The Philadelphia Phillies are tied to 26-year-old star outfielder Bryce Harper for the next 13 years, but Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated reports that Harper's deal foreshadows the future of another face of MLB.
One week before Harper owned baseball's richest contract ($330 million), Manny Machado signed a 10-year, $300 million deal with the San Diego Padres. According to Verducci, the Phillies could've added Machado as well as Harper but had their reasons for not doing so.
"A club source said before this offseason began that the club had enough money to sign both Machado and Harper," Verducci wrote, "but wanted just one of them in order to keep money in reserve for [Mike] Trout.