By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
With the Philadelphia Phillies' first spring training game in Clearwater, Florida, less than two months away, next season is not as far out as we may think.
And yet, the club's thought-to-be historic offseason has been anything but. Jean Segura and Andrew McCutchen have been acquired, among others, but top free agents Manny Machado and Bryce Harper remain available on the open market. Fans surely will not be satisfied until at least one, if not both, will don red pinstripes in 2019.
The likelihood of that coming to fruition appears to be less and less likely, however. According to the New York Post's Joel Sherman, neither Harper, nor Machado "particularly like" Philadelphia and rather prefer to sign with the New York Yankees.
Sherman writes:
… the Dodgers and Yankees could offer shorter deals for large annual values and force Harper/Machado to decide whether they want the long money or an all-but-guaranteed chance to win annually and another shot at free agency at, say, age 30 — younger, if outs are included.
Machado visited Philadelphia before the Christmas holiday, while the Phillies met with Harper's agent, Scott Boras, at the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas. While the Phillies are not out of the running for either by any means, Managing Partner John Middleton's "spending stupid money" comments are only becoming more and more questioned.
