he went on to sign a massive deal with a division rival.

“Needless to say, I was really bummed,” former Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow told Rome.

If the trade went down, would Harper have stayed an Astro? The answer is probably not. The largest free agent contract the Astros have handed out in their history ($100 million for Carlos Lee in 2006) is less than a third of the value of Harper’s $330 million deal. Harper did reveal in 2020

that the Astros tried to sign him to a one-year deal for an absurd average annual value, but he wasn’t as interested in short-term offers.

The Astros lost in the American League Championship Series in 2018 to the Boston Red Sox.