By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor
While the ultimate fate of the 2018 Philadelphia Phillies season is not yet finalized, the club's front office, coaches, players and surely its fans have at least one eye looking forward to this upcoming offseason.
Impending free agent superstars Manny Machado and Bryce Harper are set to hit the open market for the first time of their respective careers, and both are rumored to be likely to sign with the Phillies.
Report: Phillies Considered ‘Early Favorites’ for Harper, Machado, Poised for ‘Monster Winter'
Bovada has recognized such report, as on Wednesday, they granted the Phillies the fourth-best odds to sign Scott Boras-represented Harper, away from the Washington Nationals.
What team will Bryce Harper sign with this offseason? Odds via @BovadaOfficial:
Cubs +150
Dodgers +350
Yankees +450
Phillies +650
Nationals +700
Red Sox +900
Angels +1200
Giants +1500 pic.twitter.com/1XulxzvOAi— OddsShark (@OddsShark) September 19, 2018
Only the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees have better odds to ink Harper, per Bovada's listing. Harper, 25, leads the major leagues in walks this season (123), slashing .247/.394/.501 with 28 doubles, 34 home runs and 97 RBI spanning 149 games and 648 plate appearances.
The six-time All-Star, and former MVP, Rookie of the Year, and Silver Slugger Award winner is the ninth player in MLB history to have three-plus seasons with 100-plus walks through age 25, according to Baseball-Reference.