White Sox Enlist Help of Hall of Fame Slugger Jim Thome to Recruit Bryce Harper

By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor

The Philadelphia Phillies' pursuit of Bryce Harper this offseason has been compared to that of signing eventual Hall of Fame first baseman Jim Thome in December 2002.

Last month, NBC Sports Philadelphia's Jim Salisbury said on SportsRadio 94 WIP with Glen Macnow and Ray Didinger that the Phillies are "probably the favorite" to acquire Harper "for a lot of reasons."

"They're getting closer to be ready to win and contend consistently," Salisbury said. "A player like that would fit and have interest in coming here. Obviously, they have deep pockets, a lot of money ready to spend."

Salisbury went on to say that the way the industry is lining up, "it's almost like Jim Thome back in the early 2000s."

"There wasn't a lot of competition for Thome. It was basically the Phillies and the incumbent Cleveland Indians," Salisbury said.

Sixteen years later, Harper similarly has limited teams willing and able to sign him to a lucrative, and possibly record-setting $300-plus-million contract: the Phillies, New York Yankees, and, surprisingly, the Chicago White Sox, among a few others.

Well, irony, to say the least, has struck. When the White Sox met with Harper last month, they enlisted the help of Thome, their Special Assistant to the Senior VP/General Manager, according to Yahoo Sports.

Yahoo Sports writes:

[The White Sox] needed to pull out all the stops, with Phillies ownership admitting the potential to spend “stupid” amounts of money this offseason and others recognizing the impact of an in-his-prime power hitter.

While it is not known what Thome specifically told Harper, 19 of his 22 seasons were spent in the American League. The five-time All-Star knew how to extend his career, and the American League has one thing the National League and Phillies simply cannot offer: the designated hitter.

Thome played 818 games as a designated hitter in his career, while fielding 1,106 at first base. Thome could have sold to Harper that being locked-in to a 10-plus-year contract in the National League could mean more "wear and tear," for example.

Phillies fans might be disappointed in Thome, albeit a White Sox employee, recruiting Harper to Chicago and not Philadelphia. Thome did play nearly as many seasons with the Phillies as the White Sox in his career.

Along with the White Sox, the Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Yankees were among the "upward of a dozen teams" that "traveled or plan to travel" to Nevada to meet Harper this offseason, per Yahoo Sports.

While some might say the Phillies should not have traded Thome to the White Sox all those years ago, we would have never seen Ryan Howard almost single-handedly lead the Phillies to many wins and a World Series championship in 2008. Trading Thome was well worth it.