The saga of Bryce Harper’s future is over. According to multiple reports, including ESPN and Yahoo Sports, the 26-year-old All-Star right fielder agreed to a deal with Philadelphia Phillies.
Harper will reportedly ink 13-years, $330 million contract with a no-trade clause and no opt-outs.
While Phillies were the favorites to land Bryce Harper for past several weeks, other teams decided to make a late attempt to land the player including Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. Dodgers and Giants, however, came with short-term
“We had average values of $45 million offered on shorter-term deals,” – Boras told the New York Post. “We had a full buffet.”
According to Boras, Harper wanted a long term contract so he would spend the rest of his career in one city.
“The goal was to get the longest contract possible,” – he added. “Bryce wanted one city for the rest of his career. That is what I was instructed to do. It is very difficult in this time to get length of contract that takes a player to age 37, 38, 39.”
While Philadelphia Phillies are yet to confirm the deal, the team’s players already started welcoming Harper’s addition.
“It’s exciting. He’s a superstar player,” said pitcher Aaron Nola according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We were already a better team without him, but now that we got him, it takes it up a notch.”
“We are all excited. I’m sure he’s excited,” – added Zach Eflin. “It’s going to be a lot of fun for many years to come.”
Bryce Harper spent his entire career with the Washington Nationals. During his seven years with the organization, he made six All-Star appearances while winning NL MVP honors in 2015. Harper’s MLB career stats include .279 batting average, 184 home runs and 521 RBIs.