At His Best or Worst, Bryce Harper Makes the Phillies Considerably Better in 2019

At his best, Bryce Harper is the MVP caliber player that he was when he posted an all-time great season in 2015. His worst is the incredibly streaky talent with the 133 OPS+ and shaky defense he displayed last year. Either way, the 2019 Phillies are better after signing the 26-year-old outfielder.

Rewind a little bit—say, to Monday, February 25th. Manny Machado is getting situated with the San Diego Padres. Bryce Harper is still available, seemingly ready to be signed any day now or never at all. Spring Training is beginning its third week, with less than a month until Opening Day. And Philadelphia has had a great offseason! The Phillies have added J.T. Realmuto, Andrew McCutchen, Jean…