Report: ‘Bank’ on the Phillies to Sign Bryce Harper

By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor

All indications are pointing to top free agent Bryce Harper signing with the Philadelphia Phillies. Not just because Harper followed Philadelphia star athletes Joel Embiid and Rhys Hoskins on Instagram, nor just because Harper declined a long-term deal with the Washington Nationals on the last day of the 2018 season.

Wednesday evening, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported from the annual general manager meetings in Carlsbad, California, that the Phillies are the "logical destination" for Harper in 2019 and beyond.

Nightengale writes:

The Chicago Cubs don’t want to spend the money unless someone takes Jason Heyward or Yu Darvish off their hands. The Los Angeles Dodgers don’t have interest. The St. Louis Cardinals don’t have bright lights. The San Francisco Giants are changing course. It leaves one team for Harper, which won’t mind giving him at least $400 million. …

He will be standing in right field with the Phillies on March 28 at Citizens Bank Park when they open the season against the defending NL East champion Atlanta Braves.

Bank on it.

Count the New York Yankees out, too. Per Buster Olney of ESPN's "well-placed source," Harper is "not going to be a Yankee." "It's not happening."

If true, this would not the first report by Nightengale that led to an actual signing between a club and top free agent. As SportsRadio 94 WIP's Joe Giglio notes, Nightengale accurately reported Jake Arrieta signing with the Phillies, Eric Hosmer with the San Diego Padres, and J.D. Martinez with the Boston Red Sox, among other transactions. All three, like Harper, are Boras clients.

Read: Harper’s Agent ‘Pretty Good Buddies’ With Phillies Managing Partner Middleton

At the meetings, agent Scott Boras dubbed the offseason and the pursuit of his client as "Harper's Bazaar.""It's fashionable, historical, elite and global," Boras said. "For an owner to know the rocket ship of economic opportunity is just blasting off because the player is just entering the prime of his career, you’re talking about a unique and rare opportunity."

Boras has called the Phillies a "prime destination" and a "positive environment" for future free agents to sign with. He also recently said the San Francisco Giants would be one signing destination to be a "perfect fit" for Harper.

Wherever Harper signs, "bank" on a long-term, high average annual value-type deal. That deal just very well could be with the Phillies, who, per Nightengale, are "going to be the ones who pay the biggest contract in baseball history."