Phillies Nation continues to follow a not-so-under-the-radar storyline that’s extremely pertinent: Bryce Harper and his camp aren’t hiding that he would like his current contract to be extended, and it does appear possible they would like things to come to a head this offseason.
Harper dropped hints at various points throughout this past season that he would like his contract — which runs through the 2031 season — to be extended. The most notable came in late August, after he hit his 300th career home run.
“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 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.”
Harper — understandably, given that he’s been a celebrity since he was a teenager — is typically guarded in what he says to the media. So nothing he says publicly is an accident, certainly not when he hints multiple times that he would like his contract to be extended.
In a recent podcast appearance with Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of The New York Post, Scott Boras, Harper’s agent, explained the two-time NL MVP’s thinking in not including an opt-out in the 13-year/$330 million deal signed with the Phillies before the 2019 season.
“I created the opt-out with Alex Rodriguez, so Bryce was fully aware. I may have advised him on this six different times. This is not the economic way to do this,” Boras said. “Bryce’s point of view was ‘Look, I’m gonna go there and commit. I’m gonna go there and win. I wanna show the fans that I like them, [and am] in once place. And we’re gonna win this way.'”
Harper, Boras continued, believed that if he produced and helped the Phillies to acquire more stars, he would have the leverage to ask for more from ownership, even without the opt-out clause his agent believed he should pursue.
“And then when the time comes after I produce and prove what I do, 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.”
What Boras is referring to is that after Harper hit the game-winning home run in Game 5 of the 2022 NLCS — helping the Phillies to win the NL pennant and taking home the series MVP in the process — Middleton admitted that the deal he signed for had become a bargain for the team.
Manny Machado became a free agent the same offseason that Harper did, and despite drawing some interest from the Phillies and other teams, he signed a 10-year/$300 million deal with the Padres. Machado’s deal included an opt-out after the fifth season, which he signaled before the year that he planned to trigger. It never got to that point, as the Padres instead signed Machado to a new 11-year/$350 million contract, which ties him to the team through the 2033 season. Machado’s previous contract had been set to expire after the 2028 season.
Without an opt-out, Harper may not have the leverage to get an additional five years added onto his contract like Machado essentially did. But Boras didn’t deny that his client would like to discuss making some amendments to his deal, which has eight years and $196 million remaining on it.
“Bryce has mentioned that he wants to sit down with ownership at time and talk about … he wants to achieve all his goals in Philadelphia … he wants to obviously play into his early 40s … he has all those goals … he wants to really do everything he can to put up Hall of Fame numbers … I think he’s committed to the game … committed to a city … and all those conversations will be coming forward at an appropriate time,” Boras said.
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has some more pressing issues to attend to this offseason. Aaron Nola is a free agent, and if the Phillies don’t re-sign him, they’ll need to acquire another front-line starter. Some tweaks likely need to be made to a bullpen that ran out of gas in the NLCS. Zack Wheeler will be in a contract year of his own in 2024, and it sounds as though the Phillies would like to extend him if possible.
But this will be an ownership level decision, one that will likely impact the Phillies long after the 67-year-old Dombrowski is no longer in his current post. Dombrowski and Boras would likely be present for any conversations that take place, but in the end, the two key players in this chat would be Harper and Middleton.
From a contractual sense, Harper doesn’t have any leverage this offseason. But he’s already one of the greatest players in franchise history, and has helped the Phillies to return to glory both with his individual production and ability to help lure other stars to Philadelphia. He’s been so valuable to the organization that it would be hard for Middleton and the Phillies to dismiss extension overtures from Harper, if a conversation does indeed take place this offseason.
This isn’t a report, but more of a gut feeling: don’t be shocked if you wake up one day this winter and read a press release from the Phillies that announces some additional years have been tacked onto Harper’s current deal.
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