Most of the New York Yankees' attention of late has been focused on pursuing pitchers Yu Darvish and Gerrit Cole. However, Cole has recently been traded to the Astros and the Yankees are done pursuing Darvish.
New York has stated numerous times that they plan on staying under the $197 million luxury tax this season. Maybe they are saving up for the biggest free agent name next offseason and not signing Darvish and Cole is a part of general manager Brian Cashman's plan to land Washington Nationals star outfielder Bryce Harper next season?
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Despite the plethora of outfielders the Yankees have (thanks to the Giancarlo Stanton trade) at both the major league level and in the minors, New York will be one of many teams interested in Harper once he becomes a free agent next season.
FanRag Sports' Jon Heyman listed the Nationals, Dodgers, Phillies, and Yankees as the most likely landing spots for Harper before the 2019 season begins.
"Sure, they have the two biggest sluggers in baseball filling their corner outfield spots, and Machado seems to make more sense for them, too," Heyman said. But Harper's dad was reportedly a Yankees fan, and they also have reset their luxury tax to participate in the biggest free-agent frenzy ever."
The 25-year-old superstar batted .319/.413/.595 with 29 home runs and 87 RBI in 111 games in 2017. He is expected to get a contract in the 10-year, $400 million range. It has even been rumored for him to be the first player to hit $500 million.
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