Most Philadelphia Phillies fans would be extremely disappointed if their team did not land one of Bryce Harper or Manny Machado this offseason, and one prominent MLB reporter still believes they are going to sign the former.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today has been predicting since early in the offseason that Harper will end up with the Phillies. While reports lately have indicated that the Washington Nationals are making a push to keep Harper, Nightengale is not backing down from his prediction. In an appearance on the 94WIP High Hopes Podcast with Jack Fritz and James Seltzer, Nightengale said he thinks the Phillies signing Harper is “more probable than ever before.”
“The Cubs aren’t involved, the Dodgers—the Dodgers would probably be his first choice because he lives in Vegas, Spring Training in Arizona and everything else,” he said. “I still got Bryce Harper going to the Phillies.”
The Nationals have offered Harper somewhere in the neighborhood of $300 million, and it doesn’t sound like the Chicago White Sox are willing to spend anywhere near that. When it comes time to make a final offer, Nightengale believes the Phillies will push toward $350 million.
“I would think for them to make sure the Nationals aren’t involved, you gotta go more toward the 350 (million) mark,” he said. “I would think a 10-, 12-year contract between 300 and 350 (million) would be at least the starting point to get it done. Probably 12 years.”
For what it’s worth, some rival executives believe the Phillies are going to make the biggest offer to either Harper or Machado. They already acquired shortstop Jean Segura from the Seattle Mariners earlier this offseason, so Harper may be a better fit.
