Latest Bryce Harper News: All Serious Bidders Talking at Least 10 Years, Phillies Believe Chances ‘Remote’
We’re well past the point of needing much analysis on this topic, so let’s make it quick. As first reported by Kerry Crowley of the San Jose Mercury News, Giants CEO Larry Baer and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi made a were in Las Vegas for a second meeting with Bruce Harper Tuesday. So that’s something.
The Giants had previously been pursuing a short-term deal, but Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reported that a 10-year deal is now being discussed. That was confirmed by Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, who tweeted that (emphasis mine) “all serious bidders…are discussing deals of at least 10 years”
I have confirmed the #SFGIants again met with Bryce Harper yesterday. What's more, all serious bidders including the Giants are discussing deals of at least 10 years with the free agent. The story: https://t.co/owmcuyztu3
— Henry Schulman BLUE CHECK MARK (@hankschulman) February 27, 2019
Now we’re talking about not only the Giants, but the Dodgers as well, since they are also involved and were thought to be sticking to a shorter offer. All of this is very bad news for the Phillies, who had been viewed as bidding against themselves as the only long-term suitor.
But all the while, we were getting reports that Harper didn’t really like Philly and that going there would be something of a last resort. So you can imagine how the Phillies might pheel if that is anywhere close to the truth and more desirable teams suddenly step up with commensurate offers.
A source indicates that the #Phillies believe their chances of landing Bryce Harper are remote. The obvious question is whether they would pivot to Keuchel and/or Kimbrel. My sense from our interview with Matt Klentak is that they won’t play on Keuchel and only maybe on Kimbrel.
— Steve Phillips (@StevePhillipsGM) February 27, 2019
Take that all for what it’s worth, but at least one guy on Twitter is really, really adamant about Harper still landing in Philly. Maybe the tax ramifications of signing in California will be too much, I don’t know. Either way, Twitter user @dosdos felt the need to tag me along with a bunch of big-time national guys to make sure we gave him credit when his reports were right.
https://twitter.com/dosdos_/status/1100831152489803776?s=11
https://twitter.com/dosdos_/status/1090349099658997761?s=11
https://twitter.com/dosdos_/status/1090320446057340928?s=11
And in case you were wondering about this guy’s credibility, he did have some really incredible inside information that seems to validate him.
https://twitter.com/dosdos_/status/1100835318385860610?s=11
So there you have it.