Whether it was his initial 13-year deal with no opt-outs, re-signing J.T. Realmuto, removing the interim tag from Rob Thomson’s title or landing Trea Turner in free agency, Bryce Harper has generally gotten what he wants from the Philadelphia Phillies from the start of their relationship in February of 2019.
Harper and his agent, Scott Boras, have hinted on multiple occasions in 2023 that some sort of contract extension may be in order for the two-time NL MVP. And at the very least, it appears the Phillies are going to hear Harper’s camp out.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that “the two sides are expected to discuss a potential extension paying him more than his current $26 million salary.”
While no one is suggesting Harper and his family will struggle to get by with his $25.38 million average annual salary, it is now 24th among all players. The Phillies — recognizing that the market has made Harper’s deal look very team-friendly — could try to address his pact in one of two ways. They could acknowledge the contract has become obsolete and give him more money in the present with a handshake agreement to reassess things again in a few years, as the Kansas City Chiefs did with superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the NFL. Or they could tack on extra years at the end of the contract, which appears to be what Harper’s camp is angling for.
Harper has completed five years of his 13-year/$330 million deal with the Phillies, so it’s not as though he’s approaching free agency again. But despite being under contract through the 2031 season, Harper hinted at a desire to play for the Phillies beyond his current contract after hitting his 300th career home run in August.
“I’m very fortunate, very blessed to put this uniform on each day with the Phillies across my chest and so thankful that me and [managing partner] John [Middleton] were able to sit down after the 2018 season and get something done,” Harper said. “Like I said, very fortunate to have a long-term deal, and play this game for a long time. Hopefully I’m able to do it for even longer than what my contract looks like right now. I love being a Phillie, plain and simple. It’s something I dreamed about.”
Prior to the 2023 season, Harper told Matt Gelb of The Athletic that he hoped to play for the Phillies “until I’m 45 years old,” and added that “I really believe that I can.”
In an interview with Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of The New York Post earlier this month, Boras explained how Harper decided in free agency, against the advice of his accomplished agent, not to include any opt-outs in his deal. Harper believed that if he committed to a city and helped lure other stars to that team, he would eventually have leverage to ask ownership about his contractual status, even without being able to opt-out.
“And then when the time comes after I produce and prove what I do,” Boras said referring to Harper’s perspective, “if I have discussions or matters related to economics, I want the owner to say — and which, I give John Middleton a lot of credit, he did say — is that Bryce Harper is undervalued. And that’s the whole goal. He gave him a record contract. After three or four years of performance, he’s delivered more than expected, and then the player, if he has economic dynamics that he wants to discuss, he’ll do so with his ownership. And that’s how Bryce felt.”
After Harper sent the Phillies to the 2022 World Series with his eighth-inning, go-ahead blast against the San Diego Padres in NLCS Game 6, managing partner John Middleton admitted to Harper that he now believed that he had “underpaid” the slugger with his megadeal.
So what happens next? Presumably, the two sides will have some sort of conversation in advance of Spring Training about what their hopes are moving forward. While Boras and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski would almost certainly be present for these discussions, a high-level decision like this might come down to Harper and Middleton talking directly.
Are the Phillies going to give Harper a seven-year extension through his age-45 season? Probably not. But could they give Harper more money annually over the final eight years of his current deal and tack on, say, a two-year extension that would take him through his age-40 season? That would seem to be a fair compromise.
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