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John Middleton: ‘I want Bryce Harper to always wear a Phillies uniform’

Bryce Harper has spent five seasons with the Phillies. (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire)

Three days before Thanksgiving, there was quite a bit of thankfulness among those present at Citizens Bank Park Monday — from player to team to media — that Aaron Nola’s free agent stint was brief. Anyone who remembers the 100+ day free agency of Bryce Harper after the 2018 season knows that major signings can sometimes happen closer to St. Patrick’s Day than Thanksgiving.

While no one involved probably would look back on Harper’s long-anticipated foray into free agency as especially fun, the end result — a 13-year/$330 million deal — is one that’s worked out tremendously thus far for the two-time NL MVP and the Philadelphia Phillies.

In fact, it’s worked out so well that Harper and his agent Scott Boras have hinted multiple times over the last year about their desire to extend his current contract, even though there’s still eight remaining seasons on it. USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale even reported this past weekend that “the two sides are expected to discuss a potential extension paying him more than his current $26 million salary.”

Phillies managing partner John Middleton didn’t put things in those terms when asked about the seven-time All-Star’s contractual status after Nola’s press conference Monday, but made clear he envisions Harper remaining part of the organization beyond his 13-year deal, which expires after the 2031 season.

“So let me put it to you this way — my intention is that Bryce will never play baseball for any other team,” Middleton told Phillies Nation Monday afternoon.

To make that dream a reality, it sounds as though the Phillies will have to extend the contract of Harper — who told Matt Gelb of The Athletic that he hopes to play “until I’m 45 years old” — beyond its current expiration date.

Middleton seems aware of that, but also that 2032, Harper’s age-39 season, is a long ways away.

“Now, he wants to play longer than his contract,” Middleton continued. “So if he’s still gonna feel that way in the long-term, we’re gonna have to address that issue at some point. It’s not as simple as do you address it today or tomorrow or next year or two years from now.

“But the intention remains the same. I want Bryce to always wear a Phillies uniform until the day he stops wearing a baseball uniform at all,” Middleton said. “And when that happens, I want him to switch into a long-term relationship, like Mike Schmidt or Larry Bowa has had with the team. So I expect Bryce to be a Phillie for decades — long after I’m gone.”

On multiple occasions this past season, Harper expressed a desire to extend his contract with the Phillies, including after he hit his 300th career home run in late 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 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.”

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.”

As Boras referenced, Middleton did tell Harper after he hit the game-winning home run in Game 5 of the 2022 NLCS that he was “pretty sure I underpaid you.”

By just about any measure, Harper is underpaid currently. His $25.38 million average annual value is 24th in baseball. Perhaps the Phillies — like the Kansas City Chiefs did with quarterback Patrick Mahomes — could give Harper more money over the remaining term of his pact, doing right by the face of their franchise as his deal becomes obsolete. Maybe they could tack on a couple extra years, taking Harper through his age-40 season at a higher value.

In any event, it appears that Harper and Middleton are due for perhaps the most intense conversations they’ve had since February of 2019.